In this series’ previous features, we saw the unlikely success of Humphreys Street Studios (Dorchester) and the Arts and Business Council’s preserving Western Avenue Studios in Lowell — two different solutions to one long-term, systemic problem: artist displacement. In this issue, we explore the impact of displacement on individual artists, artist communities and the regional arts ecosystem. We also note that arts displacement is a symptom of an insecure cultural ecosystem — and to solve it, we must address it holistically. Each part of the ecosystem — from higher education (MassArt, Berklee, BoCo, Lesley, RISD and others) to state/local government, corporations, foundations, museums, galleries, concert venues, theatres, publications — all stakeholders in our sector — must come together with one goal: to stop cultural displacement. We must preserve what we have, build more of what we … [Read more...] about PRESERVATION ACT
Community
A SOLUTION TO ARTS DISPLACEMENT
Arts displacement, although a systemic, chronic problem in Greater Boston, also takes toll outside the metropolitan area, in once industrial Massachusetts cities like Worcester, Lowell, New Bedford and Salem. The Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (A&BC), whose initiatives include Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Business on Board, artist fellowships, and others, including Creative Campus, its solution to creating and/or preserving arts/cultural spaces. It is currently partnering with Creative Hub Worcester, transforming a historic Boys Club into artist workspaces and public gallery/performance spaces. THE CULTURAL SOUL OF LOWELL Last year, the A&BC acquired one of New England’s gems: Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, so it could stay as an affordable home to hundreds of artists across multiple disciplines. Coined “the creative soul of Lowell,” it hosts one of … [Read more...] about A SOLUTION TO ARTS DISPLACEMENT
BEAUTY OUT OF BRUTALITY
Can anything good or beautiful come out of a nasty, brutish war? The rape, murder and mayhem of the almost year-long war in Ukraine scarcely seems a place to look for goodness and creativity. But two Ukrainian icon artists, Oleksandr Klymenko and his wife, Sofia Atlantova, have managed to bring beauty out of brutality. Looking at the debris of war, they noticed that the wooden boxes that held ammunition look much like the wood backings on which icons have traditionally been painted for centuries. In the Ukrainian Orthodox Christian religion, a person’s creative act of painting images of the Virgin Mary (Theotokos), Jesus (Pantocrator) or the Saints is a religious observance or act of veneration. Any individual may make an “icon” to participate in this religious “act,” but naturally, some people are more adept at making beautiful or accurate images of Mary or Jesus than others. For … [Read more...] about BEAUTY OUT OF BRUTALITY
A RARE VICTORY FOR ARTISTS
The age-old problem. Artist displacement is not new. It’s happened for decades, and it continues to the present day. It’s the age-old gentrification cycle: artists/creatives move into a run-down, undesirable, low-rent neighborhood. Through creating art, they bring more creatives to said neighborhood, which then attracts bars, restaurants, cafes, book and record stores, which then brings people to want to live among the valued neighborhood culture. Then property values go up, forcing the artists out. In Greater Boston, we’ve lost hundreds of artists, creative small businesses, live performance venues and the other businesses associated with the creative economy as neighborhoods turn over. It happened to Jamaica Plain, Central Square and Davis Square, and we’re in the throes of ittaking place in Union Square, Dorchester and Roxbury. We’ve lost many artist communities including Piano … [Read more...] about A RARE VICTORY FOR ARTISTS
PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: GROWING NUMBER OF ARTISTS TURNING TO THE BERKSHIRES
There is something, in addition to the mountain air, the beautiful surroundings and the vibrancy of the Berkshires, that attracts artists of all types like moths to a flame. Between the lush and well established areas like Lenox and Williamstown, and the gritty petri-dish of energy like North Adams, the settings for artistic evolution are boundless. Add in the great institutions like The Clark, Mass MoCA and countless others, and the area becomes more and more a destination for artists to put down rootsandcontributetoanever-growingvesselofcreativity. Upon arriving, one will discover a vast network of like- minded artists sharing a common goal: living, breathing and ingesting art. Artists are magnetized to one another in the Berkshires, and a supportive creative community continues to grow. There are those who are more established in the area, having been here for many years, providing … [Read more...] about PUTTING DOWN ROOTS: GROWING NUMBER OF ARTISTS TURNING TO THE BERKSHIRES
SOWA DISTRICT REBOUNDS: OPEN STUDIOS SHOWCASE 450 HARRISON ARTISTS
Artists’ studios evolved and changed over time but have always maintained a magnetism that sparks visitors’ curiosity. How is SoWA, Boston’s busiest Art + Design District, and how are artists dealing with the post-pandemic season? Can SoWA ́s Artists Open Studios serve as a continuing model for community revitalization through the arts? The art of revitalizing or the art revitalizing? On my recent visit to Ireland, I was eager to see Francis Bacon’s preserved studio, which has been at Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery since 1998. It is a large project undertaken by a team of archeologists, conservators and curators who carefully recreated every detail, including the dust accumulated since the artist’s death in 1992. The lines of visitors to see the studio through narrow transparent doors are huge. Throughout history, there has been a fascination with seeing the intimacy of artists’ studios … [Read more...] about SOWA DISTRICT REBOUNDS: OPEN STUDIOS SHOWCASE 450 HARRISON ARTISTS