You're right on all accounts. USU '80.Originally posted by wilwould
You're right on all accounts. USU '80.
Oddball
Why don't you knock it off with them negative waves?
Why don't you dig how beautiful it is out here?
Why don't you say something righteous and hopeful for a change?
From Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Are you sure you're not hurt ?
No. Just some parts wake up faster than others.
Broke parts take a little longer, though.
From Electric Horseman (1979)
The USDA has taken a look at this issue. It is based on Richard Florida's creative class ideas, but includes a Bohemian Index that measures arts employment as a percentage of county employment. I have found this to be a useful statistic in the econoic analysis I do for communities.
Pitkin County, Colorado, New York County, New York, and Haines Borough, Alaska are 1, 2, and 3. Colorado has four of the top ten counties, and California has three. Texas, Georgia, North Dakota, and Kentucky counties tend to fill up the bottom ranks.
Here's a link: http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/CreativeClassCodes/
Anyone want to adopt a dog?
Kansas City's art scene is thriving. A former industrial district called the Crossroads is being revitalized thanks to dozens of galleries. City Hall has taken steps to ensure that those galleries can remain despite the skyrocketing real-estate prices. We also have an art school called the Art Institute, founded by painter Thomas Hart Benton. I'm told it's considered a good school.
Tallahassee, FL has a relatively strong art scene including graphic and performance. FSU has very strong art, theater, motion picture and music programs. We also have FAMU to contribute tallent.
There is still reasonably affordable studio space in "Railroad Square" which is a collection of warehouse now devoted to a really funky mix of uses. Some FSU studo space, individual artist studio/gallery space and other gallery space (some of which is co-op). Also included in the mix is an art supply store, a Porche repair shop, auto stero shop, Buddhist meeting place, bike repair, community theater, construction company and woodworking/cabnet shop. It's not "zoned" for residential, but it seems that a few live there off and on.
The city is attempting to work with a national group (can't remember the name at the moment) to redevelop a former industrial corridor (Gaines St.) into a live/work community for the arts. Gaines is near Railroad Square and there is a proposal to link the two via a ped bridge over the railroad.
RR Sq. has a Frist Friday event each month that draws large crowds in the evening. City also runs a shuttle bus around to several galleries around town (including RR Sq.) on First Friday.
Since you have proposed only cities in the U.S., let me suggest Puerto Vallarta, and San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico. This cities offer a lot to artists from the U.S. and elsewhere; Very low cost of living, LOTS of tourism, a very large amount of U.S. retirees and tourists that spend lots of time in the country, and an art market that is rising and still is not very competed as it is in the U.S.
I've heard that a lot of people are coming to Mexico in search of top-notch and not very expensive art. These two cities are filled with art galleries that welcome a lot of new artists from all over the world each year.
Birmingham, Alabama. There's a huge industrial tradition and the buildings still standing just waiting for artists to move in. I had a 3000 sq ft loft downtown for like 425 split 3 ways. It's also close to atlanta, nashville, and memphis. Cost of living is dirt cheap.
There are many thriving artist communities north of the border. Montreal is a prime example: cheap rents, affodable lifestyle, lots of subsidies to the arts makes for a lively music and arts scene. Hill Strategies has published many studies on the percentage of artists per capita in many of these communities. See:
http://www.hillstrategies.com/docs/A...rge_cities.pdf
Cath
I own a small art gallery in Dallas and I have shown several artists who live and work in Marfa. It's a great little town with an amazing history of attracting some major league artists like minimalist, Donald Judd. There has been a recent influx of artists which have spawned numerous gallery spaces to open. There is also a theater group and a writer-in-residency program. The movie Giant was shot there in 1955.
I believe "No Country for Old Men" and "There will be Blood" were both filmed there. Marfa is a very cool town.
Rockland, Rockport, Camden & Belfast Maine.
Inspirational landscape, endless outdoor recreation, many new art schools & programs emerging (Maine Media Workshops, Center for Furniture Craftsmanship, Haystack Mountain School, Farnsworth Museum...)
North Adams is becoming an artists dream. Northampton is unfortunately un affordable. North Adams has Mass Moca http://massmoca.org/ , Williamstown MA. is right next door,The Berkshire Hills, Mount Greylock http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/mtGreylock/ , new galleries, great retail, gallery spaces for rent cheaply downtown (going fairly quickly though), 3 new restaurants opening w/in the next month, truly affordable homes of all kinds ,awesome live/work space is abundant, and so much more on the way. I moved here 6 years ago from NYC. although the transformation from mill (mills are now and becoming museums, lofts, etc ) town to art town has been slower than I'd like, it's moving well now! I have a lot of great New York, Boston, and local artist friends here, and we cant wait for Spring, and a phenomenal Summer here!
You are probably thinking of Paducah, KY
Minneapolis-Saint Paul has a huge art scene. Both of those cities really encourage the "corner" style commercial development and the culture really supports local artists.
Detroit has a definite advantage for artists. Besides having excellent art schools and museums, it has a massive amount of industrial space available (and growing daily).
The big daddy of them all is the Russel street Bazzar which is sort of a cross between a festival marketplace and a massive old factory. http://www.russellbazaar.com/?id=information
http://www.ricdetroit.org/?id=history
We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes - Fr Gabriel Richard 1805
I agree that Detroit is a great city for artists of all types.
But beyond that, I think when you are talking about cities that could support viable artist enclaves, artists who are visual artists probably don't need the same type of locations that musicians would need.
Musicans would need affordable housing/studio space (same as visual artists) and a generally employment or some source of income besides their art (again, same needs as a visual artist). But, most importantly, musicians need a larger population base to draw an audiance from and places to play for them on a regular basis.
I think that generally, it would be easier (less regulations), and less expensive to set up an art show somewhere than it would be to set up a to set up a place to play music for an audiance. I think this is why larger cities like Seattle (and now Portland because Seattle is too expensive... what city will be Seattle 3?), Austin, Athens, and Nashville have such big music scenes; there are plenty of bars and venues and more importantly, plenty of people.
Even today with the internet (and perhaps because of the internet), musicians make the majority of their money through touring and not through album sales so even while the internet may help bands get some air time, they need a place to establish their reputation as a band who can perform live. Of course, this doesn't includes big bands like Coldplay or Radiohead or Madonna, etc. but where would Spoon be without Austin or Death Cab for Cutie with Seattle?
"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." - 1980 Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan
Vote For Your Favorite U.S. Cities for Contemporary Art.
Visit your favorite arts destination! All ballots received by January 31, 2009, will be entered to win a $500 travel certificate. Odds of winning are based on number of contestants. Prize winners are drawn at random. All decisions are final. Employees and families of employees of The Rosen Group and AmericanStyle magazine are prohibited from participation.
Note: Large, Mid-Size and Small categories are based on 2007 city population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?s...bIkvsqMQ_3d_3d
Oh and... my vote would be for Athens, Georgia - Lyndon House Art Center displays local artists, there are galleries, art students hanging out in coffee shops (the Lamar Dodd school of art is at UGA)
Restaurants are great and push the envelope of food as art - and most of them display local artists. Music - the 40 Watt, REM, Widespread Panic, Pylon, Vic Chestnut, Jack Logan, Elf Power... and we have AthFest a rather unfortunately named annual music festival held downtown and we have the North Georgia Folk Festival... We have performance art (we have a performance trapeze studio in town - beat that Boulder).
I'm attracted to larger cities and have done some research but cannot come to a conclusion based upon my findings. I was wondering what the art scene is like in Austin. I know that it is thriving for musicians, but what about photographers? Austin is ranked high on places for small businesses and the cost of living is moderate compared to my first choice, SF.
Does anyone know if there is a place good for fine art photography?
I would love to see Peoria, IL as an artist haven. We have cheap housing stock, the bluffs next to the river, secluded in Central Illinois, older warehouse buildings in our warehouse district next to the river screaming for tenants....The problem is, appreciation is probably lacking here. We recently had someone come into our office inquiring about opening a hookah bar and you should have seen some of the reactions of our planning staff. And I could just imagine the reaction of a very large conservative community here. I tried to explain it is ran like a café and no, it is not always assocaited with drugs such as cannabis.
My vote for a great artist haven is not in the US. It is Antigua Guatemala. UNESCO world heritage site. Beautiful Spanish colonial town with cobblestone streets. Small art galleries line many streets. The town is also located at the foot of a dormant volcano (Volcán de Agua) and not far off you can see the sputtering eruptions of Volcán de Fuego often times with its cone illuminated at night as lava flows. And best of all, it is still cheap, though you can also get your very expensive five star settings. Over the past decade, housing has seen a climb in prices but it is still very, very affordable for the most part.
When Seattle got too expensive, musicians and others started moving to Portland. Now that Portland has risen in price, the artists are starting to move on from there...
I've always theorized that one of the major selling points in growing a vibrant (and successful) local arts scene was cheap housing and now there is a little more recent anecdotal proof to back that up!
For Sale: The $100 House!
Detroit's hard edge - and dirt cheap real estate - attract artists from around the World
Welcome to the D!
"Where free unions and collective bargaining are forbidden, freedom is lost." - 1980 Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan
Maysville KY
If you havent heard about it, you need to.
"Inside Joke"
Asheville is starting to get more and more expensive, too. There are some other small towns in Western NC that are probably great for artists, but definitely face getting more expensive.
Berea, KY, was always one of my favorite towns for the arts.
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