Make The D - The Art-Space Capital

Here is another relevant piece from the past the Free Press wasn't interested in.  In 2004 Creativity Consultant, Richard Florida came to Detroit for a Regional Transformation Process that was to kick off the Create Detroit "Movement" (that never really took off).

At one point during the RTP the question was asked: "What would be the best way to attract & retain talent?"  I put forth the concept that Detroit should become the Art-Space Capital, which was voted as the top idea by the participants.

Recently, Time Inc. purchased a house for the year long, Assignment Detroit Project, and have three bloggers on The Detroit Blog, one is from outside the area and two are local freelance writers, one who lived & worked in other cities prior to coming back to the D (where he was born), the other Karen Dybis, is a native of Michigan and has worked in the Metro area, in recent years at the Detroit News.  Karen had a recent post with the link to a Forbes story and follow-up comments.  In the Forbes piece, About That Detroit Renaissance, author Shikha Dalmia is skeptical about the recent buzz in the national media on the efforts of artists in reviving the city.

"Having lived in or near Detroit for almost 21 years, I am used to the buzz that erupts periodically about its renaissance being nigh. But the one that is currently making the rounds is truly fantastical.  No one really knows what it will take to contain Detroit's deepening malaise--much less make it livable. But one thing is certain: It isn't starry-eyed artists who have decided to adopt it as their cause du jour."

While the Creative Community alone can't have a major impact, the message I continue to tout is: if properly nurtured & supported, Artists & Musicians and Creative Venues can make a substantial contribution to turning the D around.  A recent website was launched Great Ideas for Michigan, and I submitted this idea.

Save Old Buildings & Enhance Detroit’s Image

Embrace and Expand Artspace Concept

2003

Detroit seems to have a similar problem as the Old Woman in the Shoe, only we have so many old buildings; we don’t know what to do. How about filling them with artists and watching the city bloom.

Artspace is a nonprofit real estate developer based in Minneapolis.  Its mission is “to create and manage space where artists can live, work, exhibit, perform, and conduct business.  Artspace supports the continued professional growth of artists and enhances the cultural and economic vitality of the surrounding community.”

Initially the group served as an advocate for artists displaced by gentrification at the end of the 70’s.  In the mid 80’s Artspace became a development group with its first project being a six story, 149,000 sq ft warehouse built around the turn of the 20th century and located in St. Paul.  

Dubbed the Northern Warehouse Artists Cooperative, it features 52 affordable live/work units and two floors of arts friendly nonprofit and commercial tenants and was developed at a cost of $5 million.  At the time of its debut in 1990 scarcely a 100 persons lived in the area and a litter filled lot was in the vicinity.  Today more than 5,000 residents have fostered a bustling downtown and the vacant lot is now a park enjoyed by families.

In 1993 another warehouse (1895) next door to the Northern that was in an extremely deteriorated condition, was taken on by Artspace.  Among the strikes against even attempting renovation of the Tilsner included no windows, no roof, and the top two floors were rotted to the point they were unsafe to walk on and was described as “a big pigeon barn.”  Yet the building even at such a state of decay was salvaged into a home for 66 artists and their families who have helped to create the community, the cost $6.5 million.

Artspace has five other projects in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area as well as one in Duluth and has since become a developer nationally as well.  Projects in other cities include Pittsburg, Pennsylvania; Portland, Oregon; Reno, Nevada; and Galveston Texas.  Projects in development include Mount Rainier, Maryland; Houston, Texas; Seattle, Washington; and Jackson Michigan.

The Armory Arts Project is a partnership between the Enterprise Group of Jackson, the Weatherwax Foundation and Artspace.  The first phase is the renovation of the 147,000 sq ft Acme  Industries property into 35 residential/work units and space for nonprofit arts and cultural organizations; communityclassroom/demonstration/exhibition/performance space; and rental space for arts-related and commercial businesses.  

Future plans include renovation of the 1839 prison and a River Arts Walk to connect it to downtown is in the works.  Among the potential funding sources are Historic Tax Preservation Tax Credits, Michigan Low Income Housing Investment Tax Credits, Brownfield Development Tax Credits, and “Gap” financing resources from foundations, corporations and individuals.

The governor, mayor and others have spoken of the need to “brand” Detroit.  Only the city has many different facets that several “brands” can be applied.  If the city wants to get serious about enhancing its image, increasing tourism as well as attracting and retaining residents, then it should consider aiming to become the “Artspace Capital.”  Restoring our “dinosaur” buildings and welcoming artists and art groups is just what we need to save historic structures that give downtown character and will enhance our tourism and residential appeal.

And just think if the Artspace concept were to be expanded to include buildings for teams of high-tech start-ups.  What a tremendous selling point it would be to offer below market rate for space to high-tech entrepreneurs and team members where they could work long hours with the comforts of home at hand and not having to commute.  Throw in some venture capitol and Detroit would truly become a talent magnet.

The history of an area of one Artspace project parallels Detroit’s Cass Corridor.  The Lyn-Lake business district (named for the cross streets Lyndale Ave & Lake St.) lies in the South Minneapolis and was once a bustling center of commerce.  The area began to decline in the 50’s and by the 80’s was considered seedy and plagued by crime.

In the 90’s artists and art groups created a stir of development and in 1996, Artspace purchased the Calhoun, a six story building that was originally an athletic club built in 1913.  Putting just over $1 million in improvements, 36 spaces for office, studio, rehearsal, and performance arts organizations were created.  The area has become an arts and entertainment destination offering theaters, restaurants, galleries, coffeehouses and retail shopping.

Another tale of the power of arts and revitalizing an old mill town, comes from North Adams, Massachusetts.  The Arnold Print Works textile mill built in the 19^th century managed to stay open until 1942.  It was taken over by Sprauge Electrical Company which prospered into the 60’s.  Cheaper imports brought an end to the company and after changing hands, closed in 1985.  By the end of the 80’s the town was a shell of its former self.  One asset North Adams had going for it was that it is in close proximity to a number of arts attractions in near by towns and is not far from Williams College. 

The head of Williams College of Art went in search of space to exhibit large scale modern art and was shown the mill which has 780,000 sq ft.  It took from 1986 to 1995 to raise funds and get funding from the state to finally get the project rolling.  In the meantime the plan for the building to serve just as a museum was altered to include space for music, dance, film, animation, computer art, theater, and performance art.  

Since it opened in 1999 the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art currently draws 120,000 visitors a year.  Six restaurants opened (one didn’t last) and 200 hotel rooms were created or reopened.  Over a year ago an independent developer bought another vacant mill building in town with the intent to renovate it into 40 condominiums for artists to live and work.  He figured it might take up to two years to sell all the units but within two months they were all sold.

With so many examples of the power of art and the effects artists have in creating community and fostering revitalization, and so many buildings that deserve saving, what’s a poor city to do?

Possibilities & The Grassroots

There are some people in the Metro-Detroit Region and across the state who look at the state of the city and see it as hopeless & undeserving of any kind of support.  They go through life with narrow minds and a limited view of the world, not seeing the possibilities that lie in the D and are ignorant to what a thriving metropolis can mean to the state.

Then you have the members of the Creative Community and other activists & advocates who want to make their neighborhood or the city as a whole a better place.  They most often have very little in the way of resources, yet they are committed to taking a stand and doing their part to improve the landscape by any means at their disposal, even if it is on a minor level.

It is in dark & dire times such as these we are going through now that imagining the possibilities, is more important than ever.  I posted a piece from the newspaper with the headline, "In Dark Times, Be a Light in the Region."  As optimistic as I try to be, fighting off feelings of bleakness about the situation we are in, is a constant battle; but I tell myself that sooner or later the D will realize what creativity & possibilities can do to turn things around.

Recently Crain's Detroit Business had a special feature "The D's Next Decade, 10 ideas, projects that can create Detroit's future."  While one of the pieces made note of the Design 99 effort of starting an artist enclave, and used the example of another effort to attract artists to Paducah, Kentucky (and another effort based on that model) there were no other mentions of the what the power of the Creative Community can achieve if properly nurtured. 

Ric Geyer, who owns the 4731 Gallery & Studios building had a piece on "Could Detroit become known as ‘The City that Listens?"  I dropped him a line and mentioned it would be nice if the foundations, corporations and other entities would listen to ideas from the grassroots members of the Creative Community.

A problem I see with regional efforts to revitalize the city and region is a lack of inclusion in what efforts should be taken to restore the D to something resembling a world class city.

Two books I’ve read in recent years, by the same set of authors, principals of Collaborative Economics,  are Civic Revolutionaries, 2004, and Grass Roots Leaders for a New Economy, How Civic Entrepreneurs Are Building Prosperous Communities, 97.  Both books touch on thinking regionally and innovatively and  define what kind of role persons such as myself can play in helping the city & region and talk about how Civic Entrepreneurs, who can come from a variety of backgrounds (including community advocates) play an integral role in turning cities and regions around.

Another book which was most inspiring, The Creative City, by Charles Landry, founder of the consulting group Comedia had this comment that validates the idea of embracing persons who might have radical thoughts on how to improve the D.

“The creative individuals need to be brought into play at strategic points because, though not everyone in the creative city needs to be creative, it depends on a critical mass of open-minded, courageous and fresh thinkers.  A handful of strategically placed creative people can transform a city if they are in the right positions of influence – not necessarily of power.”

An early news piece about the One D effort, quoted an Urban Studies Professor as saying the average Joe is the real key to success, but I believe the Creative Community can have the biggest impact in turning the city around, we just need a major spark.

Making the D More Hip & Happening

Here is a blast from the past that was submitted to the Detroit News in response to two pieces that they published one a feature piece entitled "Will Detroit Cool Pay Off?" and the other an editorial piece on the need to capitalize on elements of the Arts & Entertainment scene.

I still strongly believe that a focused effort could dramatically raise the profile of the various Creative Offerings in the city and bring in more tourists as well as getting the people in the region with money to buy art in the city.

Shoot for a Hip & Happening Detroit and 

World Class Status will follow

 2003

Kudos to the Detroit News Editorial and Features Departments for drawing attention last month to the golden opportunity Detroit has not only benefit economically, but I might add, improving its image as well, by further promoting & marketing the arts & entertainment scene.

I fully agree with the closing editorial statement that; the efforts of Detroit and Michigan to cash in on entertainment has been minimal and that developing pop culture deserves attention due to the huge returns on the investment.

Many people not yet aware of how crucial a thriving A&E scene is to a city and metro region.  Last year the book “Rise of the Creative Class and how it’s Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life” created a national buzz by revealing the merits of artists and other creative types.  The book by Richard Florida, Professor of Regional Economic Development at Carnegie Mellon University, evolved from studying the factors that have resulted in success for cities from small, mid-sized and large.  

His research led to the conclusion that cities that were leading the pack with high-tech industries, had two primary factors, they offered ethnic & lifestyle diversity and they had an abundance of arts & entertainment offerings particularly in the “alternative” category.  Cities heavily populated by creative persons in turn attracted the sought after high-tech talent there by attracting new businesses as well as spin-off development from thriving urban cores.

In a February 20 interview with the News on the budget, Governor Granholm (to paraphrase her statement) had this to say on asking people where the first dollar should go, people generally agreed on K-12 education; for the second dollar a lot of people said economic development as a long-term strategy for growth.  

Therefore, I would pose this to the public and the Governor, if we are to become more competitive and not suffer another decade loss of population; we need bold and innovative initiatives to stimulate economic growth.  If Detroit is to become fully revitalized and there by strengthening the Southeastern Michigan region, we need to realize A&E development can play a major role in turning the city around.

Some time after presenting the slashed budget and later hopefully the “Bureaucracy Busters” team will have found waste to further cut and creative ways of stretching the budget, the question will be, how will we foster economic growth?  The Governor should seriously consider proposing a minor new tax for the sole purpose of promoting economic development with a focus on A&E development and promoting Detroit and the State as tourist destinations.

It may come as a shock, but Detroit gets as many visitors as Toronto.  This is a fact according to the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau (DMCVB) but the figures are somewhat padded since it includes visitors coming for conventions, of which many are auto industry related.  Still while convention attendees are not strictly here as pleasure tourists, they do add to the economic impact on the local economy.  Annually, Metro Detroit has 17.6 million visitors who spend $5 billion during their stay.

In recent years, numerous reports and other sources have touted the positive economic impact of the arts.  The level of impact the arts have on the economy justifies the call for more support for the arts from the government on all levels.  

Politicians are waking up to the fact that the arts can serve as a catalyst for urban renewal and rural rebirth in the form of tourist dollars.  Many cities across the country have successfully reinvented themselves when faced with economic doom when industries and factories shut down and they turned to the arts to create a tourist industry.

In Michigan, tourism is actually the number two industry and business and government leaders in the metro region want to see Detroit get a bigger slice of the pie of tourism spending.  Last year a ten-year plan was launched to turn the tri-county area into a tourist destination to compete with other desirable tourist cities.  

Heading the effort cited as a “Tourism Vision” are notable leaders from the metro areas who serve on the Tourism Economic Development Council.  Among the first priorities are highway beautification, new tourist attractions and new conference facilities.  It is through these and other efforts that the council in conjunction with the DMCVB, hopes to increase tourist spending by another $3 - $5 billion.

It makes logical sense for the city and the Economic Tourism Development Council to find innovative ways to spur further development as a means to not only to enhance the city’s image but also increase tourism and create stronger communities.  Adopting a strategy to make Detroit hip & happening will pave the way to the long-term goal of world-class status.  

Detroit has the potential to become the arts & entertainment mecca of the Midwest.  We can continue at low gear or kick it up a few notches and invest in the future prosperity of not only the city but the metro region as well.

Detroit has suffered from an inferiority complex for far too long.  Too much attention has been paid to the negative aspects of the city when we should focus on the wealth of cultural and entertainment offerings large and small.  

In recent years, the momentum of the city arts & entertainment scene has been picking up at an astonishing pace.  We truly have the potential to be on par with the leading metropolitan tourist destinations, we just have a few humps to get over.

So stop complaining about how we aren’t like Chicago or Toronto, get out and attend an art opening, go see a local band, attend an independent play, take in some poetry or check out some freaky multi-media show, we have quite an array of talent and venues deserving wider appreciation.  

In addition, when you are visiting other cities don’t be afraid or embarrassed to say you’re from Detroit and tell them we really have a happening scene with a growing number of venues and all kinds of festivals.  We are fortunate to have as many arts and entertainment options as we presently have and with added nurturing, it will further flourish.

D is for Deviant

Things are getting pretty Desperate in the D and in the fight for survival, we better start getting Deviant (in the positive sense).

While researching the nature of creativity in individuals, one book referenced a most inspiring & insightful, commentary - guide on "How Fringe Ideas Create Mass Markets."  The Deviant's Advantage claims:  

"Deviance transforms traditional markets and washes them away.  Apply any measurement you want and you'll see that the tides of deviance are clearly gaining in their attack against the beaches of social convention.

By the same token, the well of deviance also irrigates the imagination; offers an inexhaustible font of new ideas, products, and services; and, in the end, is the source of all innovation, new-market creation, and, for business, ultimately represents the basis of all incremental profit.  Deviance equals innovation and innovation offers opportunity." 

The book has a local connection in that the two co-authors grew up in Metro-Detroit, with one of them, Ryan Mathews still residing in the area as the Founder & CEO of the firm, Black Monk Consulting. 

The art & music worlds attract a fair share of deviants who are trying to survive on the fringes of society, and who are often scorned by people identifying themselves as "normal - average" Americans.  Some creative persons choose to use shock value in their work for various reasons and see themselves as agents of destruction out to shake up the system offering their form of social commentary on society. 

While many will label what they view as socially deviant works as disgusting trash, others may not put a high value on such work but it might open minds to a perspective that had previously been absent.  Deviance is a matter of perspective and positive Deviance needs to be embraced as a source of creative stimulus which needs to be nourished.

Right now the state, region and city are on the economic edge of despair, the state is nearing record high unemployment the Detroit region continues to post the state’s highest unemployment rate at 17.7 percent and Detroit rose to 28.9% during July, the highest rate since modern record-keeping began in 1970.

If we are going to get back our competitive  edge, we need to reward Deviance and put out the welcome mat for Deviants to come to the D.

The Deviant's Advantage features some quotes by Charles Handy, an Irish author/philosopher who specialized in organizational behavior & management and this one makes for a fitting closing to this post.

"The hope lies in the unknown, in that second curve if we can find it.  The world is up for re-invention in so many ways.  Creativity is born in chaos.  What we do, what we belong to, why we do it, when we do it, where we do it--these may all be different and they could be better."