Does it necessarily follow that as real estate prices increase, the quality of arts programs in an area declines in proportion?
People seemed to think so at a January forum at Capitol Hill Arts Center. (See DK’s writeup, Field Report: Can arts and condos co-exist in Capitol Hill?)
Out of that talk came a call for Seattle city government officials to really hear out more on this topic. So they’ve marked Wednesday, April 2 for a City Hall meeting on how arts can flourish even as real estate prices escalate.
No one knows where Wednesday’s meeting will go, but there seems to be a favorable optimism that it can breed creative ideas for zoning policies to allow more freedoms for arts folks. Developers have been invited to speak, too.
Back in January, a consistent message panelists heard from the audience was this: It’s getting too expensive for artists to live here and for arts nonprofits to make rent. Concern focused on how to balance “keeping arts & culture local,” in the context of an accelerating “raze-and-build” or “take it and monetize it” kind of pattern we’ve been seeing more and more.
Another writeup of this is posted here: ‘City, cultural leaders discuss preserving art space’ by Marian Liu in the Seattle Times.
Event details
According to an e-mail invite to Wednesday’s event from Capitol Hill Arts Center director Matthew Kwatinetz, the City Hall meeting is about getting people to: “envision a City that maintains, nurtures, and creates arts and entertainment facilities as the backbone to neighborhood livability and economic sustainability.” Kwatinetz advocates for a collaboration between the City of Seattle, King County, private businesses, and arts & entertainment organizations towards this end.
Speakers:
Jim Reinhardsen, Heartland LLC
Angela Luechtefeld, Freehold Theatre Lab
Josh LaBelle, Seattle Theatre Group, Paramount, Moore
Maria Barrientos, Barrientos LLC, Cap Hill Developer
Ann Donovan, Save Oddfellows Hall Coalition, CH Arts Council, former Velocity BOD member
Evan Johnson, Image Productions, Film Production Company
Jim Kelly, 4Culture, King County’s Cultural Development Authority
INTERMISSION: Youth Speaks Poet
Michael Seiwerath, Northwest Film Forum
Laura Curry, Mithun, Cultural Research Specialist
Liz Dunn, Dunn & Hobbes, Capitol Hill Developer
Hallie Kuperman, Century Ballroom
Lesley Bain, AIA Urban Design Committee
Richard Muhlebach, Kennedy Wilson, Cap Hill Developer
Randy Engstrom, Youngstown Arts Center/DNDA and Seattle Arts Commission
Matthew Kwatinetz, Capitol Hill Arts Center, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Sponsor
Q&A:
Seattle City Councilmember Nick Licata, Sally Clark, Jean Godden, Bruce Harrell, and Tom Rasmussen
Organizers:
4Culture, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Capitol Hill Arts Center
City Partners: Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Mayor’s Office of Economic Development
Supporters:
4Culture, Annex Theatre, Barrientos LLC, Capitol Hill Arts Center, Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce, Capitol Hill Community Council, Century Ballroom, the Dubois Apartments, Emerging Arts Leaders King County, Grove Land Productions, Heartland LLC, Image Productions, Mithun, Northwest Film Forum, the Pork Filled Players, Save Odd Fellows Hall Coalition, Seattle Theatre Group, Rainier Valley Cultural Center (SEED Arts), Shunpike, Sustainable Capitol Hill, Youngstown Cultural Arts Center (Delridge Neighborhood Development Association).
Personal aside:
Design Kompany picked this neighborhood to locate our office because of all the independent theatres, cafes, and cultural programs you can find within a few blocks. Having good creative stuff around fuels and inspires us.
But people who’ve been planted here longer than us–a decade or more–will tell you Capitol Hill used to be way better before gentrification began, and that we’re just seeing the middle of an upswing in that direction.
Some people say Georgetown is where up-and-coming artists have moved, but I met a tattoo artist from there who said even that’s already getting too expensive to foster a grassroots artists community.
Has this happened in other parts of the country? What can Seattle learn from examples elsewhere?
Also see:
Field Report: Can arts and condos co-exist in Capitol Hill?
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