On April 2, Seattle City Council member Nick Licata sponsored a City Hall public forum, titled “Make Room for Art: cultural overlay districts for Seattle.” When I arrived, five minutes past the scheduled start time, Bertha Knight Landes Room was full, with standing room only. The meeting was organized by 4Culture, Capitol Hill Arts Center, and Capitol Hill Chamber of Commerce. It was a follow-up to the initial call to action called for by the same people back in January, about which Design Kompany did a report.
There were more than 200 people there, according to the local rag Capitol Hill Times. The people from all sectors are interested in this issue; that much was evident. What’s not clear still was just how all this interest and energy can be harnessed to bring about positive changes, and reverse the tide toward cookie-cutter development that’s plaguing Capitol Hill and other neighborhoods in Seattle and beyond.
Seattle City Council’s Press Release about the event
Organizer Capitol Hill Arts Center’s call for action
The forum did provide one tangible way forward. Early on in the session, organizer Matthew Kwatinetz and Dakota Alcantara-Camacho of Youthspeak provided a spirited “vision” of what they are trying to achieve: Seattle as the most livable city in the world, with its culture and art providing its vitality. Convenience, amenity and economy are all good things in modest supply, but without the culture and the arts that inspire the people, it’s like having a big shiny box without anything to put in it — it’s rather empty.
Empty Shiny Box, or Box Full of Arts?
This is not something many people will disagree with. Sure, it’ll be nice to have and keep the arts ‘n’ culture, along with jobs and shiny buildings and other things in the name of economic progress.
How do we keep the arts in town? Who’ll pick up the tab? Developers want their buildings built and filled. Residents want nice places to live (and sometimes vibrant night life is great, sometimes quiet nights are better). Businesses want lively thoroughfare with plenty of foot traffic. Policy makers want everyone to be happy. And the artists, presumably, need cheap places in which to live and work.
The solution, proposed by Kwatinetz and the co., is called “Cultural Overlay Districts.” The meeting was a way to share this idea, in a very abstract, birds-eye manner, and generate consensus toward the idea of arts and condos co-existing.
I am all for this idea; Design Kompany plans to stay involved in planning and execution of it in some capacity, and will keep you posted on the progress here.
Where do Arts Come From?
But something nagged me, still.
Oh yeah. The ” poor artists.”
Who are they?
Do they exist? Are they really starving? Where are they? Haven’t they all left (to Georgetown, and beyond) already, in the 90s?
Often, we think of “supporting arts” as rather abstract concept. If we create enough grants, venues, etc., they will come. Right? Well, is it?
I want to hear from these artists more. What would keep them in town and creating art? What would make a community “art(ist) friendly”?
Are you an artist? Do you have opinions?
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