Continuing on the effort to save the arts from encroachment of shiny condos in Seattle’s eclectic neighborhoods, we bring to your attention this interesting opportunity:
Arts Leadership Lab invites you to:
a happy hour and a casual Creative Conversation
Monday
October 27
6:30 - 8:30pm
At: the brand-new
Mezza Luna Cafe
2608 S Judkins (Central District)
Free, open to anyone, all ages
As someone who’s been following this “arts and condos” thread pretty closely, I am quite excited about this. The bigwigs of the city are listening (see below), and this is a great opportunity for the individuals to talk to people who have direct pipeline to these decision makers!
The organizer, the Arts Leadership Lab (ALL) is a group of local arts administrators, advocates, media reps and individual artists that gathered around the idea of creating a space for dialogue around the role of artists in the community. Kind of like what Design Kompany did with Flourish I. But different.
A core member of ALL is on the Cultural Overlay District Advisory Committee (CODAC), a group that’s charged by the City Council to figure out the needs and wants of the community in relation to its growth.
ALL says it’s interested in hearing from the individual artists and art lovers:
In addition to regular schmoozing, we want to gather ideas from you that can inform how Seattle approaches creating official “arts districts”. One idea under discussion is whether criteria could be developed to allow benefits for existing arts-friendly spaces, and create incentives for developers to incorporate cultural spaces in their plans. Through one-on-one conversations we want to hear from you: What kinds of activities should qualify a business, organization or developer for special benefits? What would that criteria look like? Who decides? How? What does a thriving arts neighborhood or business look like to you?
Looks like a good place for healthy discussion on the subject. Design Kompany will be there to put in its two cents, and see what’s going on…
Capitol Hill is growing, the national economic crisis notwithstanding. New buildings are going up, new businesses are moving in, and new neighbors, too.
There are quite a few people concerned with the rate and manner this growth is happening. We don’t want “new development” to be bland, unsustainable boxes that just house chain businesses and affluent white-color workers. We don’t want old residents, artists, and most importantly, the art-supporting organizations to be displaced by the rising costs of real estate.
Design Kompany wrote up about City Council meetings about this issue in January and then in April. We held a panel discussion around the topic at our studio, Kornerhaus. “Flourish” the group that sprung from that, is planning its next event, hopefully sometime soon, too.
While this was going on, Design Kompany also started a dialogue around this topic with Allied Arts of Seattle, an activist organization that’s responsible for saving the Pike Place Market from mindless development. We ended up helping Allied Arts come up with a new name for itself, which will be unveiled at its annual Gala Toast & Auction event, this Saturday. Design Kompany is a premier sponsor of this event.
On Sept. 24, a group called Cultural Overlay District Advisory Board (CODAC) met with the City Council to present its view on what the City Council should do to harness growth and make sure arts and culture are preserved in the neighborhood. CODAC was formed in response to the earlier town meetings around the idea of a Cultural Overlay District, a way to provide incentives to the developers who accommodate artists and arts organizations’ needs.
Here’s the city’s information on CODAC.
Here’s what Council member Nick Licata said, via his email newsletter, about the presentation:
Based upon the preliminary recommendations presented yesterday, I believe CODAC has done an excellent job at articulating pertinent issues and relating possible solutions to other policy areas impacting arts and culture. But, I also believe their recommendations need more work. I will ask my colleagues to allow them to do so and, if allowed to continue, I anticipate they will deliver a final set of recommendations to Council this spring.
The activists who worked to save the arts scene in Capitol Hill have succeeded in getting the City to take notice, it seems. There are some important decisions being made about how this neighborhood will look like in five, ten years and beyond, and the city officials are actively seeking input.
Exciting times, indeed.
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