Report: NYC Artists an Endangered Breed
It’s an old story, but let’s hear it again: Up go the rents, out go the artists. A new report from the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia’s Teachers College makes the case that New York real estate values are driving artists to lower-cost cities and that the city’s cultural capital is endangered,…
It’s an old story, but let’s hear it again: Up go the rents, out go the artists. A new report from the Research Center for Arts and Culture at Columbia’s Teachers College makes the case that New York real estate values are driving artists to lower-cost cities and that the city’s cultural capital is endangered, according to an article in today’s Sun. The report, entitled “Above Ground,” is based on interviews with 213 visual artists between the ages of 62 and 97. The artists interviewed earned a median income of $30,000 and 44 percent of them live in rent-regulated apartments. The report recommends that the city recycle buildings for artists to live and work in and designate areas in new condos for galleries run by artists. “New York is at risk if we lose that creative community,” said Theodore Berger, the project director of Urban Arts Initiative. “We risk becoming what Paris has become: filled with wonderful institutions, but with no living, breathing community.” Sacre bleu?
New York in Danger of Losing Its Artists [NY Sun]
Photo by jennpelly
developers may be salivating, 1:14 but i absolutely do not agree that gowanus will turn into dumbo in 10 years. i think, if anything it will turn into something more like the pearl district in portland, oregon in which case…SIGN ME UP!
RE: the need for exhibition space etc…
While probably a valid concern, I think the geriatric artists surveyed for this article should not have that concern, based on their age and income it seems fairly clear that no one is interested in their art anyway.
“original artists were priced out”
If you own, you’ll never be priced out.
Maybe ownership should become an objective for artists, too. There are FHA and similar loans to help those with low-income become owners. They could try that BEFORE the neighborhoods become too expensive to afford. But owning a property is not punk rock, right?
“The Gowanus is going to be a huge area for artists over the next 10 years.”
You mean the are that developers are salivating over to build more luxury condos? It’s gonna get Dumbo-ed faster than Dumbo did.
My understanding is that people of limited means generally move into less expensive nabes, whether they’re artists or not. They then pave the way for the next wave of people to gentrify the neighborhood and if prices go up, then they’re priced out. Why is this surprising? Why would anyone think that this happens only to artists?
My understanding has always been that the artists would move into the less desirable neighborhoods, such as Park Slope in the 70’s and 80s. The artists would pave the way for the next wave of people to gentrify the neighborhood to the point where the original artists were priced out. It happened in Dumbo and will happen in other neighborhoods.
“The creative brain drain is already underway. Oh well, our loss is Philly’s gain, as well as everywhere else’s.”
Oh yeah, I forgot that only artists can be creative. Thanks for the reminder.
NO ONE with half a brain is moving to Phildelphia. It is on a slide back to pre 2000 level crime and businesses are suffering tremendously. I am an huge Philly supporter, but the change in the city over the last two years has been drastic. I certainly would not invest money in a home in Philly right now, that’s for sure.
The Gowanus is going to be a huge area for artists over the next 10 years. I hear about a lot going on in that neighborhood that seems quite positive and the key to all of this is that Gowanus has the buildings needed for artists to make their art.
Also, 11:51….most artists I know are VERY reluctant to leave the city. Any serious artists anyway.
To survive as a serious artist in this world, living in New York not only gives one a sense of inspiration for the arts that other areas in the u.s. do not provide, but just having New York as an address gives one a step through the door that a return address of topeka, kansas will never have.
11:41,
There are still plenty of neighborhoods in NYC that are affordable to artists. 11:33 listed some of them. They aren’t close to the East Village or Williamsburg, but so what? If your goal is to stay in NYC, then the options are there.
I also think this might be a way of weeding out successful artists from those who can’t make a go of it. Let’s face it: many people can’t earn a living off their art because their art is crappy.