Artscope Magazine: A Call to Protect Our Cultural & Creative Spaces
Published in Artscope in the May/June 2023 Issue; By Ami Bennitt
In this series’ previous features, we saw the unlikely success of Humphreys Street Studios (Dorchester) and the Arts and Business Council’s preserving Western Avenue Studios in Lowell — two different solutions to one long-term, systemic problem: artist displacement.
In this issue, we explore the impact of displacement on individual artists, artist communities and the regional arts ecosystem. We also note that arts displacement is a symptom of an insecure cultural ecosystem — and to solve it, we must address it holistically. Each part of the ecosystem — from higher education (MassArt, Berklee, BoCo, Lesley, RISD and others) to state/local government, corporations, foundations, museums, galleries, concert venues, theatres, publications — all stakeholders in our sector — must come together with one goal: to stop cultural displacement. We must preserve what we have, build more of what we need, and create protections for both. It’s cliche and true: it will take a village.
THE ARTS FACTOR DATA
In 2019, the arts service organization ArtsBoston published its research findings on the economic impact the arts/cultural sector has across the region, called The Arts Factor. Its data shows that our sector pumps over $2 billion in spending into the region annually. It also shows that Greater Boston has more arts organizations per capita (50 organizations/100,000 residents) than any other metro area in the United States.
The data shows our sector creates more than 30,000 jobs, nearly as many as the retail industry in our region and more than 21 million people attend arts and cultural events annually, which is greater than four times the total annual attendance of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics combined. However, the report also shows that Boston ranks 10th of 11 comparable cities in public funding of the arts. Why? How do we fix this tragic imbalance? No wonder there is so much displacement. There aren’t enough resources at work to protect our sector.
IMPACT ON ARTIST COMMUNITIES
Over the decades, we’ve seen losses to our cultural landscape, repeatedly. It’s not new. But it’s a lot. And it continues, even as I type this. We’ve seen an entire transformation of Boston’s Fort Point, where now, only a select few artist buildings remain among immense wealth of development there and in the adjacent Seaport. We’ve lost The Piano Factory, 120 and 128 Brookside and dozens of others. The artist building at 555 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain still sits empty, 20 years after displacing its artist community. Joy Street Studios in Somerville was bought by New York developer North River. The Berwick Building in Roxbury and 119 Street in Allston are being redeveloped — artists displaced. Nowhere is safe or protected. This must change or it will continue.
IMPACT ON INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS
I could share volumes on the number of displaced artists I’ve met and their devastation tales over the years. Most are the same — they had studio space, the owners decided to sell, or raised the rent beyond reason, neighborhoods gentrify, pushing artists out. Some artists and musicians have been displaced multiple times over the decades, sometimes pushing them out of state entirely.
Brendan Killian, a well-known painter and long-time resident artist at The Haven, rented his painting studio at 128 Brookside Avenue in Jamaica Plain (Boston) for over a decade. Despite much advocacy, asking for help, he and over a dozen artists were displaced anyway. However, the advocacy did prevent the building from becoming anything other than office space, which he considers a win. He’s moving to Vermont, where both housing and studio space are more accessible. “Besides the loss of the actual physical space, and more crucially,” he said, “was the loss of the community itself, which is irreplaceable.” Wayne Strattman, a glass and light sculptor, despite much advocacy, lost his workspace at the beloved Piano Factory (Roxbury/South End), is now being displaced again, along with over three dozen artists, from his workspace at 119 Braintree Street, home of Allston Open Studios. Although there are mitigation funds available, it’s not enough to buy a new location, nor is it enough to secure artist workspaces in Boston proper for more than seven years — ultimately forcing artists out of the region.
The former artist complex at 128 Brookside Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts.
Jewelry maker/metalsmith Monique Rancourt and her musician partner Andy Spencer lived in Cambridge, but 12 years ago, moved to Waltham, where they both live and run a gallery space (where she also has her studio). “If I ever have to leave here,” she explained, “I’m not sure what I would do. I have poked around and there are no affordable art studios anywhere. We are very lucky to have come here when we did. It’s hard to stay true to who you are when you’re worried about whether or not you will have a place to live and work.”
After being displaced from its home in the Fenway in 2006, the New Alliance Audio community relocated to the EMF Building in Cambridge’s Central Square. After a decade-plus there, in 2018, they, along with 300 artists/musicians were displaced. In 2019, audio engineer Nick Zampiello was instrumental in rebuilding the New Alliance group of music studios and artist workspaces for the third time in Union Square, Somerville, where its future is not secure long-term. “We were too late,” he said, “to buy in Cambridge/Somerville. The money requirement is supremely prohibitive.”
After witnessing his creative community repeatedly cast aside and accepting that ownership was the only way to prevent displacement, he bought a funeral home in Lowell, that he runs as artist live/workspaces, called the Paw. “Lowell is an experiment,” Zampiello explained. “At least we’re owners — but it barely worked on paper, because the land inflation is so steep. I AM BURNT. That was 2019 and I still haven’t recovered physically or emotionally.”
Visual artist/musician Dan Blakeslee had to leave Somerville after 15 years. “I loved it there,” he said. “I kept watching prices soar, so [I] moved to Providence where rent was half. I then moved to Maine, where I’m originally from — and have increased rates for making art performing concerts to afford where I am now.”
AND WHAT ABOUT OUR MUSIC ECOSYSTEM?
When considering artist displacement, we must include music. Over recent years, our region has lost so much of our music ecosystem, including beloved concert venues Great Scott (due to property sale, Allston) and Atwood’s Tavern (Cambridge). Soon, the iconic Middle East restaurant and nightclub will be redeveloped, its live music footprint decreasing.
Further, like New Alliance Audio, long-time recording studio Q-Division was recently displaced from Somerville and Watch City Studios in Waltham is closing, due to drastic rent increase.
Quite recently, music rehearsal studios have become a large part of the displacement conversation. This year over 700 musicians were displaced from their decades-long home The Sound Museum (Brighton). On its heels was Charlestown Rehearsal Studios, whose new owners wanted to change use to self-storage, publicly stating they could make more money on storage than rehearsal. Through advocacy and help from the City of Boston, both music communities have solutions pending.
IT WON’T STOP UNTIL ENOUGH OF US STOP IT
Until recently there wasn’t arts advocacy specific to preserving cultural space. Now we have the #ARTSTAYSHERE Coalition, a volunteer-run organization dedicated to anti-artist displacement, by calling for protections and policies for cultural space. We ask for the following:
Dedicated line-item in municipal budget for arts/cultural space for those displaced and to build more cultural space. - Zoning protections: to keep arts/cultural spaces as is in perpetuity.
Arts as part of all planning and development at the municipal level.
That these protections and policies apply to the entire region.
We ask you, as artists, workers in the arts and arts supporters to join us. Sign the petition, share it to others who care about the future of the arts, music and culture in our region. Visit artstayshere.org to sign our petition asking for protections and policies for cultural spaces.