NO PLACE FOR ARTISTS Portland hasn't proved particularly accommodating to artists, but some creative types are trying to help find them a home
Published on May 20, 2001
Page: 1E
© 2001- Blethen Maine Newspapers, Inc.
Byline: AMY SUTHERLAND Staff Writer
It's an old story. It's known as the SoHo syndrome. Artists move into an economically depressed end of town, lawyers and bankers follow, rents go up, artists are forced out. A variation on that theme has begun happening in Portland. When downtown was still feeling the hangover of the early '90s recession, rent for commercial space was cheap. Artists moved into empty offices. A quick glance through the real estate section shows those days are over. Rising rents are forcing some artists to give up their studio spaces. Rents have risen at the State Theatre building, for instance, where several artists have studios. Jero Nesson has seen this scenario countless times. Nesson, an urban planner in Concord, Mass., is at the forefront of a small movement to secure affordable housing and studio space for artists. He'll be in Portland on Friday to speak at Connections, a conference for artists, gallery owners and presenters. He'll show examples of projects he has worked on around the country. "It's possible for us to get together, find a building and have our own affordable studio or studio-live situation," he says. "Artists need to know it can be done." Nesson's visit comes as two efforts are under way in Portland. Jessica Tomlinson, a founder of the former Dead Space Gallery, and Rose Marasco, an artist and professor at the University of Southern Maine, have organized Portland Artist Dwellings and Studios (PADS). They are in the process of getting its non-profit status and hope to develop space for artists in the next two years. In addition, Peter Bass, a private developer, plans to construct a building in East Bayside with housing and studio space for artists. Artists have different space needs then most the rest of the population. Visual artists and designers need large, well-lit rooms. They need freight elevators to move large paintings and sculptures. They often work with toxic chemicals. Performing artists need a place to practice and rehearse. And most all artists - poets, ceramicists, musicians - need cheap rent. That's why in the 1960s and '70s, artists, the first urban pioneers, filled empty, industrial and commercial buildings in cities around the country. The spaces were big, cheap and pretty much there for the taking. That changed in the '80s once urban professionals cottoned to loft living. Since then, despite the efforts of people like Nesson, more and more artists have been displaced. Sara Parker at Minneapolis's Artspace Project, a non-profit organization that develops artist live-work space around the country, says there's more work out there than the organization can possibly do. "It's everywhere where real estate is in demand," Parker says. Certainly artists aren't the only ones affected by escalating rents, which chase out everybody in the lower economic brackets. That can make for some philosophical debates about why these organizations focus on artists, who generally are college educated and from the middle class. "Why not plumbers? Why not janitors? We happen to believe that the artist population is an important population," Parker says. "It's not an elitism." "A lot of artists, especially those who are starting in their careers, can't afford residential and a studio space," Nesson says. "We're dealing with an affordable housing issue." Nesson has been helping artists help themselves for 20 years. He wrote the book, "Artists in Space," on how to develop affordable studios and what is referred to as live-work space. He first encountered the need in the 1970s while working for the state of Massachusetts in finding new uses for empty public buildings. Nesson found that artists were obvious tenants for unused libraries, schools and industrial buildings. He went on to focus solely on developing work space and housing for artists through a variety of organizations. He was the first director of the Fort Point Arts Community, which developed housing and studio space for artists in the formerly industrial section of downtown Boston. Nesson oversaw the transformation of a 72,000-square-foot industrial building into live-work spaces that sold initially for $20 a square foot, or $20,000 for a 1,000-square foot space. Thirty-five artists became condo owners. He's currently working on a former 55,000-square-foot library in Maynard, Mass., that has been remade into an arts center with studio space. In Portland, artists have often looked to City Hall to solve their housing and studio problem. In contrast, Nesson has generally not worked with the public sector in developing the artist-owned projects other than to get zoning variances. Typically, Nesson raises funds by signing up artists in advance, taking deposits and using that to leverage a bank loan. With art centers, the public sector's involvement is crucial. In Maynard, the city has leased the library to the arts center for $1 a year. Artspace in Minneapolis, which currently is developing 12 projects in seven states, only does rental spaces. It sets up the financing so that the organization just breaks even, Parker says. Nine of the organization's projects represent $55 million worth of property and 500 units of live-work, studio, office, exhibit and performance space. Other than the intent to support artists, every project is different, Parker says. Some are initiated by artists who have been displaced. Some are initiated by communities looking to revive a neighborhood or use an empty building. The two needs don't always converge. Artspace was asked to redevelop an empty school in a small town, but found there were only seven artists in the area, not nearly enough to support the project. Nesson says both Amesbury and Worcester, Mass., face the same issue. Each city has empty buildings downtown they would like to revitalize. "It's not clear if there are enough artists to live in them," Nesson says. "They are asking the same question: `How far will artists be willing to relocate for affordable studio space?' " On the flip side, there are cities with big communities of artists but no obvious buildings. Cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., have few industrial buildings. "It's a really bad situation," Nesson says. This is the situation in Portland. Unlike the mill towns of Lewiston and Biddeford, Portland has few industrial buildings. That's why when Nissen moved out of its baking facility on Washington Avenue, Marasco and Tomlinson turned their attention there. The building, which is managed by Boulos, is already on the rental market. "There's nothing left," Bass says. That's why Bass is building from scratch. Bass is unusual in that he is a private developer creating artist live-work space. He is married to Lin Lisberger, a sculptor and professor at the University of Southern Maine. He previously developed a building of studio space on Merrill Street on Munjoy Hill. Bass bought an empty lot on Anderson Street about a year ago. He plans to break ground this fall. He won't say how much he is investing in the project, but he plans to sell the eight 1,000 square-foot units for between $110,000 and $125,000. He got a zoning variance so that the artists can work in their residences. He plans to make a profit, but about half of the 20 percent that's typical on a project, Bass says. "It's probably not the most lucrative development to work on, but it serves a community that is underserved," Bass says. As a private developer, Bass will be in a ticklish situation as far as setting any criteria for who can buy the condos. For the buildings Nesson and Artspace have developed, potential tenants must demonstrate that they are working artists. Artspace also sets an income limit. Bass is unsure what the law will allow him to do. "I hope I get eight real live artists and I don't have to deal with that issue," Bass says. PADS is still very much in the planning stage, but it has had a lot of interest. "We have ready buyers," Marasco says. "I could have rented 50 spaces in the past month." Marasco envisions an ambitious plan, a building with live-work space that doubles as a community arts center with a theater and gallery space, maybe even an artist residency program. They have their eyes on some buildings, Marasco says, but admits there aren't many in Portland that would fit the bill. Although City Hall would very much like to see Bayside developed, there are few buildings in the derelict neighborhood. Portland's dearth of unwanted industrial buildings presents an additional challenge, Nesson says. "Organizing artists is very difficult, but organizing around a building is very easy," he says. "It's hard if there is no space. If you have one, people can go, `Yeah, that seems doable.' " Still, not having a specific space to rally around shouldn't stop the Portland artist community, he says. "I think a lot of artists feel like they are victims of the real estate market," Nesson says. "A big mistake is not getting involved, not taking that first step." Staff Writer Amy Sutherland can be contacted at 791-6456 or at: asutherland@pressherald.com
Staff illustration by Pete Gorski