"We keep our rent artificially low," Lindquist said. "The artists control what businesses or restaurants move in, rent doesn't raise and cause eviction."
And for a number of artists, as Emerald writer Jeff Nguyen points out, the lofts help foster a sense of community in the city's constantly evolving arts scene.
Santa Cruz’s Sonia Le is picking up that tradition. Le, 38, is an independent fashion designer who works from her studio/office at the Tannery Arts Center. But she’s also a teacher, looking to instill the skills of fashion into a new generation.
A financing plan to build a rental loft tower where local artists with low incomes can live and work is being redrawn after the project slated for state land in Kakaako encountered a $10 million cost increase due to a construction delay.
Currently there are 12 certified creative districts across the state, including Salida, which was, along with Denver Art’s District on Sante Fe, one of the first districts certified in 2012.
The former Bell School Campus in Treme is being transformed into residential and work space for artists and their families. The project is being led by the nonprofit Artspace. Eileen Fleming met up with Artspace spokesman Joe Butler for a look at the historic property – inside and out.
Carla Perlo is twirling a ribbon and dancing around a formerly vacant alley off 8th and Kearny Streets NE. Right off the sidewalk, one of those flailing inflatable tube men flaps over itself in the wind. A steady stream of local officials, artists, and community residents are filing into the alley and a ground level dance studio in the Brookland Artspace Lofts, to celebrate the groundbreaking of what will officially be known as the 8th Street Arts Park.
