Artists’ lofts.
Sounds like something any Renaissance City would just have to have.
There has long been talk of such lofts and studio space in the capital city’s so-called Downtown Arts District.
Beyond Cash Donations: How New Forms of Giving Are Transforming Not-for-Profit Accounting
Evolving Funding Landscape for Not-for-Profits Not-for-profit organizations are being asked to do more with less,…
Learn More
To be fair, there has been some progress on revitalizing that section of the city. The Providence Performing Arts Center and Trinity Rep have never shined so bright. Several other smaller venues are consistently drawing crowds. And a handful of downtown buildings have been, or are in the process of being restored.
People – it would appear — are slowly beginning to warm to the idea of living downtown. Tenants, for example, are now living in refurbished apartments in Westminster Street’s historic Alice Building.
But what has happened to the idea – the vision that so many have professed – of artists swarming into downtown, living in reborn buildings and taking advantage of targeted tax breaks for goods they sold or services they provided?
It hasn’t happened.
The tax break idea was – and remains – a good one. There needs to be a carrot at the end of the stick. But few artists, if any, appear to be biting. Some work out of their homes or in restored mill buildings in other corners of Rhode Island. Downtown Pawtucket, for example, has a thriving arts community of its own.
Recently, the issue of the arts emerged in the race to succeed soon-to-be removed Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. Former Mayor Joseph Paolino, Jr., one of four Democratic hopefuls, floated the idea of extending the Providence arts district to the Olneyville neighborhood.
Paolino unveiled his idea at the Olneyville studio of a glass artist, Kurt Walrath. Paolino said he had talked to several local artists and concluded that downtown was simply too pricey for fledgling artists.
”Look at Kurt, a RISD grad, who leases work space here,” Paolino said at a press conference. “He can make a living here. He is just one example of what can be done in Olneyville.”
Walrath said the Olneyville studio is in fact an affordable one, but that zoning and building code issues prevent him from living there. Paolino vowed to address those issues if elected mayor.
”Look at all the mill buildings and vacant stores along Manton Avenue, or space on Plainfield Street, Hartford Avenue or Harris Avenue,” he said. “Too many people have labeled the area a ‘war zone…’ Let’s help turn Olneyville around, and use the arts as a catalyst to draw people to this neighborhood.”
Paolino said that as mayor, he would promote the development of artists’ living space in Olneyville with rental subsidies available — and that he would also maintain support for the Downtown Arts District.
I like Joe Paolino’s idea. Olneyville is a tired and worn section of the city. Like so many others, it represents a neighborhood that has not been truly touched by the Providence Renaissance.
Olneyville has a proud history. It deserves better than the vacant and abandoned buildings that now define it. If luring artists to that corner of Providence helps in its revitalization – so be it.
But I am left wondering about our Downtown Arts District and whether this vision of developing a community of artists actually living there is a viable one.
I visited the Downtown Arts District on a recent Friday afternoon. I knew I was in the right place, because the street sign at Empire Street told me so. There it was, right above the words Empire Street was “Downcity Arts District.”
But as I walked along Empire and then Weybosset and then Westminster streets, I saw mostly vacant properties. Lots of businesses at street level, but then windows of darkness upstairs. There are no sculptors, or painters or glass-blowers to be found.
The idea of invigorating Olneyville by luring artists to live there makes a lot of sense – for Olneyville. But it doesn’t address a question that has been lingering over downtown for years now. How do we get artists to move their studios – and all their belongings downtown?
Obviously, there is no one panacea. Targeted tax breaks are a start. So is parking and better lighting. A grocery store and Laundromat would probably help.
I’d still like to look up and see artists’ lofts downtown. It seems to me a real Renaissance City should have them.
