Is a Neighborhood Art Scene the key to a vibrant city?
Is a Neighborhood Art Scene the key to a vibrant city?
by Stephanie Fleming
Art defines a community.
A vibrant community is where the neighborhood’s history, culture, and ethnicity of residents are represented in the retail shops, business owners, customers, the food, and the art both seen and heard. The community is complemented by homeowners, tenants, and visitors alike with areas to work, eat, drink, and play both indoors and outdoors. The fabric of a vibrant community is stitched together with varied accessible transit, innovation, sustainability initiatives, and bolstered by valued artists who are professionally sustained by the city and its patrons.
Vibrant is defined as full of energy, pulsating, bright, or striking. Everyone wants a vibrant city, community, and commercial corridors or districts. What is often left out of consideration is that art and the artists who make the art define a community and often shape the very aspects that we ultimately describe as “vibrant.” The identity of a community is reflective of its arts and culture scene. Whether it's on the street, a gallery, museum, wayfinding, city branding, or heard along your daily commute, art is what defines a community. But geographically where are these artists, art museums, and art galleries? And where are they not? Who benefits from their locations? What communities are left underserved in regards to the arts in return? Diversifying the geography of artistic spaces and offerings across the region is imperative to bringing contemporary art to communities of color. Residents of color should not have to travel 30+ minutes to engage with contemporary art or to discover a sense of belonging.
Contemporary art spaces in neighborhoods are meeting needs that longstanding institutions have been falling short on for years. In a place like Atlanta we see this play out clearly, however consistent and substantial support for these spaces and independent artists is still lacking. Though with their own set of challenges and shortcomings, contemporary art galleries fill a void where art institutions may fall short. At a more intimate scale they can be a megaphone for today's artists showing their work and exposing patrons to fresh ideas and perspectives. I would argue that art galleries have a flexibility that art institutions aspire to achieve. Galleries (if they choose) can remain nimble and boldly reflect society's latest grievances. They remind the public why we need to support independent artists.
"Untitled" by Shanneil Clarke, 60 x 48 inches, mixed media on canvas - See more
Artistic spaces cultivate community.
The greater metro Atlanta area needs to diversify its contemporary art offerings. Atlanta is a city well known for its creativity in music and film and even civil rights, however it remains understated in regards to its contemporary art scene. Look at any other major city and you'll find art and cultural hubs spread throughout. Atlanta’s contemporary art scene largely starts and ends in Midtown and the Westside. Financial resources for artists and artistic institutions are largely limited to the city of Atlanta borders or Fulton County. Though fondly regarded as the Black Mecca, the cost of living in the City of Atlanta has been driving its Black and Brown population farther away from the city center. What does this mean for the existing art spaces and who are they not serving?
City officials and planners should be inspired to take up the charge and invest in contemporary art hubs to generate and thrive in their cities to nurture existing neighborhoods. Art improves communities. Beautification is not the only use of an artist. The presence of a thriving art community drives economic growth and overall vitality for a neighborhood. The more opportunities for artists to live and work in turn create more reasons for patrons to visit the area and engage with the artists. Based on the experience in the area, those patrons may return for food, beverage, or other forms of entertainment that they discover while there. This is not an invitation to exploit artists, but rather an invitation to acknowledge our inherent value and offerings to any municipality. This is an invitation to invest in artists and art and cultural spaces because you need them.
The City of South Fulton and Hapeville are two great examples of cities who made conscious decisions to prioritize the arts and are benefiting from it. “Greetings from Hapeville A Home for the Arts” reads a postcard in Hapeville’s City Hall. Hapeville has successfully elevated their tourism, business growth and artist opportunities by making art-centric changes across their city. The City of Hapeville and Hapeville Main Street are proud hosts of 38+ public art installations including walkway, parking lot, and pedestrian staircase murals, Free Art Boxes and more. They have provided paid opportunities to over 40 local artists. As well as initiated several regular art-centric events like #FreeArtHapeville and Hapeville Shutter Fest which draw in more visitors and encourage current residents to connect with each other. Hapeville even embodied an art centric approach to development by reviving historic spaces to create artistic hubs. They converted 2 shipping containers into gallery/temporary studio spaces and renovated an old gas station that is now home to the Atlanta Printmakers Studio. Main Street and Grants Coordinator, Nikki Cales, shared: “Since Hapeville has worked to become ‘A Home for the Arts’ there has been an increase in downtown foot traffic, whether it's people wanting to see the public art or it's people attending the art events.
Staff members who have been here for 10 plus years have noticed these changes as well. From seeing photographers use the pedestrian stairway for photoshoots to seeing Porsche or Delta employees walking around to view the public art and grab lunch.”
The City of South Fulton is one of Atlanta’s youngest cities and Mayor khalid kamau has prioritized the arts openly and actively. He’s on a mission to lead one of the most creative cities in Metro Atlanta. The City of South Fulton has been intentionally establishing their permanent art collection and procuring works from local mid-career and emerging artists. Their “Arts in Public Spaces” initiative provides these artists an opportunity to sell work and display in prominent locations across the city. This is in addition to hosting film festivals, performing arts events, regularly scheduled art classes at the Southwest Arts Center, investing in major renovations of their art facilities, and offering generous grants to creatives across the metro who desire to facilitate art experiences in their city. The arts are helping this city build a name for itself. Lloyd Harold, Arts Education Coordinator has personally seen the city’s dedication to the arts help with their senior population. He said, “Many of my students (especially from this last session) have commented on how having a creative outlet has been very therapeutic for them. Classes have also allowed them the time to socialize with other people their age in a classroom setting. And exhibiting at the recital in spring brings them a great amount of confidence. I imagine it's the same thing for some of the music and theater classes for that age group as well.”
The Southeast region of America is overflowing with creativity and creative people waiting to be acknowledged. More resources to encourage individuals and groups to take up the charge and fill our gaps even here in Metro Atlanta are desperately needed. We can’t wait until these high-in-demand organizations go under to help them. Areas like Marietta, Dunwoody, Alpharetta, Stone Mountain, and Gwinnett are poised to serve their citizens and visitors in the same way the City of South Fulton, Hapeville, and others are trying to do.
Imagine a neighborhood, a city, a community where access to contemporary art that looked like you was easy. Who might that empower? And how may we as a society be better for it?
BAIA Print Fair - Jamaal Barber demo
Institutions Leading the Way
There are a few under-recognized art spaces who are leading the charge on what it means to bring Contemporary art to the people by any means necessary. Black Art In America (BAIA), founded by artist and collector Najee Dorsey in East Point is a perfect example. Nestled in an East Point neighborhood, Black Art In America champions Black
artists and advocates for more Black individuals to collect art. Most patrons to BAIA are new to contemporary art, find comfort in their space, and often discover a desire to collect art while there. Most people who purchase art at Black Art in America are first-time art collectors and identify as Black or African American. Black artists are still vastly underrepresented in the art market and art collectors who identify as Black are even fewer in the greater art market. As more artists of color become mainstream and elevate into major collections, it would be nice to see their works collected by individuals and institutions that look like them.
The African Diaspora Art Museum of Atlanta (ADAMA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by artist and scholar Dr. Fahamu Pecou, is another great example. ADAMA is a non-collecting museum that showcases contemporary art and culture representative of the African diaspora. Originally founded as a museum without walls, after 5 years, ADAMA planted temporary roots in Pittsburgh Yards, in Atlanta’s historically Black neighborhood of Pittsburgh. ADAMA is the first major arts & cultural institution to have a presence on the Atlanta Beltline. ADAMA is also the first major institution in Atlanta to exclusively highlight contemporary art of the African Diaspora. The caliber of artistic talent on their walls and flowing in and out of their space is unheard of for a community like Pittsburgh, and residents now get to enjoy that for free in their backyards. People-first and Black-centered institutions like ADAMA moving into residential communities are bold and essential moves that require generous funding support to remain free and open to the public.
Art belongs in city centers and to co-exist within residential spaces. Not as a sales pitch gimmick for development, but instead with an intentional desire to serve, resolve, and represent the actual people who live in that neighborhood. A greater sense of belonging is achieved when respected art and cultural hubs and their leadership reflect the demographic of that community and center who they are. City officials would be wise to latch onto organizations like these that dare to embody their mission by bringing art to the people. Spaces like these represent the famous “third space” that many museums aspire to be and fall short of becoming: A place not just to hold art, but to convene with it, engage with others in and around it, a place to gather, feel seen and be seen.
Stephanie Fleming is an independent creative consultant and exhibiting visual artist under her maiden name Stephanie Brown. Stephanie is passionate about arts entrepreneurship and expanding resources for artists to develop thriving sustainable careers. She is based in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
