Creativity abounds at the Sailboat Bend Artist Lofts in Fort Lauderdale. Recently, several residents with unique projects won grants to further their work. The Creative Investment Program (CIP) Grant benefits those whose ventures reach out into the community. It is administered through the Broward County Cultural Division.
Mayor Paul Pontieri’s pride in the bustling Village of Patchogue is evident as he strolls along Main Street, stopping to pick up a stray plastic bag littering the sidewalk, point out the newest restaurant that’s just opened, or chat with the constituents who stop him to say hello.It was noontime on Presidents Day and shoppers walked along the street, the restaurants were full and Pontieri was clearly delighted.“I love it,” Pontieri said. “You walk downtown now, there’s a nice vibe, a lot of energy.”
Situated in the middle of Downtown East Dearborn, City Hall Artspace Lofts resembles a quaint college campus. Three former municipal buildings combine residences, gallery and studio space, and future retail and office space.
In 2011, Memphis’ South Main Artspace Lofts project received a $100,000 planning grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The affordable housing development has since leveraged 18 million dollars in private and public money for artist live-work space on South Main.
The NEA’s support for other Memphis projects and organizations, such as the Tennessee Arts Commission, could be in jeopardy under the Trump administration.
An affordable housing project for artists will break ground in Kakaako on Sunday, and developers say rents at the property will be as low as $540 per month. The Ola Key 'Ilima Artspace Project is the first of its kind in Hawaii and is designed to help struggling artists who live paycheck to paycheck for their passion.
As Artspace enters its 38th year of operation, we're proud of what we've accomplished. This year has been one of continued growth, sustained affordability and new opportunities for artists and their families.
On busy days, trombonist Marc Francis, 26, goes from gig to gig, playing his horn with different bands at a series of different venues—the convention center, a street parade, a nightclub. Sometimes Francis would like to be able to make a quick stop at his apartment to change clothes between gigs. And at 3 a.m., when his New Breed Brass Band finishes its Wednesday-night gig on the Frenchmen Street strip a few blocks from the French Quarter, he’d love to be a short drive, or better yet, a short walk, from his bed.
SANTA CRUZ >> Some 75 miles south of Oakland, Santa Cruz’s artist community is not far removed from its San Francisco Bay Area cousins and reverberations from December’s Ghost Ship fire.As the poignant stories of each of the 36 lives lost in the converted East Oakland warehouse blaze emerged in the weeks after the tragedy, legislators, municipal officials and other arts groups began taking stock of similar situations, examining where improvements might come.
Artspace is pleased to announce a major grant from the Ford Foundation that will provide $3.75 million for the organization to build internal capacity; restructure a number of aging properties to ensure their long-term affordability for low-income artists; and launch a new fellowship program to support emerging leaders of color working at the intersection of arts and community development.
