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| Artist in residence: When Kim Chapin and her husband discovered Raleigh, N.C., this year, they decided to move there. Patrik Jonsson |
Southern U.S. cities lure artists to boost economy
In Raleigh, N.C., where the ballet used to practice in a mall, the arts are blossoming.
from the December 26, 2007 edition
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Paducah, Ky., has coaxed 70 artists from Atlanta, Phoenix, and New York to its LowerTown art district as part of the Artist Relocation Program the city started in 2000, offering subsidized studio space and even healthcare benefits.
"The debate right now is whether it's more successful to go through an organic sort of arts process or do you build a huge stadium and use that as an anchor?" says Steven Pedigo, an urban researcher based in Washington, D.C. "The fact is, cities are realizing you don't get a lot of bang for your buck for large investments in conference centers." In contrast, he says, promoting arts is a bargain.
Public art installations, dance curricula in low-income city schools, and public investments in performance space have dramatically changed the fortunes of Greenville, S.C., which has doubled its workforce in the last 10 years.
To be sure, nearby auto plants have helped, but the revitalization of the decrepit mill village of East Greenville and the popping up of art studios and galleries around the city, oftentimes in borderline warehouse space and strip malls, has created cachet for the old textile capital.
"When we go out to recruit businesses or employees to come here, people look at economics first, but once you get a list of five, six, or seven places, what you look at is the character of the place – do they support the arts?" says Diana Smock, an at-large representative of the Greenville city council. "Those are all factors that give us a real boost."
But there are pitfalls. For one, not everyone appreciates the charm of a place like Raleigh where pig pickins', or roasts, are still the essence of local culture. A friend of the Chapins, for example, lasted three weeks in Raleigh before decamping back to New York. "She said she couldn't take it," says Mr. Chapin.
Although fights over public art installations, which have beset both Raleigh and Greenville, are often seen as promoting healthy debate, they can also be corrosive as artists clash with community elders. Another problem, critics say: An expensive symphony hall, for example, is a nice amenity, but can't by itself guarantee what some pundits call "livability."
But for former New York-based artist Shaun Richards, who now works from a cluttered studio in Raleigh's up-and-coming warehouse district, small, creative cities offer opportunity and exposure nearly impossible to get, for example, in New York's more insular art world.
Most importantly, he says, "Creative people can actually live downtown and work, even though they're usually making only $25,000 a year."
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