L.A.’s Arts District, a 52-block neighborhood in downtown L.A., was once derelict and cheap, the perfect home for struggling artists who began moving to the area in the 1970s. The past 10 years have changed the once “bohemian” neighborhood, attracting a new wave of residents and developers that have driven rents up and forced artists and longtime residents to consider a future elsewhere. (more…)
A recent New York Times article traces the rising rents of the Industry City business incubator and studios, and the resulting exodus of artists a recent rent hike at the Red Hook building has caused. Red Hook is the most recent in a string of rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, where artists are continually being driven out. “All I can see is going further out, then having to move again,” said 73-year old painter Richard Castellana. “I just can’t take it anymore.” (more…)
The New York Times profiles Industry City, the business incubator and artist studio space in Sunset Park that played home to Come Together: Surviving Sandy, Year 1 late last year. Despite its populist appeal, the space has been drawing continued criticism over its rapidly rising rents, which have already pushed out a number of artists from the building. “Part of why we moved to Industry City was because of the community of artists, of art lovers,” said Krista Saunders, the director of programs and communications at Art Connects New York. “It’s really beneficial that we are located within an artistic community, and now that this is dissolving, we are considering our options,” Ms. Saunders said. (more…)
A group of artists, led by Jules de Balincourt, are taking active measures to prevent the ongoing cycle of gentrification from driving them from their studio spaces in the North Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. The rising rents in the swiftly gentrifying neighborhood has some artists pushing to take a stand before they are priced out. “Ten years ago, artists were paying $1 a square foot. Now, in some cases, it’s as much as $4,” says artist William Powhida. “We’re seeing floors subdivided into smaller and smaller spaces, and landlords are charging more and more money. It certainly prices out a number of artists.” (more…)
Faced with rising rents, galleries in Chelsea are slowly moving to areas such as the Lower East Side. Multi-tenant buildings have been affected the most, with small dealers suffering a lack of foot traffic, while large galleries have opened up mega-spaces that also steal viewers. With the High Line‘s popularity and increasing gentrification, rents are only slated to continue increasing.
