ARTIST LIVE/WORK SPACE

131 Pages·2011·1.43 MB·English

by  Hillary Murray

ARTIST LIVE/WORK SPACE:
living with chemicals/working in bed

BY HILLARY MURRAY
MAY 2011
THESIS

Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for

The Master of Science in Arts Administration Drexel University

By

Hillary Murray, B.A.

* * * * *

Drexel University
2011

Approved by

______________________________
Julie Goodman Hawkins
MFA in Dance and
BA in Public Policy
Advisor
Graduate Program in
Arts Administration
Copyright by
Hillary Murray
2011

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ABSTRACT

Developing artist live/work spaces is a popular tactic for improving
marginalized portions of the urban landscape. As such, there is a fair amount of
research regarding the influence these spaces can have on the economic and
social evolution of a neighborhood. With an end goal of widening the
conversation by including the artists’ voices, this paper investigates the various
elements of artist live/work space from the perspective of the artist-residents.
Using an artist’s input while creating live/work space benefits developers, based
on the conceit that if artists find the spaces functional, they will have a sense of
ownership and perhaps even prolonged and consistent residency—one hallmark
of a healthy real estate project.
This paper shares the relevant history, the physical properties of several
significant live/work spaces, and the current market need for live/work space. It
also discusses several common themes drawn from anecdotal information
collected nationwide from artists, through five site visits and twenty-three
completed on-line questionnaires. In the conclusion of this paper, these common
themes are translated into preliminary best-practices and applied to future
live/work projects, with particular focus on the city of Philadelphia. Artists claim
that having sufficient amounts of affordable space, soundproof walls, and a
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community of other artists with whom to interact and collaborate are the three
essential elements of good live/work space. The following paper reports on the
research that resulted in the understanding of the importance of these three
elements in successful artist live/work space projects, as well as the finding that
artist live/work space increases artistic output.

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Dedicated to any artist who has ever had to take time away from their art-
making to carve out a live/work space for themselves (legally or otherwise).

_______________________________

In memory of David Kidder Glassco (1943 – 2011), my first professor.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The creation of this paper required an immeasurable amount of
assistance, guidance, generosity, and patience on the part of many people. I fear
writing an acknowledgements’ section longer than the rest of the paper, but also
feel compelled to spend some lines of text thanking everyone who not only
helped in the process of researching and writing this paper, but also made the
experience one that was free of angst or anxiety.
The five site visits involved endless e-mails on the part of not only the
artist-residents who invited me into their live/work spaces, but also the kind
individuals who put me in touch with the artist-residents. Many thanks go to
Wendy Holmes and Leah Swartz at Artspace’s Minneapolis office, Sandi Turner
and Laura Nehf at the Athens Area Arts Council, Barbara Koenen of the Chicago
Department of Cultural Affairs, and Meg Shiffler and Aimee Le Duc at the San
Francisco Arts Commission. Kathleen Carignan of LegalArt in Miami, FL, and Anni
Holm, a Chicago-based artist, deserve special thanks for answering e-questions
and for sharing an image of a painting. Special recognition also needs to be given
to Delphine and Michael Barringer-Mills, Kate Evans and Ryan Walquist, Chloe
Wigston Smith and Shane Hamilton, Francesca Stevenson and Andrew Pribuss,
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Litia Perta and Sam Miller, and Jessica Small and Chris Moutenot—all were
convivial ambassadors of their respective cities. They offered me guest
bedrooms, delicious meals, good company, rides, and flexible schedules that
allowed me to run off to meetings on short notice—and more importantly, many
of these glorious people have (literally) been lifelong friends, supporting me in
innumerable ways from day one. Justin Busch, Andy Nasisse, Lauren Gallaspy,
Montserrat Alsina, Pico Sanchez, and Laura Semmelroth are examples of people
who prove that kindness and generosity can still be found at the other end of an
anonymous e-mail. After hearing from me out of the blue they were still willing
to open their homes and spend hours sharing histories of careers and examples
of artwork, introduce me to neighbors, explain finance structures of their
buildings, offer example budgets and floor plans, point out architectural details
and renovations, allow access to their roofs to see sweeping vistas, create maps
of other live/work spaces, and even gift presents!
As for the respondents to the on-line questionnaire, I promised
anonymity and will keep that promise. I simply want to thank anyone who
completed the questionnaire, anyone who forwarded the link on my behalf, or
anyone who listened to my definition of what constitutes live/work space so
they could try to think of friends who might be appropriate potential
respondents.
Cecelia Fitzgibbon is the person who nurtured the topic of live/work
space in its primacy, as the topic for a research paper assigned in the
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introductory course of the Drexel Arts Administration program. Her kind
comments and feedback on that original paper allowed me to feel secure in
pursuing this research. And it goes without saying that her leadership and
dedication to the Arts Administration program continue to make it a
transformative experience for all who are lucky to be counted as one of her
students.
The next stage of support for my research came from Ximena Varela,
someone who I feel eternally grateful for having had the opportunity to learn
from while she was a professor at Drexel University. Her seminar class offered
me the opportunity to further explore the topic of artist live/work space, but
perhaps more consequential than the work I completed during seminar were her
valuable words of encouragement regarding my abilities as a student. In addition
to her generous nature, her intellect and superb sense of humor made every
moment spent in her classes a total joy.
To my classmates in the Arts Administration program, I am grateful for
your talents, your insights, your humor, your wisdom, your commitment to the
arts, and for the example you set. What an honor it is to have spent time with
such an outstanding group of people who are passionate about their role as
responsible stewards of the arts. Amy Scheidegger, in particular, has gracefully
redefined what it means to be an artist/advocate/scholar. I feel grateful that I
had the opportunity to stand by her side (which she knows had nothing to do
with the award she received for her thesis), as I know that she is someone on
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whose shoulders many of us stand as we try to reach the lofty goals she sets for
us.
Julie Goodman Hawkins deserves special recognition as my advisor for
this thesis. Knowing that her kindness always awaited me at our monthly
meetings at the coffee shop was the most effective type of motivation I could
have asked for. Her knowledge of the cultural sector, the available research, and
her rigor as a scholar immensely improved the formation of my ideas, my
research methods, and my writing. And it should be mentioned that she offered
all of this kindness, knowledge, guidance, and support to me while she was
simultaneously gestating and then nurturing her precious new daughter; it takes
a truly selfless person to read rough drafts when there is an adorable new family
member in their life—one who does not yet sleep through the night.
And finally, I should thank my father for being the first person to share his
live/work space with me. Sitting on the floor and painting with “my own paints”
in his summer studio while he finished water colors on his worktable or keeping
my shoes on from the moment I got up in the morning to when I went to bed, in
his SoHO loft, so I wouldn’t step on the aluminum clippings leftover from making
models of his sculptures—these are both strongly part of my memories of
childhood. Growing up in the same space as the process of creation is something
that I wish for everyone (even though the SoHO loft only had one real window
and it faced into an air shaft). With creation comes the implicit sense of hope—
the hope that artists possess that what they are creating is going to exist beyond
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