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Betting on the arts to revitalize the city
By Natalie Myers,
Providence Business News Staff Writer
 Lori
Bradley recognizes the impact the creative economy is
making in New Bedford.
As a ceramics/mixed-media artist and as part owner of a
six-artist cooperative gallery downtown – MOSAIC
Gallery, which opened two weeks ago – Bradley is also
part of the creative economy that has spurred mill
renovations, mixed-use developments and a host of new
businesses to emerge in New Bedford.
Developers, city officials, nonprofit arts organization
staff, artists and gallery owners are hopeful the trend
will pull the city out of its economic malaise.
Walking down William Street, Matt Morrissey, executive
director of the New Bedford Economic Development
Council, pointed out No Problemo. The restaurant, which
serves tacos, burritos and quesadillas, has been there
for five years.
Then Morrissey pointed out a small music store, a
skateboard store and a DVD store around the corner.
“None of these were here three years ago,” he said.
Farther down William Street, making a left onto Acushnet
Avenue, Morrissey highlighted Dyer Brown & Associates
Architects, which also has offices in Boston and
Wellesley, and C. Raymond Hunt Associates Inc., which
moved to New Bedford from Boston last summer.
He called attracting the architecture firm and yacht
designing firm the third stage of the creative economy.
Morrissey said the first stage was the University of
Massachusetts Dartmouth’s 2001 opening of the Star Store
campus on Purchase Street in downtown New Bedford. The
university redeveloped the landmark department store
into a hub for its college of visual and performing
arts.
Since then, many students taking classes there have
stayed in the city because they are attracted to the
cheap rents, Bradley said. Some studio mill space is as
cheap as $200 per month.
The second stage of creative economy development
involves attracting the eclectic shops and restaurants
such as No Problemo, Morrissey said. The hope is to get
to the third stage, where the city is attracting the
high-wage creative companies. But one link in the chain
leads to the next, he said. And that process is what the
city wants to maintain.
“The mayor does not want to see any resident or artist
priced out of the New Bedford market,” Morrissey said.
“We are carefully planning to ensure there is a very
clear balance.”
But Bradley said she already sees some artists feeling
pushed out of the market.
On Cove Street, developers have plans to redevelop two
mill buildings occupied by artists into 248 market-rate
lofts. Bradley said those artists feel especially
worried about displacement because they are by the
water. They’re not sure how long they will be able to
stay, she said.
Also along New Bedford’s industrial waterfront there is
a huge project involving the redevelopment of Wamsutta
Mill into 250 condominiums and apartments, said Patrick
Sullivan, director of the office of housing and
community development for the city.
“We have four to five projects underway right now as far
as converting existing mills into residential space,” he
said.
The Ropeworks Building, not far from the industrial
waterfront, is one of those projects. But it has a
different mission.
The goal of Ropeworks is to provide mill live/work space
only to visual artists, said Norm Buck, developer of the
mill. The 14 spaces range from 1,000 square feet to more
than 2,000 square feet and cost between $150,000 and
$400,000 to purchase. Twelve of the 14 spaces already
have been purchased.
“We’re one facet of what it takes to have a creative
economy,” said Adam Buck, who is developing the site
with his father, Norm. Adam Buck added that when artists
purchase space, it is one of the only ways to ensure
they won’t get priced out of the market.
But Bradley sees another problem. She said most artists
have trouble affording the $250,000-range lofts like
those at Ropeworks, and there is no other project like
Ropeworks in the city.
She said she wishes the city or a private owner would
sell one of the mill buildings in the city to a group of
artists for them to renovate themselves. She hopes it
would be subsidized so that the artist-owned space could
be set at affordable rates for purchase. She sees that
as one option to ensure artists will stay.
In the meantime, Mayor Scott Lang recently announced the
creation of a new position in the city – a creative
economy liaison position. The person who fills the
position would be responsible for attracting creative
businesses such as architects and designers to the city,
in addition to helping individual artists market their
crafts.
He or she will be the go-to person for anyone inquiring
about anything related to the city’s creative economy,
said Elizabeth Treadup, spokeswoman for Lang.
For now, the city’s artists and arts organizations will
have to rely on AHA!, a nonprofit formed in 1999
dedicated to promoting New Bedford’s art, history and
architecture, for marketing and promotion of the arts.
Several artists, galleries, theaters, restaurants and
stores have benefited from the nonprofit’s free monthly
cultural event, similar to Providence’s Gallery Nights
but inclusive of the city’s historical museums and live
music, which is held on the second Thursday of every
month.
The event has turned the city into a destination, said
Nilsa Garcia-Rey, executive director of Gallery X at 169
William St. Founded in 1990, the nonprofit artist co-op
gallery was one of the first galleries to open in the
city.
AHA!’s annual open studios also attract many visitors.
In its third year, the event has grown significantly,
which some say is a testament to the growing creative
economy in the city.
Margie Butler, program director for AHA!, said in 2005
the open studios took place in five locations. It
involved 65 participating artists and attracted 633
unique visitors. Last year it involved nine locations,
81 artists and 1,165 documented visitors, she said.
This year the event, to be held Sept. 29-30, is expected
to showcase more than 100 artists who live and/or work
in New Bedford.
But Garcia-Rey said that despite AHA!’s efforts, “I’m a
realist, I see artists struggling. I see a struggling
economy in New Bedford … there isn’t a whole lot of
employment in the city. Artists have to struggle to be
resourceful” and take outside jobs.
Garcia-Rey also sees a need to change New Bedford’s
image.
“You only see TV vans when there’s a horrible tragedy,”
she said. “The perception of New Bedford is formed by
that. People from surrounding communities don’t want to
come into town because they’re afraid.”
Still, Garcia-Rey said she sees people coming from
cities such as Providence to attend the monthly AHA!
events.
“It’s happening slowly,” she said. “We all want it to
happen faster.”
Posted Jul. 16, 2007 |
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