ArtSpace Announces America’s Top Art Places…Guess Who’s Not On The List junkyardarts

I can’t say I’m surprised about who was omitted from this list, though I’m might be more surprised at who was included! Knowing there are some of these areas that I’ve never visited and that they are, apparently, doing amazing things in terms of getting the community involved in local art projects, is really inspiring and exciting.

ArtPlaces is the new annual initiative by ArtPlace which recognizes neighborhoods and communities in the largest 44 metropolitan areas across the country who are making strides to incorporate the arts in real, economically and culturally stimulating ways. The top 12 cities in this list were chosen based on the following criteria:

1. the number of retail and service businesses;

2. the percentage of independent businesses;

3. the neighborhood’s Walk Score; and

4. the percentage of workers in creative occupations living in the neighborhood.

5. the number of arts-related non-profits and

6. the number of arts-related businesses.

The numbers were also normalized to eliminate skewing do to household income.

So here we are:

• Brooklyn, NY / The intersection of Downtown, Fort Greene, Gowanus, Park Slope and Prospect Heights

• Dallas, TX / The Dallas Arts District, with parts of Deep Ellum and Exposition Park

• Los Angeles, CA / Central Hollywood

• Miami Beach, FL / South Beach

• Milwaukee, WI / East Town and a portion of the Lower East Side

• New York, NY / Manhattan Valley

• Oakland, CA / Downtown, including Chinatown, Old Oakland, and Jack London Square

• Philadelphia, PA / Old City

• Portland, OR / The Pearl District and a portion of Downtown

• San Francisco, CA / The Mission District

• Seattle, WA / The Pike-Pine Corridor

• Washington, DC / The intersection of Adams Morgan, U St., and Dupont Circle

While Boston made the overall list of 44 cities (twice mentioned if you count Cambridge) I can’t say I’m surprised it’s not in the top 12. It’s certainly not for lack of trying on the citizens part in this city – there are so many great organizations working to improve our experience with the fine arts here, and the artists themselves starting up local events, literally bringing their work to the streets.

Boston certainly wants to bring the arts to the people, but it seems the only thing the city is willing to do is hold a weekend art event where artists pay to be a part of it and hope to sell their work. Which, I suppose is better than nothing. And I do, along with thousands of others, attend these fairs. Perhaps it’s out of fear that the city doesn’t try to do more in the way of public art. Hell, the shit storm that arose when the Os Gemeos mural was unveiled probably scared the involved art commissions out of doing anything out of the ordinary. Of course, instead of countering the cries of naysayers over the mural with reasoned discussion and actually talking about the art and the purpose of it, the city just shut up. Let the controversy fizzle.

And yet, when we don’t bother to try to involve the everyday people of this city in art projects or programs, or even counter the nay saying with good ole educational campaigns, of course those who are not involved directly in the arts will be skeptical of anything new or unusual. Particularly here! Where we tend to be closed off from anything other than the traditional.

We can’t keep holding random fairs, and a single public event a season and hope that the people of the city will be satisfied. We need an aggressive public art program. We need aggressive educational campaigns to involve neighborhoods that otherwise aren’t in the bustle of the cities. We need to support the arts in our schools. We need to take seriously the economic stimulation that comes from supporting creative thinkers, creative spaces, and creative growth in a city.

I spend over 13 months researching the economic benefits of public art programs around the country, and what we can do in Boston to shake things up. The Junkyard will be reaching out to local cultural councils and art commissions throughout the state in 2013 with the end goal of developing a public art program that will stimulate the economy, encourage creative tourism, and bring beautiful art to our streets. Stay tuned.

ArtPlace /