so...
So after last night, you now all have an idea of the immense amount of conflict that has been going on in my head over this project. I hope if nothing else it makes it clear that just because one brings a firm idea of what the project is or could be to the class, that does not mean that person has it all figured out. On the contrary, these early stages of knowing reveal the enormous complexity and richness that can be found in any project. It is pretty overwhelming at times. But I can only remain in that zone where I think I can do it all for so long. So, allow me to clarify where I am going with this thing.
My thesis is a visionary project. The idea is not to set up the initial conditions, but to imagine what could be. Solving the business and real estate complications of procuring a site is not essential to my thesis idea; they are not part of my domain. Rather, these are issues I would like to learn more about because I anticipate dealing with them in the next phase of the project. However, there are really rich educational, programmatic and spatial parameters to this project which are far more important to me than economic issues which I honestly know very little about. In addition, the money issue that truly interests me here is how to design a program that is economically sustainable rather than how to make profitable real estate venture. The question here is how does the program work, more so than how do I create this program.
I am not interested in being a businessman or real estate developer. These are important forces to understand, for many of our projects, and I intend to research these topics in order to inform this process. This applies especially to the site selection phase that we are all in right now. However, the point of my project is not to make money. I am not an aspiring developer hoping to cash in on the rise of the creative class. Rather I am interested, as an artist, a designer and as a potential mentor, in how local artists can subvert this phenomenon as a means of creating new communities for supporting the arts, as well as strengthening existing communities in the City of Oakland. The program is a non-profit organization, at the service of artists and those who aspire to be artists. It is a space for making, and a space for learning.
My hope is to use my thesis research and design proposal to support and inform a grant application process for the year of 2008. The City of Oakland provides grants for arts and youth programs through groups like the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth and the Oakland Cultural Funding Arts Department. These grants are due in December and January, so I cannot possibly complete them in time or hope to follow through on the proposal before I graduate. By postponing the realization of the project I will allow myself to more fully develop the educational, economic and spatial program before I seek funding and attempt to make this dream a reality. I intend to study these grant applications to get a sense of what is ahead, but the thesis is not a grant application, it is an idea, a vision which will be far more valuable to me and hopefully you, than the messy, bureaucratic, compromised reality of what we all have the rest of our lives to deal with.
I am looking for a site that is feasible, but not stifling. There is no need for me to resign my project to some imaginary poverty just because that will likely be the conditions under which the program will begin. Programs like the one I have in mind never start big. They work their way up from humble beginnings, often starting out in the way Marc is structuring his project. Artists for Humanity began when a practicing artist invited a group of six students to come work with her in her tiny studio. They spent two or three years there, learning to paint and completing only a few commissions before they found a space. And when they found that space, it was essentially donated to them because the real estate owner was inspired by their vision. The object then, is to make a proposal good enough that people are willing to support it, rather than making something simple and easy enough that I can do it myself. Whether the project will be built from the ground up or be a remodel is much less clear. Given that I have not yet set the design parameters, I don’t want to jump the gun on what form this artist space will be. Just know that it is about creating a singular physical space within the center of the city, which is about bringing a diverse group of individuals together, rather than serving any one particular neighborhood.
My thesis is a visionary project. The idea is not to set up the initial conditions, but to imagine what could be. Solving the business and real estate complications of procuring a site is not essential to my thesis idea; they are not part of my domain. Rather, these are issues I would like to learn more about because I anticipate dealing with them in the next phase of the project. However, there are really rich educational, programmatic and spatial parameters to this project which are far more important to me than economic issues which I honestly know very little about. In addition, the money issue that truly interests me here is how to design a program that is economically sustainable rather than how to make profitable real estate venture. The question here is how does the program work, more so than how do I create this program.
I am not interested in being a businessman or real estate developer. These are important forces to understand, for many of our projects, and I intend to research these topics in order to inform this process. This applies especially to the site selection phase that we are all in right now. However, the point of my project is not to make money. I am not an aspiring developer hoping to cash in on the rise of the creative class. Rather I am interested, as an artist, a designer and as a potential mentor, in how local artists can subvert this phenomenon as a means of creating new communities for supporting the arts, as well as strengthening existing communities in the City of Oakland. The program is a non-profit organization, at the service of artists and those who aspire to be artists. It is a space for making, and a space for learning.
My hope is to use my thesis research and design proposal to support and inform a grant application process for the year of 2008. The City of Oakland provides grants for arts and youth programs through groups like the Oakland Fund for Children and Youth and the Oakland Cultural Funding Arts Department. These grants are due in December and January, so I cannot possibly complete them in time or hope to follow through on the proposal before I graduate. By postponing the realization of the project I will allow myself to more fully develop the educational, economic and spatial program before I seek funding and attempt to make this dream a reality. I intend to study these grant applications to get a sense of what is ahead, but the thesis is not a grant application, it is an idea, a vision which will be far more valuable to me and hopefully you, than the messy, bureaucratic, compromised reality of what we all have the rest of our lives to deal with.
I am looking for a site that is feasible, but not stifling. There is no need for me to resign my project to some imaginary poverty just because that will likely be the conditions under which the program will begin. Programs like the one I have in mind never start big. They work their way up from humble beginnings, often starting out in the way Marc is structuring his project. Artists for Humanity began when a practicing artist invited a group of six students to come work with her in her tiny studio. They spent two or three years there, learning to paint and completing only a few commissions before they found a space. And when they found that space, it was essentially donated to them because the real estate owner was inspired by their vision. The object then, is to make a proposal good enough that people are willing to support it, rather than making something simple and easy enough that I can do it myself. Whether the project will be built from the ground up or be a remodel is much less clear. Given that I have not yet set the design parameters, I don’t want to jump the gun on what form this artist space will be. Just know that it is about creating a singular physical space within the center of the city, which is about bringing a diverse group of individuals together, rather than serving any one particular neighborhood.
Labels: dbackman
posted by dbackman at 12:42 AM
1 Comments:
In order for a community to develop, it needs a center. My project is to design a space for making, teaching and exhibiting art. My hope is that with a center like this in place, other programs would develop around it. Rather than trying to do it all, the project will be a catalyst for a larger change. I don't expect the students and mentors involved in the program to relocate their lives in order to participate in the project. In fact, I think it is incredibly valuable for people from all over the city to bring their own lifestyles and experiences to the place to share with one another. This diversity was the most valuable part of my experience at Artists for Humanity, even moreso than the arts education I gained there, and it is something I hope to maintain and elaborate on in my own project. I think this approach will give the project a sense of openess rather than exclusivity which is essential to differentiating it from more standard gentrification strategies. More on the gentrification tightrope walk that I am attempting in the near future...
Post a Comment
<< Home