Building an Artist Community
in Washington Heights and Inwood
by Peter Ferko, President,
Artists Unite, Inc.
Change
as the Status Quo
43
million people move in America in a year, according to a study conducted by the
U.S. Census Bureau in 20001. A small percentage of those who move
come from abroad. Probably an even smaller group move abroad. We live in a
mobile society. I personally have lived in Washington, D.C., Maryland,
Virginia, California, Florida, and now New York. My wife, while a native New Yorker
from the Upper West Side, has lived in California and Russia before moving back
to New York City to live in the ÒUpper Upper West SideÓ of Washington Heights.
Washington
Heights and Inwood have been home to immigrants from Ireland, Italy, Germany, the
Dominican Republic; and one could now say, as in the case of my wife, from
Lower Manhattan. Washington Heights has a diverse population, including 74
percent hispanic; half of which are of Dominican background. 50% of Washington
HeightsÕ population has moved from abroad, which sounds (and is) high until you
consider that almost 40% of New York CityÕs population has moved from abroad.2
Our
mobility makes it challenging to define what constitutes ÒcommunityÓÑis it a
physical area, an economic demographic, an ethnic unity, a set of personal
friendships, or something else? And does community by necessity change over
time with all our mobility, or is there something that can be sustained? I
leave it to sociologists to determine the answers to these questions and I look
forward to hearing what they have to say. Today, though, I am here to discuss
the idea of an Òartist community.Ó
Artist
Community
In
my moving and travels, I have had the good fortune of meeting and knowing
artists from all over the world. I notice certain qualities that artists have
wherever they are from: they are creative, they often challenge norms, many
have quirky personalities, they often make a living through a haphazard
collection of jobs or have second careers that have nothing to do with their
art, they are unusually passionate about something that informs their art and
often their lives in general, they find a way to keep doing their art in spite
of the challenges of life. And they all have challenges: not enough time to
work, nowhere to show their work, not enough money to live on while they
concentrate on their art, no audience, not enough sales of artwork or
performances, no one to talk to about their work. A recent survey by
Association of Hispanic Artists points out artists in Washington Heights and
Inwood are no different in this regard.3 The September 2004 issue of
Art Forum
states ÒWith the globalization of the art world, national differences among
artists have grown increasingly marginal.Ó4 Our similarities as
artists provide a context for our interaction wherever we find ourselves.
Artists
Unite, Inc. is attempting to help create an artist community in Washington Heights and
Inwood. What does this mean? In my estimation and therefore my definition, an
Òartist communityÓ would address the issues of artists and work to resolve
them. I believe that fostering an artist community would entail getting artists
to know each other, generating excitement about their work, and enabling
artists to begin to make more art among themselves. These interactions of
artists themselvesÑas individuals creating events, bookstores hosting readings,
groups of artists creating exhibitions, etc.Ñhave been the basis of artist
communities in Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Williamsburg. A critical mass of artistic
activity in those areas turned them into significant art centers with a base of
local artists. In contrast Chelsea, where wealthy gallery owners and the
occasional museum (e.g. Dia Center) moved in, there are featured
internationally known artists and there is no real community. Lincoln Center
follows the same model for the performing arts. So I would say the arts
organizations here in Washington Heights and Inwood are on the right track for
helping local artists.
Any
artist community in New York City has the advantage of proximity to the worldÕs
largest population of art appreciators. These peopleÑartists, collectors,
curators, audiences, and other interested members of the publicÑcan become, in
a way, part of the community by supporting it. For example, lower Manhattanites
took part in the opening for Artists UniteÕs exhibition Now:Here:This and in
the Uptown Arts Stroll.
An
artist community is a kind of parallel universe to the community at large.
Artists often study or otherwise become familiar with the work of other artists
and are naturally curious about topics of culture, history, current affairs,
and interesting stories. Consequently, their work becomes an amalgamation of
their studies, their personal history, and their aesthetic as expressed through
the palette of their current location. A Dominican musician may become
fascinated with hip-hop in New York; a white New York photographer may become
enthralled with the use of milagro fetishes in Mexico; a European classical
composer in Inwood may dabble in merengue rhythms; a second-generation
Ecuadorean painter may choose as a subject ManhattanÕs bridges. So the numerous
artists living in upper Manhattan may be alike or not alike; they may work in
different media or different genres; they may even speak different languages.
What makes an artist community a community is the interaction of its members.
Once that interaction begins, there is a natural tendency to support each
otherÕs work, whether by simply inquiring about it, or attending shows, or even
deciding to collaborate on a project. And in our mobile society, the
relationships built through these interactions may even last if the artists
move.
New
York has seen several artist communities emerge in the past 40 years. I believe
Upper Manhattan could become the next one. It is ironic that while many artists
have lived here for years, it is the fact that New Yorkers in general now
regard Northern Manhattan as a livable part of the city that may allow its
artist community to flourish. So as Washington Heights and Inwood become more
popular parts of the city, downtown artists and audience may find themselves
examining the art that comes from our current mixing of long-term residents and
newcomers. What will be interesting, in my opinion, is the degree to which all artists in the community
participate in what is happening so that the Washington Heights and Inwood arts
community can become as artistically rich as possible.
Artists
Unite, Inc.
When
I moved to Washington Heights in January 2002 to move into my new wifeÕs
apartment, I stumbled upon an organization just beginning to form. It was
called Artists Unite, and was the work of three local artists (including Rosa
Naparstek, current Board member) with the idea of getting artists together in
the community in order to make more arts happen up here. The goal was to
improve the quality of life for local artists and local residents by providing
opportunities for artists to work here rather than taking their talents
downtown.
I
became part of the Steering Committee for Artists Unite. The committee included
a variety of artists and local community members and worked for six months
developing a structure for the organization and a plan for working as an
umbrella of collaborations between artists and between Artists Unite and other
arts organizations. When we incorporated last year, I became President of the
Board of Directors.
Artists
UniteÕs mission is to foster the arts community in Washington Heights and
Inwood. The question foremost on my mind as I have worked on further developing
Artists Unite from a fledgling idea into a useful organization has been, ÒIs
there an
arts community in Washington Heights and Inwood?Ó Our organization has had a
difficult time identifying such a community as I am defining it. There do
appear to be, however, many artists who have an interest in sharing in such a
community. Evidence of this fact is in the attendance at Artists UniteÕs
meetings, which regularly draw more than 100 artists in various genres
including visual and performing arts and literature.
Artists
Unite has faced several challenges in its efforts. A major one is lack of
funding, which makes all our efforts voluntary. Finding volunteers in a high
pressure environment like New York City is difficult. A second challenge is
getting broad participation. We have used creative methods and hard work to
produce a number of events and to collaborate on a handful more. Participation
has been good, but sadly, the majority of artists in the neighborhood do not
participate as either participants or audience. The Uptown Arts Stroll was a
project with good participation from the community businesses and about 50
artists, but I believe we need to do better at including more artists in
projects in general.
The
challenge I presented to Artists Unite was then, what can we do to bring more
artists into all aspects of what we do in our organization. We are pursuing
ideas in several areas. The first idea is in the area of visual arts. The
project is called Virtual:Comunidad. The second is with artist-run events. The
third is collaborations, i.e., groups of artists working together.
The
Model of Virtual:Comunidad
The
background of the project is in Washington, D.C. In 1999, I began participating
in a project with several Washington, D.C. artists. The project, called 5
Things, was the brainchild of James Huckenpahler and provided participants an
opportunity to list on a web site the five things that most influenced our
creative practice that week. The ÒthingsÓ could be anything from a favorite
artist to something we read in the news. The amazing thing about the project
was that other artists were interested in reading it. And art viewers and
collectors were interested in reading it. So much so that the group of five or
six artists who ultimately wrote 5 Things achieved notoriety in the D.C. art
community and participated in local charity events and panel discussions. The
project lasted for three years before losing steam.
I
decided to apply the 5 Things idea to Artists Unite. I had two objectives. On
the one hand, I wanted local artists to think enough of the project to want to
participate. On the other, I wanted to begin to build a name for Artists Unite
in the greater art world. The solution I arrived at, whose first installment was
called Now:Here:This and was followed by Virtual:Comunidad, was to create an on-line
exhibition that is ongoing and to open participation up to artists everywhere.
The three-month long Now:Here:This project included thirty artists from six
countries and from several cities across the U.S. Ten of these artists were
from Washington Heights and Inwood. The project has attracted the attention of
several arts professionals in New York City as well as artists in other
countries and it received a grant from the Puffin Foundation. The launch of
this project brought 200 additional visitors to Artists UniteÕs web site each
week.
The
beauty of this project from a community-building standpoint is that in addition
to being a project with high quality art, it is also ongoing, frequent, and
open. These qualities invite artists to have a look and then decide to
participate. Through word of mouth, the Òvirtual community or comunidad
virtualÓ
of Virtual:Comunidad grows, always inviting new artists in this physical community
to get to know each otherÕs work, to enter into artistic dialog, and to
ultimately feel a part of a meaningful international art community based right
here in Washington Heights and Inwood. There are artists living elsewhere in
New York, Washington D.C., France and elsewhere who now know of Washington
Heights and Inwood artists through this virtual space. As your and my
organizations begin to have more of a dialog, I look forward to more of our
Washington Heights and Inwood artists joining this project and that ÒmeetingÓ
each other in this way, they will move into other less virtual collaborations.
This exhibition can be viewed at www.artistsunite-ny.org.
The
Model of Hot Nights, Cool Sounds: Artist-Run Events
Artists
UniteÕs summer concert series was in its third year this year. We decided to
try to increase participation by local artists by soliciting a committee of
musicians to run the series. A group of four musicians came forward, joining
two Artists Unite Board members to run the entire program. We look forward to
conducting more activities this way, ultimately letting previous projects serve
as templates for new projects that artists want to create; and letting artists
rely on other artists for advice and to share experiences.
Collaborations
Artists
Unite has participated in the first two occasions of the Uptown Arts Stroll as
a collaborator with Community Board 12, the Manhattan Times, and numerous other
organizations. We participated on the advisory committee in the artist survey
conducted this year by the Association of Hispanic Artists. And we have worked
with other local arts organizations to publicize projects and to leverage
resources. We believe that joining together with other organizations not only
gets the artists in those organizations to start to know each other, but helps
the organizations share audiences. Our goal is to ultimately begin to see our
communityÕs organizations, such as Artists Unite, have enough ÒbrandÓ value
that when a project includes our name, the audience, press, and other arts
professionals will register the project as one that is of high caliber.
Collaboration allows individual groups to continue to fill the niche the
organization intended, while getting some of the benefits of scale that usually
only large organizations get.
Conclusion
An
artist community is a group or groups of artists who know each other, work
together, show work to each other, promote an art scene of consistent quality,
and gain from these experiences. Our way of viewing the world as artists provides
a context for creating such a community. We have the makings of such a
community here in Washington Heights and Inwood. I look forward to the artistic
excitement and challenge of working with other artists here. I look forward to
the cross-fertilization and enrichment that will come from such interaction.
When
I created the online exhibitions Now:Here:This and Virtual:Comunidad, I thought of them in
terms of creating an Òart sparkÓÑa concentration of energy focused on Artists
Unite as one hub in this fledgling artist community. I am excited to see in
this Symposium, more sparks of energy around the idea of our artist community.
I
do not know how sociologists will define ÒcommunityÓ in these times, but it is
my proposition that artists, through their study and work, transcend the
boundaries of a physical community. Our physical communities continually change
in our contemporary mobile world. I hope that through a set of activities
described here, that the artists who currently find themselves in this physical
community, through choice or family history, begin to interact as an artist
community. And that when they move on, or others move in, the personal
connections that have formed help them sustain a comunidad virtual that holds them together.
Through our physical and virtual artist community, Washington Heights and
InwoodÕs art scene can be a place known for its artists and meaningful art
projects.
And
finally I hope many of you will see value in uniting and will volunteer to help
us at Artists Unite!
References
1
Current Population Reports by Jason Schachter; PPL-144, Geographical
Mobility:March 1999 to March 2000, U.S. Census Bureau
2
U.S. Census Bureau, 2000
3ÒA
Community Arts & Cultural Assessment of Washington Heights and InwoodÓ A
study, conducted by Association of Hispanic Artists and sponsored by the
Audubon Partnership, published in April of 2004
4
ÒAmerican Self-Consciousness in Politics and Art,Ó Arthur C. Danto, Art
Forum,
September 2004, p.206