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This report was published in September 2001. Table of Contents Section III. ARTIST AND GALLERY CASE STUDIES SIX ARTIST CASE STUDIES (Names of artists have been changed)
Immediately after the earthquake, Denise went to the building to see what had happened to her work space. She was approached by a television crew who wanted to interview her; the landlord signaled her not to do the interview and later told her that she was not to speak with the press regarding the building. The building was yellow-tagged by the DCLU and no one was allowed entry. The next day, she heard the building was permanently condemned and that all tenants had only a few hours that same afternoon to remove their belongings from the building. Denise was the only one of her partners available. Friends and family helped her to rent a truck, secure storage space and move all of their equipment and things into storage. Denise was in the midst of choreographing a site-specific dance piece for her studio, now condemned. She scoured downtown and Pioneer Square for empty commercial spaces to serve as a performance venue. No landlord or developer would accommodate a performance in one of their empty spaces. All the fees she was paying dancers, musicians and others working on the show doubled because it took Denise twice as long to create the show. The rented rehearsal and venue space fees were double what they would have been in her studio. As soon as they lost their studio space, Denise began searching for replacement space and found nothing that would fit their specific needs. Three months later, the group of five choreographers found a space in Pioneer Square with a landlord much friendlier to dancers. Although there is less space for more money, both the quality of the space and the relationship with the new landlord are greatly improved. The new studio has a working bathroom, telephone line and heat in the building. The partners split the costs of building the space out and paying the start-up costs including expenses such as initiating telephone service, electrical service, and water service. Although Denise does not think that the building is retrofitted for earthquake safety, as it is of a pre-1920's vintage, she feels it is safer than the previous space. The dancers will be able to host fundraisers and performances in the building. Denise used her AQUA grant for the cost of renting a moving truck, rental of a storage facility and contributing to the build-out of the new studio AQUA Recipient:
During the earthquake, Lorenzo was in the space talking with a client. When they realized what was happening, they ran down the hallway and stairs to the main entrance. Outside, bricks were falling onto the street from the exterior of the building. There was a big boom when a section of the second story exterior fell to the street. The tenants of the building went into the street in pairs, dodging falling bricks. The building was yellow-tagged but, during the weeks that followed, the landlord let the artists enter at their own risk to get their belongings. The future of the building was unclear. Artists were forced to work in temporary studio situations and many artists worked in their garages and/or basements, or borrowed a corner of a friend's studio. Some artists were unable to work altogether. The landlord's family had owned the building for over 70 years, and he had intended to maintain it as an artist's studio building. Unfortunately, however, with the estimates attained by engineers and others, the repairs to the building were going to be astronomical. Three months after the quake, the landlord put the building on the market. At the time of the earthquake, Lorenzo was in the middle of ten commissions. His wife and two children rely on his income from his art sales and commissions for their livelihood. In order to continue working, Lorenzo took everything out of his 200 square foot garage to renovate it for work space. He dry-walled, put in windows and painted the interior to serve as a studio. He used AQUA funding to purchase supplies to renovate his garage and to purchase a small shed kit to house the previous contents of his garage. He was also awarded Disaster Unemployment Assistance and an Independent Family Grant from FEMA to assist in this financial crisis. He is currently looking for a work space to share with one to two other artists. Lorenzo has looked for studio space high and low in Seattle and has found nothing to meet his very specific needs. Producing his artwork requires good ventilation, water and accessibility for his clients. The only spaces that have been available are in industrial parts south of downtown Seattle, which does not fit his need of client accessibility. Lorenzo tries to remain positive and plans to find a new space by November for his annual studio show. On the average, Lorenzo makes over $10,000 at his annual studio sale - this generates from 25% to 35% of his annual income and leads to many other commissions and sales. AQUA Recipient:
All of Thomas' losses were sculptural glass that broke by falling from shelves or other storage areas during the earthquake. At his downtown galleries, Thomas' inventory was in storage, and all of it was damaged at both locations. Thomas was not surprised when gallery staff told him that his artwork loss was not covered by insurance because this was clearly stated in his contract. However, he had assumed that the gallery would take greater precautionary measures than they had in storing the work while not on exhibition. The depletion of his inventory left Thomas with no work to offer galleries locally or nationally, thus eliminating a large part of his income. With no money coming in from sales, he had no money to support the production of new work. Thomas lives and works in his studio. He does not carry earthquake insurance for his artwork. Like many other glass artists, his operating costs as a freelance artist push expensive earthquake insurance to a low priority. The AQUA grant was used to rent glass cold works time (a glass sculpting process) and to purchase packaging supplies and necessary raw materials to make a new series of glass sculptures. He is currently blowing glass in the hot shop to rebuild his inventory. A bit of luck & some good earthquake storage techniques:
She equates the lack of damage to luck and the studio's method of storing their glass art inventory. Their method is to wrap each piece of glass in bubble wrap and then stack it together with others tightly in cardboard boxes. The boxes are then stored on the floor. At the time of the earthquake, there was also a series of glass pieces that were laid out on bubble wrap on the floor ready to be packed and shipped. None of the inventory was damaged in the heavy shaking of the building. Here's where the luck came in ö there were several three-foot tall glass pieces on stands. The pieces were not secured with Quake Wax (a wax used to secure sculptural pieces to pedestals or shelves) and did not topple in the quake. Stephen did have several pieces in storage at a local gallery only two blocks away. Six to eight of these pieces were damaged or broken. Some of the pieces were scratched and were able to be repaired while others were not. For Stephen, the emotional loss of his pieces was worse than the financial loss. He did not apply for AQUA funding because he felt that others suffered worse damage than he did.
Their studio does carry an insurance plan that covers liability in their studio. The coverage extends to sold work, work while on exhibition or during shipping for possible injury or harm to individuals. However, it does not cover earthquake breakage. Joan says that the common knowledge about earthquake insurance for glass artists is that it's extremely cost prohibitive with high deductibles. Their liability insurance is already a significant addition to their annual operating costs. Joan is just glad to be alive. She did not apply for AQUA because she felt that there were other artists who were more in need. However, she is upset by the fact that she will not be able to write off the $50,000 loss on her taxes because she has already written off the cost of production on her federal taxes. They are accepting the loss and just moving on.
Gallery Case Study #1 A Rare Gallery Owner Willing to Pay Artists for Losses out of Pocket
The gallery operates on a verbal agreement with its artists, without entering into formal contracts. After the earthquake, the gallery director called each of the artists whose work was damaged to tell them what had transpired, and that he was prepared to pay out of pocket for their losses. He admitted he did not know how he could have afforded to do this, but was willing to find a way. Each of the artists declined, saying that everyone could chalk this one up to experience. A Gallery that Has Earthquake Insurance Coverage
The gallery has carried the same insurance plan for over twenty years. Because there was no special earthquake insurance rider with their plan, they were surprised and thrilled to find out that the damaged work was covered. The plan covered all artwork breakage and did not exclude earthquake damage. There was a minor $1,000 deductible for their entire loss. The gallery was able to reimburse the artists 50% of the value of the broken work and the gallery's 50% commission went to recuperating their loss. A Gallery Where Artists Must Assume all the Loss
Since 1981, the gallery's policy has been for represented or exhibiting artists to sign a contract waiving reimbursement due to earthquake damage. The director said that the artists knew that earthquake danger was a risk and liability in showing with his gallery. The artists had to assume full responsibility for the damaged artwork at the gallery. Luckily, all of the sold work was packaged and stored in a way that it was not damaged. Because gallery personnel are constantly moving work in and out of storage, and showing it to clients, the director stressed that it is difficult for him to anchor it. Now, they are much more conscientious about how they place work but still are not able to secure works in storage. They will, however, keep less inventory on hand and try to use the more earthquake safe method of laying glass on the floor when possible. The director of the gallery lost much of his own collection, as did many of his clients. The clients who wished to have the work remade were connected directly with the artists. The artists received 100% of these re-commissioned works, the gallery did not take its usual commission. |