This report was published in September 2001.
Table of Contents
Forward Executive Summary Section II: Summary of the Artists' Quake Aid (AQUA) Report Section III: Artist and Gallery Case Studies Section IV: General Conclusions Section V: Key Concerns for Artists Section VI: Short Term Set of Recommendations Section VII: Long Term Recommendations/Issues Raised by the Earthquake Section VIII: Artists' Quake Aid Statistics Section X: Studio Preparedness Earthquake Tip Sheet Earthquake Preparedness Resources Section VII. LONG TERM RECOMMENDATIONS/ISSUES RAISED BY EARTHQUAKE
The building which I live and work in was "yellow tagged" and subsequently I was homeless for a month while repairs were being made. The space contains all of my personal property and tools for my art making including a 1,500 sq. ft. rehearsal space/workshop. Besides material damage and expenses of lodging and renting alternative space for rehearsing, I had to cancel a trip to produce works. The time spent in cleaning, rearranging, reorganization has been immense, due to inspections and such, I had to literally tear down all existing structures within the space and pack belongings and arrange for storage and transportation.
Performing Artist, Seattle, Washington
The damages suffered by artists due to the earthquake exacerbated several existing problems faced by artists in Seattle. This section highlights these issues and addresses a set of recommendations that should be developed and implemented over a longer period of time. The issues and actions fall into two categories: (1) artist work space and (2) disaster awareness/preparedness for artists.
There are two urban areas of Seattle, the Pioneer Square and Belltown neighborhoods, which previously housed large numbers of artist studios and several entire buildings of artist studios. The regional real estate market has eliminated many affordable studio spaces, forcing artists to relocate their studios and live/work spaces to other areas within and beyond Seattle. In the survey, an artist expressed their frustration with rent increases, causing artists to have to be more commercial in order to make their rent. Three artists wrote in the survey that they are concerned that artists will be gone from Seattle unless the access to work space changes.
1. Continue to work for more safe, affordable work spaces and housing for artists.
In the survey, artists mentioned that the high cost of rent coupled with the income of a struggling artist continues to cause artists to be willing to rent spaces that are not safely up to code. Artists also stated their biggest concern was working in vulnerable, unsafe buildings.
2. Help artists gain assistance and information about attaining equity for permanent work spaces.
Permanent equity in work spaces would enable artists to prevent the cyclical problem of renting spaces in buildings where eventually they are forced to leave so the building can be developed. Many artists rent in buildings that they know are short term in order to save on the cost of rent. These artists need to have opportunities to invest in their own work spaces and retain equity if they need to relocate. Another idea as mentioned by an artist in the survey is for artists to buy buildings and then rent to other artists. Educating artists about the option of buying studio space is an important step in solving this need for affordable work space.
3. Advocate for more work only spaces for artists.
The City of Seattle is interested in developing projects that are zoned for live/work spaces. These buildings are needed, but there also has to be a concerted effort made for more buildings that are zoned for work space only. The second long-term plan is to encourage the City of Seattle and King County to develop more 'work only' buildings for artists.
In the survey, artists expressed concern about the loss of their artistic community. Recommendation # 2 and #3 could be two solutions to the need that artists have to work in buildings together. The artistic communities are important to the artists themselves and add to the commerce and vitality of Seattle. The artist buildings in Pioneer Square such as the Washington Shoe Building and Project 416 (both now closed) were an important draw for the thousands of attendees to the monthly artwalk in Pioneer Square. All of those people brought commerce to the artists and the cafes, restaurants, bars and other galleries in the area.
