Giving Artists Space to Create

Four years ago, Dana Ellyn, a D.C. painter and teacher, moved into Mather Studios. The opportunity came at just the right time for Ellyn, who had just left her job at a D.C. law firm to work full time as an artist.

The low mortgage and the studio's downtown location gave Ellyn the perfect chance to concentrate on painting and on the expansion of her weekly classes -- which she holds in her home.

"Since it's an affordable unit and since my payments are low, and since my painting sales have gotten better, with that my confidence has grown," said Ellyn, 36. "It's a mortgage that's attainable. . . . [I know] it's going to be paid off and I can just paint. So I don't paint for sales . . . . It frees me up to not worry what people will think."

The biggest downside of the Douglass Street project is its location. While Mather Studios is in the heart of downtown, the Douglass Street project is in Northeast, near New York Avenue.

According to Corbett, that has not deterred artists from trying for the work-live spaces. "The bottom line for artists is about affordability and functionality." It's often difficult to make those two factors work, Corbett said, so "generally artists are willing to compromise on location." Her organization, she said, keeps an eye out for publicly owned property. "That's the real difficulty in D.C. Unlike Baltimore, we just don't have any kind of inventory of low-rent industrial space for artists."

Maryland is also seeking to attract artists through its Arts and Entertainment District program, which gives tax breaks to developers and to artists for work created and sold within the arts district. Designated Arts and Entertainment Districts must either already have affordable housing units or a plan to develop affordable housing. So far, the state has established 15 such districts, in such places as Hyattsville, Bethesda, Frederick, Hagerstown, Silver Spring and Wheaton.

The Maryland model is based on one used successfully in Providence, R.I., said Elizabeth Carven, deputy director of the Maryland State Arts Council and head of the Arts and Entertainment Districts program. "Maryland was the first and only state to operate this statewide. Occasionally when you do have an extremely successful Arts and Entertainment District by the fact that the area has been revitalized, the properties themselves are much more expensive."

That rise in property values can make it difficult for low-income Maryland artists to move into the area.

Stephen T. Hanks moved into the Arts and Entertainment District in Silver Spring 18 months ago. The former IBM employee lives in Eastern Village, a converted office building that is home to several artists.

Hanks spends hours painting in his studio, which is in the same building as his condominium. There is also a gallery in the building where Hanks showcases and sells his work.

Although his condo was not subsidized, Hanks, who teaches art at Gonzaga College High School in the District, said he probably could not have bought a home that included studio and gallery space at such an affordable price anywhere else.

"One motive was the convenience of the commute," Hanks said of his move. "The second motive was the tax break. The third was that Silver Spring was a happening place, so getting in on the ground of the development and getting a place to live was a part of that."

Virginia is also turning its attention to affordable housing for artists. Virginia's Lorton Arts Foundation is spearheading the development of 40 affordable work-live units at the former Lorton Correctional Complex in southern Fairfax County. The living spaces are part of a planned arts complex that is to include galleries, studios and a performing-arts center.

Though the work-live spaces there are rental units, they still have the potential to meet the need for housing, said Sherran Denkler, director of development and marketing for the Lorton Arts Foundation. "We hope that this fills the demand for the so-called starving artist," she said.

Such space seems to be rare in Virginia. In Arlington, the Department of Economic Development considered creating artist housing modeled after a San Francisco program but scrapped the idea. "One of the things about Arlington," said Jim Byers, marketing director for the Arlington Cultural Affairs Division, "there aren't a whole lot of old factories [to convert], one of those resources that many other cities have access to, to even begin such programs."

Peggy Baggett, executive director of the Virginia Commission for the Arts, agreed, adding that starting such a program in more rural sections of the state has not been a priority because those real estate markets are less competitive.

"I'm not saying it's not important," Baggett said. "But when you get into other places in Virginia, there already is low-income housing. It's not a huge priority like it is in New York or San Francisco or Washington, D.C., where the housing markets are overheated."

The ultimate goal, said Corbett of the Cultural Development Corporation, is to "have a reasonable inventory of available, affordable space" for artists. "Everybody realizes the value that artists play in the economy and quality of life in the city."