Roosevelt Row Community Development Corporation is working to become a trailblazer of change for artists and small communities alike thanks to receiving a $90,000 grant from donor foundation ArtPlace America.
“We are really behind what Roosevelt is doing,” said Prentice Onayemi, director of communications at ArtPlace America. He added that art plays a significant role in the economy of a location, particularly in communities that collaborate together and “promote vibrancy.”
Roosevelt Row applied for a grant from ArtPlace America back in 2012 that helped them meet requests from the community. With the grant, they started converting industrial shipping containers into spaces for artists to work and present art. Placed in the A.R.T.S. Market lot on Fifth and Roosevelt streets during large-scale events like First Fridays art walks, the containers were affordable and easy to maintain.
After the reaction that Roosevelt Row received from the last group of converted storage units, they decided to expand the idea. They applied for another grant from ArtPlace America; in June 25, the foundation announced CDC received $90,000 to convert three more storage units into art galleries and livable spaces.
“It’s like connecting the dots of art and culture to economic growth,” Onayemi said.
Jamie Bennett, the executive director of ArtPlace America, said that “urban spaces are successful because of density.” He said that to keep artists in the area, it is important to have affordable spaces for artists to work.
Nicole Underwood, director of operations at Roosevelt Row CDC, said that they want to maintain a place where artists can come “live, work and play.” She added that the units “tell a story about what is possible” and activate urban areas.
Since the area demonstrated sufficient demand, Roosevelt Row CDC would continue to work hard to meet the community’s need and show other developer’s alternative ways to create cheap spaces for people to work, said Greg Esser, vice president of Roosevelt Row CDC.
Esser said the repurposed containers are a way to “influence those who have expressed intent to develop in this community.”
He added that the value of art in the community is high, and Roosevelt Row CDC wants to broaden the impact it has on the surrounding area. He noted that work and living spaces can be expensive, especially with rising downtown rates, and that the organization is trying to meet critical needs and keep artists in the area.
Underwood said that to maintain positivity and progressive momentum in the community, CDC tries to create and implement new solutions to issues. Since Roosevelt Row received concerns that the price of housing and work spaces downtown was high, they wanted to find alternatives.
“There are so many creative solutions to support the community that work with the city,” Underwood said.
Esser said that these new storage units are a pilot project that has to go through the same approval as new residential-development projects. Roosevelt Row CDC will decide their location once they have the final approval from the city. He said CDC is looking into three or four different areas to put the containers and that they are looking to “activate alleyways to pedestrian corridors.”
Bennett said that he sees Roosevelt Row using these containers as an opportunity and way to solve problems. He added that it seems that Roosevelt Row is capitalizing on artists and the ability to provide them with affordable workplaces.
According to Bennett, these spaces “position creative thinkers as problem solvers and as leaders.” He said that since the units are less expensive than traditional housing, they allow for an economically diverse community which directly benefit its members.
“They are a light, quick and cheap solution … and can be deployed rapidly,” Bennett said.
Roosevelt Row CDC is trying to cause a domino effect that will encourage other developing artistic areas to follow in their footsteps, Underwood said.
Underwood said that the CDC’s advisory committee is working through the logistics with the city and hope to have the units up in less than a year.
Contact the reporter at Brittani.Gomez@asu.edu
