Thanks for the input, O-tacular. That's sort of the way we see it. The marketing-to-tourists thing is definitely a problem. There just isn't the repeat business from tourists. I think the only way it's going to become a tourist destination is if it's somewhere that locals like.
It's an interesting point about there being no studio space that's off-limits from the public. I hadn't really thought about the there being a need for that. I do think that it needs to think about how it can serve artists better.
I sort of see it going two ways:
1) Fully commit to the 'art' vision and really make itself indispensable to the local art community. Have more of an emphasis on studio-space, workshops, and artist showcase events. Some sort of curated arts market that involves more than just the tenants would be great too; in the summertime it could conceivably stretch into the open rooftop space next door.
2) Become more of an eclectic shops area, but make the shops interesting and useful. It would be a great space, for example, for a small gourmet grocer, in the model of Valta Bison; or a specialty bookstore like cookbooks. They need to be destination stores that people will go to, not stores that depend on casual traffic wandering into.
Polishavenger: yes, there's the opportunity for it to be used more as a performance space, it's definitely not being utilized fully; they've talked about having live music every Saturday. We did have an event a while ago where Land's End Chamber Ensemble used it, and their lead (who's also the principle violinist of the CPO) said that the space actually had great acoustics. It would be very interesting to have a theatre group use the space occasionally. When ACAD has their annual fashion show in ArtCentral, they make great use of the central courtyard, with the fashion show taking place up and down the central staircase, while the audience stands around the perimeter.
Last edited by octothorp; Jan 18, 2011 at 2:08 AM.
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