How to Build a Formal Art District

Throughout the United States, scores of creative cities have formalized art districts.  Whether these art districts are located in Chicago, Portland or Winston-Salem, they generally contain the same distinct characteristics. Each is situated in a neighborhood that was previously run down or abandoned and has affordable rental rates. These neighborhoods often have tax incentives and other government support to encourage revitalization, attracting professional artists and students looking for cheap industrial studio space.  The artists set up galleries in their studio spaces and more formal galleries soon follow. Organized and coordinated events, such as openings and performance art, begin to occur regularly, and the clustered venues have become a destination.

Knoxville has reached that stage already and is gearing up for the final stage: formalization.

On Aug. 18, the first official arts district meeting was convened to discuss incremental plans in the hope of formalizing the distinct art district that has developed in the downtown area, ranging from West Hill Avenue to Market Square, down Gay Street, through the Old City, onto a perimeter loop up Randolph Street to Fourth and Gill and down North Central Avenue from Jennings Street.  Because the majority of the approximately 15 art venues that have opened so far have all been created by private development, it is in keeping that the same individuals who initiated this be the ones to drive formalization plans.

The people who came to the meeting at the A1 Gallery Space, located in the Fireproof Storage building on Randolph, were all heavy-hitting participants in the resurgence of visual art as a force in downtown Knoxville. Most of the downtown gallery, venue and artist group directors were present, along with the former Arts Council director and present Knoxville Special Events Director Mickey Mallonee.  Stephen Wicks, curator at the Knoxville Museum of Art, also attended, along with Mike Shoenberge, from the Market Square District Association.

The first focus of the evening was a plan to seek re-routing of the First Friday trolley to a more expansive and effective circuit, from the KMA through Gay Street and continued into the Old City.  An average of 300 people typically attend the KMA’s Live at Five concerts, and having a trolley to transport them from the KMA lot after the concert ends to the First Friday event area would encourage participation by those art lovers wary of downtown parking.

Trolley and bus re-routing is an involved ordeal, and Belinda Woodiel-Brill of Knoxville Area Transit, when contacted later, explained what would be involved.  There are established “trolley boundaries” in the downtown area due to everything from railroad tracks to scheduling time limitations. Funding for the Blue and Orange Line trolleys come from different outside sources located in the areas they serve.  KAT is in the process of hiring an outside consultant to design an entirely new, streamlined transportation development plan in early 2008.

Additional items discussed during this first meeting involved designing a Knoxville Art Gallery and Arts District brochure and map that will be distributed to area hotels and the tourist bureau. The brochure would also contain information for locating other non-downtown art galleries, mostly to be found along Kingston Pike. Designing a logo was also suggested for use on everything associated with the visual arts from Web sites to gallery marker signs and demarcation of the First Friday trolley, as well as the specific locations at which it will be stopping.

Meeting participants briefly discussed grants, but Cradle Artist Group’s Brian Pittman, who sponsors occasional exhibits in the Mary Boise Temple house and is currently renovating the site, encouraged everyone to simplify the process and continue along the route that had already enabled the development to grow in the first place: the do-it-yourself approach.  Grants, he explained, can become a crutch on which an organization will grow to depend. If a time comes when grants are not renewed or are no longer available, the organization could fail, says Pittman.

Chris Molinski, director of the Art Gallery of Knoxville, has initiated one additional move to promote the art district by buying a one-page monthly ad in Art Papers.  Headquartered in Atlanta, Art Papers is one of the most respected art publications in the country. With the combined contribution of several of the other downtown venues that agreed to participate in the ad, reaching a massive audience became very reasonable.  The September Art Papers edition will include the first Knoxville First Friday advertisement.

All in all, the meeting was very productive, and with participation and suggestions from so many people directly involved with its development, the Knoxville arts district is ready for big improvements and, hopefully not too far off, formalization.