Support Your Local Artists This Holiday Season!

We're all gearing up for the holidays and of course buying gifts has become part and parcel of the season. Although looking for various types of gifts for all the different people in our lives has become less stressful and made easier with department stores and shopping malls offering a wide range of products, artisanal holiday markets have become the new hub to do this same type of cross shopping.


In New York, holiday markets are sprouting up all across the city - indoors and outdoors - and offering customers carefully-curated and unique shopping experiences filled with independent vendors selling an eclectic array of goods. A few weeks back, I stumbled upon Ridgewood Market Holiday Night Bazaar inside a German beer hall in the burgeoning neighborhood. Although the indoor market was discreetly located and inconspicuous, within 45 minutes I was armed with gifts for everyone on my list and not only did I spend much less than I would have at Bloomingdale's, I also got gifts that were handmade and one-of-a-kind.


This community-based artisan market, for example, features over 40 local artists who live or work within the neighborhood and that night all of them were out selling their products in person. There were ceramic pieces carved by hand in a nearby studio, metal jewelry mixed locally, and even honey harvested in local backyards. The truly engaging shopping experience that artists/vendors at such markets are able to offer is also special as many are able to speak eloquently to the process and inspiration of each product being sold.

As more research begins to point to the importance of maintaining physical retail presence and creating compelling shopping experiences to attract millennial shoppers, these holiday markets are certainly doing a great job offering millennials the stories they seek and the opportunities to touch, feel and test products.

Most importantly, this type of local and artisanal market is also fast becoming an outlet for artists, or aspiring small business owners, to test their products on the market and start building a customer base at a particularly crucial time of the year for retail. So for those of you who are still struggling to find the perfect gifts for all the special people in your lives, visit your neighborhood artisanal holiday market in your beer hall, church, or park, and support the local artists and aspiring business owners living amongst you!

Check out amNY and TimeOut New York for their lists of holiday markets in NYC!

Considering a Downtown Mural? Great! But first educate yourself on the Visual Artists Rights Act

Downtown murals are a popular commercial revitalization technique. They help build community pride, reduce the incidence of graffiti-tagging, and help communicate to shoppers that an area is improving and as a result safer, more attractive place to shop. (See a white paper I wrote for LISC a few years ago entitled “New and definitive evidence on what works to revitalize urban commercial corridors”). But did you know that the federal government confers rights to artists that protect their works of art from modification, destruction or removal? In some cases that is the right thing to do as it allows the artist to maintain the integrity of the original artwork, but in other cases it may impede new projects or development. I will leave that moral judgment for others, but what is important to know is that the federal Visual Artists Rights Act, also known as VARA, gives artists rights to their artwork and prevents the destruction of their art without the artist’s consent.

5Pointz, a former industrial building in Long Island City, Queens, NY,
is well known for the graffiti art that adorns the facade. 

Take for example the famous “Graffiti Building” in Long Island City known as 5Pointz. The building is slated for demolition and redevelopment by the owner, but a number of artists whose artwork adorns the building now claim that the Visual Artists Rights Act means that that the art (and therefore the buildings) “cannot be altered, modified, damaged or destroyed without the artists’ permission,” according to 5Pointz attorney Jeannine Chanes. (Read more: “Graffiti artists of5Pointz go to court to save building”). The case is still pending. 

Ken Twitchell's "Ed Ruscha" mural in the early year

The facade had deteriorated and been vandalized

Another frequently cited example is Kent Twitchell’s famous ‘Ed Ruscha’ mural in Los Angeles. The mural took nine years to paint during the late 1970’s and 80’s. Since then, the mural had fallen prey to some vandalism and lack of maintenance, but the amazing image was still there lording over a parking lot. In 2006, the mural was unceremoniously painted over, without any attempt to ask permission of the artist, as required by law. Twitchell later settled a lawsuit for $1.1 million dollars, the largest VARA settlement to date.

According to Wikipedia, VARA exclusively grants authors of works that fall under the protection of the Act the following rights:

• right to claim authorship
• right to prevent the use of one's name on any work the author did not create
• right to prevent use of one's name on any work that has been distorted, mutilated, or modified in a way that would be prejudicial to the author's honor or reputation
• right to prevent distortion, mutilation, or modification that would prejudice the author's honor or reputation

Painted over in 2006

The courts however have found that artist’ rights are not absolute, and must also be tempered against commercial realities.

Anyone considering a mural should educate themselves on VARA, and know that VARA waivers are frequently employed to avoid confusion about rights at a later date. VARA waivers "must be very specific: the creator must consent in a written and signed instrument specifically identifying the artwork, the uses of that work, and with a clause limiting the waiver to both aspects. Where the artwork is created by more than one author, any one creator's waiver binds the group.” (From “A Guide to the Visual ArtistsRights Act”).

So by all means, plan for that amazing mural, but be sure to educate yourself, the property owner and the artist on their rights and obligations. An ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure...

Using Public Space and the Arts to Drive Economic Development in Providence, RI

Although I have been going to Providence for nearly two years for a client, amazingly enough this was my first visit to WaterFire (why oh why did I miss Prof. Frenchman's class trip during grad school over a decade ago?!). It was an incredible experience that only served to reinforce the power of thoughtful planning and infrastructure investment. For communities considering investments both big and small in public space, WaterFire provides an example of how public space, when designed correctly, can offer artists a "stage" for their creativity and enliven a downtown with activity and visitation that creates some serious economic impact. In this case, the "stage" took the form of the daylit, and previously buried, Providence River. The project to bring the river back took ten years and nearly $60 million dollars, and included the removal of bridges and roadways that has obscured the river for decades. While daylighting was not done precisely for WaterFire, it might as well have been. The river and its surroundings we perfectly positioned to served as an inspiration for a piece of performance art that is credited with significant economic impact on downtown businesses.

WaterFire, Downtown Providence, RI

For those who don't know what Waterfire is, it is a live performance and art exhibit and the brainchild of Barnaby Evans. During the evenings in warmer months from April to November, a series of floating bonfires burn in the middle of the river. These fires are continually fed fresh wood by black clad volunteers in small gondolas. The event began in 1994 to celebrate First Friday's in downtown Providence.

My tour guide for the evening was friend and colleague Frank Latorre, of the Providence Downtown Improvement District, whose efforts to keep downtown lush, planted, green, clean and safe have also played a significant role in the downtown renaissance  As we walked, Frank bumped into some friends and colleagues (the benefits of small city living!), including Barnaby Evans, the creator of WaterFire, and his head fundraiser, Bronwyn Dannenfelser.  Chatting with Bronwyn about the event offered me unique insight into what makes WaterFire so special - and perhaps more  difficult to replicate than many might think. The proximity of the bonfires to the river paths create a dynamic interplay that touches every sense - visitors are close enough smell the burning cedar and smoke, hear the wonderful international music that wafts through the air, see the visuals of volunteers calmly stoking the fires on still waters and the reflection of the flames. The exact public infrastructure that lends itself so well to WaterFire is difficult to replicate elsewhere without tweaks to the concept. That said, it works in Providence and the restaurants and bars that line the River could not be happier. Visitors now come to Providence from near and far to see the extraordinary event and spend their money at hotels, stores and dining establishments.

The main lesson here is perhaps less about WaterFire than it is about the absolutely transformative effect, and sometimes unexpected but wonderfully creative outcomes, that emerge from a well designed public space. Communities far and wide should look to create not just any open space, but open space that creates economic development opportunity by offering a dynamic interplay between public space, arts activities and local businesses.