Artisan Communities Exploit Non-Consumerism

One of the tragedies of the rise in the cost of living in Austin is that the city is losing a number of artist communities, or the possibility of gallery space. While the cost of living has risen, the community that supports art in Austin has become disconnected. What if someone is not as "high class" as the Blanton? What if someone wants more unity than a tour of studios? Full disclosure: I enjoy the Blanton and I enjoy the East Austin studio tour. However, I know that people enjoy an artisan community, and other than guitarists, I believe the city has a responsibility to support such a community.

Because there are still large quantities of space that have little to no development, a developer should buy a large parcel of land, and build 20 of those super small houses so that artists, writers, and musicians can have small spaces to practice their crafts, but not have a mountain of bills for basic maintenance. For those who are unfamiliar with the concept of a super small house, there are houses that are as small as 84 sq. ft. up to as large as 300 sq. ft. Single family housing is still incredibly inexpensive to build, so the profitability should be visible to the average developer. This would encourage more studios to be built, and might actually support a shared space so that people can know where to go for art.

In the past, artists have rented spaces separate from their homes to display and create their art. The high cost of living is one thing, but maintaining two separate residences makes art somewhat of a hobby for the superwealthy. Instead, creating an artisan community would allow artists the respect of separating their work from their private lives and promote a non-consumer mentality: if you only work there, you have little need for extra furniture and the rest of the trimmings that people usually put in their homes.

The real challenge of Austin is that we all believe that density means putting everything in one place. What density actually means is making many opportunities available in several locations. All the live music venues, art galleries, and poetry slams should not be concentrated in 78701, 78702, 78703, 78704, and 78705. We have a big city, and one way to promote artists of all types is community exposure in several different locations. If a developer builds a community of studios, that developer is promoting art in Austin, and allowing people to see its good will in the promotion of Austin values.