Finding the Lost Barrio
by Mae Lee Sun and Victor Ventura
ack in the 1970’s, Tucson metal artist Ned Egan took his car to Tires West at 200 S. Park Avenue to buy tires. Every time he drove by the old red brick warehouse the shop was housed in, he’d tell himself if it ever came up for sale, he’d buy it. As an artist it seemed this light industrial neighborhood with its funky warehouses was the perfect place and space for expanding Egan’s creative pursuits. After all, his craft was making steel sculptures of scrap metal, mainly in the shape of giant but friendly garden bugs and wild oversized flowers. By the time he was seriously thinking about making a move toward purchasing the building, it was the 1980s and it had been vacated then sold to what is now Rustica - an eclectic home furnishings and accessories shop started by Guberto Platt and a few of his close family members. Now Egan shows his work at Bohemia in the commercial district now referred to as Lost Barrio (see accompanying article).
Like Egan, Platt also had his eye on the neighborhood and old warehouses and thought it would make a great place for him to pursue his dream of opening up a shop. Having grown up in Hermosillo, Mexico, Platt had a flair for doing things differently and wanted to satisfy his architectural interest and refined taste in home furnishings. “The retail area people now call the Lost Barrio had a lot of charm in 1986. It was central and seemed like a worthwhile destination for shoppers who lived all over the city. At the time, I had a lot of ingenuity, a little money and had seen what was happening in San Francisco with their old warehouses. Finishing my degree at UA in architecture wasn’t my calling but business definitely was. So, I pursued my interests and created this”, he says, pointing to the colorful collection of Talaveran pottery, Peruvian altar pieces, antique doors, rusted iron chandeliers and garden gates that cover the floor. A hand-carved, fourteen-foot dining table holds stacks of lead-free, hand-painted Mayolica Santa Rosa pottery in bright yellow with still-life fruit, from Guanajuato, Mexico. An intricately-carved balcony from a hacienda in Peru captures the room.
Platt has been successful on South Park. Among the current shops his has been there the longest. And even though he readily acknowledges his success, he says it hasn’t always been easy having chosen this quaint but little-known neighborhood, officially known as Barrio San Antonio, as a retail location. He doesn’t survive on the residents who live nearby nor even on the Tucson community in general; he has counted heavily on word-of-mouth and tourism to support him for six months out of the year. Platt is grateful for the loyalty of his patrons since he does little advertising and there have not been public incentives for businesses or arts development in this unique entrepreneurial district. Gratitude is also what gets Platt through the other six months of the year. He refers to the slow months as the “lean times” where he has to work harder, longer and smarter to grow Rustica. He’s seen a fair share of other businesses come and go over the 18 years he’s been a mainstay at Lost Barrio. He thinks many people attribute their business failure to the location.
Down the street at Bohemia Artisans Emporium, rising artist, painter Sam Esmoer, whose work has elements of surrealism, muralism and a splash of Mexicana, doesn’t necessarily see “location” as the reason the shops in the Lost Barrio might not succeed. “The location of the Lost Barrio provides a vital connection to the downtown arts scene” he says. Frankly, most of the artists and shop owners agree with the perceptions and experience of Esmoer, Egan and Platt, making it hard to believe there has been so much transition.
Yet it’s hard not to look at the facts. A relatively new shop on the street, La Casa Mexicana, was once a plasma center. The warehouse that is now Bohemia, an artisans’ emporium, belonged to Mission Linens, a commercial laundry service company. Orion Glass Works, a Coca-Cola distributor and bakery had all come and gone. Further searching through ephemera and other archives at the Arizona Historical Society proved sketchy at best and revealed little about the birth and general cultural, industrial and business history of Barrio San Antonio. Although sources at the Historic Preservation Office have considered the neighborhood historically significant, it has not officially been declared “historic”.
Further digging into the Sanborn-Perris Fire Insurance maps reveal little on South Park until 1914. Much of what existed at the time was vacant land and a few warehouses that were served by their location to the Southern Pacific Railroad. While homes sprang up in the 30s, with a mix of industry for neighbors, this barrio over the years never seemed to fully blossom.
In the 1970s the neighborhood’s viability was in real doubt due to the City’s plans to run a downtown-to-eastside expressway, called the Butterfield, through the heart of it. That plan was cancelled for a variety of reasons, which included significant protest on the part of the neighborhood’s minority residents who had lived there for generations. Back then, the City tried to make the area exclusively industrial in anticipation of the Barraza-Aviation Parkway.
The neighborhood was not alone. What was happening here was happening to the Millville neighborhood, through which the Barraza-Aviation Parkway now runs. However, Millville, also known as South Park, has recently drawn the attention of savvy developers who have taken a keen financial interest in this part of town by bringing in mid-to-upscale residential housing with the Ice House and Barrio Metalico Lofts. Apparently, the city shares that interest in Millville by including the Ice House project on their Rio Nuevo maps and brochures even though the project is not officially part of Rio Nuevo and receives none of its funding, leaving some shop owners wondering why they have ignored the Lost Barrio.
There is hope, however for the ever-transitioning scene on the 200 block of South Park. The eleven unique businesses that currently exist there in the form of art studios, furniture galleries, garden arts, imported tapestries, mosaic tile and eastern antiques have been talking and taking their fate into their own hands. Now that most of the merchants have shown some longevity, they’ve recently published and distributed a collective brochure on all the shops, highlighting the special aspects and goods of each. There’s been talk of changing the name Lost Barrio to something that truly reflects the eclectic nature of what it is now, like “SoBro”, as in South of Broadway which likens itself to the SoHo district in New York City. Still, other merchants would like to make the area a bit more upscale.
Metal artist Dante Fraboni, who has a studio at 299 S. Park and has been working in the Lost Barrio since 1991, appreciates many of the ideas that are being thrown out, although doesn’t find it particularly appealing to try to replicate here what could easily be found in other places such as the shops found in St. Phillips Plaza on North Campbell Avenue. While he certainly acknowledges the challenge of balancing business with the creative process, he also highly values the spirit in which the people and businesses in the Lost Barrio have come together. To him, it’s important that whatever change happens, whether it’s in the name “Lost Barrio” or the type of business plans the merchants or city want to propose, Fraboni hopes it reflects and maintains the artistic, historical, cultural integrity of this exceptional community.
“The most valuable thing a city can have is a creative grassroots neighborhood. If you leave creative people alone for awhile, they’ll do something great. It’s all about opportunity and the fact that someone gave me an opportunity is how I got started. If the place gets turned into some high-end shopping district, rents would go up. At that time, I’d say I would have to leave. In reality, it’ll happen or it won’t. But whatever happens, I’ll deal with it.”
The Serendipitous World of Bohemia
by Victor Ventura
here are all sorts of artsy gift shops and galleries around Tucson. They run the gamut of selection, quality and price from a to z. But one gallery is going beyond the usual fare of tchotchkes and guest soaps. It is Bohemia, an artisans’ emporium. Well, that’s how owners Tana Kelch and Daria Sandberg modestly describe it. Describing it can be tricky though. “I like the fact that it’s not minimalist,” says artist Luon St. Pierre. “In every nook and cranny there’s something to see.” And that’s true. Practically every art form is represented.
The story leading to its conception is a common one these days. “It was just after 9/11” says Kelch. “And I was working a job I hated and started to re-evaluate things.” Sandberg, whom she had met working a local retail job, had begun work on her own art. After tossing around the idea for a while they decided to go for it. Here is where the story belongs to Bohemia. “From the beginning” continues Kelch, “it was a serendipitous venture. I opened the Tucson Weekly to browse for retail spaces and there it was. The Lost Barrio was perfect because I didn’t want to be on 4th Avenue or in the middle of Downtown but I still wanted to be somewhere unique.”
Unique indeed. The Lost Barrio is rapidly becoming a shopping destination for people from all over the country from New York to Chicago to San Francisco. Surrounded by shops that import handcrafted treasures from around the world, Bohemia tries to stay focused on local work. As Sandberg puts it: “The abundance of the shop reflects what is going on creatively in central Tucson. People have no idea what’s going on south of Broadway these days.” They were originally located in a smaller section of their current building that was about one-third the size. With the rise in interest from artists and shoppers, a larger location was inevitable. “We never have to call an artist in,” says Kelch. “They come calling.” What draws them there? Artist after artist interviewed came back with the same reason for being there: “Tana and Daria”.
Barbara “don’t stand still or she’ll paint you” Peabody calls Kelch and Sandberg “wonderful gallery owners.” St. Pierre says she “likes being there not only because of the shop and its artists and its philosophy but because of the two women themselves.” They take their reputation seriously and whole-heartedly believe in their shop. They choose the artists and work with them to get a price that’s fair for all involved. There are items priced to meet all budgets. They handle the displays as well. For the most part, artists’ works are scattered throughout the shop intermingling with each other. This helps make each visit like a first visit.
When asked what makes Bohemia different from other shop/galleries, artist Sam Esmoer had this to say: “[It’s] their focus on supporting local Tucson art and artists working in a broad range of styles and mediums in a dynamic setting.” Or as steel sculptor Ned Egan puts it: “It’s packed with work and it works.” The shop has around 190 artists and crafts people (over 15 of which use recycled materials). The ages of the artists range from 11 years old to the mid-70’s. Some are established artists, some are emerging and some have moved on. Certain sections of the shop have a gift store sort of feel but turn a corner and you’re in a furniture shop. One more turn and it’s a gallery setting. There is even a space for exhibits like the current show “A Piece for Peace” which is a collaboration with Instant Karmen Productions.
The show is a way for Bohemia to promote its mission statement: Give, Live, Inspire. Bohemia put a call out to its artists for pieces that reflect “their visions, concepts and feelings of peace.” The show runs until December 20th with 10% of the sale going to the Tucson Peace Center, 45% benefiting the charity of the artist’s choice and the rest going to the artist. It’s this kind of opening that Esmoer describes when he says that “Bohemia puts together interesting openings that feature a combination of art, music and refreshments along with a diverse crowd of people.”
Another thing all the artists agree on is that the shop is devoid of pretension. Peabody says “fine art galleries can be snotty.” Su Egan, a local tapestry and damask weaver visiting Bohemia for the first time finds that “usually things can be pretentious in other shops but not here.” She really enjoyed the color diversity, form, function and non-function of the items. So much so that she feels inspired to create some pieces specifically for the space. San Franciscan visitor Randal Beard was in awe of the shop. “The store is on par with anything similar I’ve seen in the Bay Area and has a permanent place on my list of things to do when I’m in Tucson.”
If you’re a local artist or art enthusiast who has never been to Bohemia they invite you to come and check it out for yourself.
Bohemia is located at 299 S. Park Ave. and is open 10am to 6pm Monday through Saturday and 11am to 4pm on Sunday. Phone: 882-0800.
