MARCH 2004
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Vital SignsThe Heart of CoolFrom art & values to urban renewal, Downtown’s creative class brings it onStory by Mae Lee Sun • photos by Daniel Snyder
Individually, it includes a passionately articulate poet, a cool and collected furniture designer, a handsomely sweet photographer, a charmingly brilliant fine artist and a soulfully deep musician/producer. They’re not Bohemians or Gen X’ers, they’re not Trustafarians and technically, their values and social attitudes are too progressive to define them as Hipsters. They’re 30-something years old (give or take a few), edgy, educated and business-savvy Tucsonans. They’re the new class of artists who live and work downtown, who are bringing about social change not only through commitment to their art but in how they view life, community and work. According to best-selling author Richard Florida (“The Rise of the Creative Class”), the 30% of America’s workforce engaged in creative occupations are mobile, can live anywhere, and choose to live in those cities that provide an environment that encourages their creativity. The cities best able to attract members of the creative class are therefore at a competitive advantage to those that are less inviting.
“I started Biblio because working as a poet and writer, like for most artists, wasn’t paying the bills. A lot of jobs I could get full-time with my degrees were in something like Arts Administration or teaching and weren’t available with the frequency they were 20 years ago. Opening the store is what artists in this position do. And, I wanted to help the city fulfill its promise of turning the downtown into the cultural center of Tucson. Any country or city that doesn’t support its artists finds itself in real trouble.” An activist by nature, Golston declared that it’s important for the city to have a Downtown Arts District and not give it up for the foothills and that city officials should do all they can to protect that. She feels that the Arts District can only thrive with shared responsibilities by committed parties. “We have a bunch of excited artistic individuals of my generation who don’t benefit (from federal funding of the arts, through the National Endowment for the Arts) in the way that artists such as Robert Mapplethorpe used to. But there are potential patrons of the arts in Tucson, people of financial means, who are interested in making things happen. We’re all trying to be self-sufficient and it’s difficult to balance the creative life and put that second to be part of the workforce. The private sector can’t pick up all the slack. We need the City to step in and help us”, she says. The effervescent Golston is clearly not shy in sharing her views. Even with revitalization efforts, she believes that the city and the police have, in other ways, abandoned Downtown. As a business owner in the heart of Congress Street, Golston sees the social problems at the street level, and says that, until joblessness, homelessness and security issues are adequately addressed, it will be “a difficult sell” to bring businesses downtown.
“There are more than 30,000 black people here in Tucson, making it a great market for R&B and urban contemporary Neo-Soul, but there is no real venue to go and hear it. It’s easy to get people to come to Tucson but we need diversity on all levels to keep them here. Whoever starts that kind of thing will have a strong foothold since Tucson is one of the fastest growing cities in America. It’s sort of a proving ground right now. You have to know how to pull people together and how to market. If you can make something work here, you can make it work anywhere.” And work is no less than what Hamilton does. “To be a professional musician you have to be the ultimate multi-tasker. It requires more use of your brain than almost any other activity. Not only are you playing your instrument and performing, you have to take in the environment, engage all your senses and create an experience for people as if it’s effortless. It’s overload almost and you have to be able to handle that”, he earnestly says. So far, Hamilton’s been an expert juggler. He’s performed two operas at the University of Arizona, wrote and put into production the musical, God is Trying to Tell You Something at the Gaslight Theater, has produced the Miss Black Arizona Pageant, does live space production work, plays piano for a church in Mesa and believe it or not, puts most of his time developing his 20-piece orchestra, “The Next Level” and is excited about using the resources that exist in the Tucson Convention Center and the Leo Rich Theater. When asked what motivates all this activity, aside from making a living, he says it’s all about the “L” word and creating great moments in music. After raising 13- and 10-year-old boys in Tucson with his ex-wife, Hamilton strongly adheres to the belief that “Love Conquers All”. Everything after that, he says, falls into place, including love.
The spiky-haired UA graduate has been collaborating with local architect Rob Paulus in creating “Right Livelihood” as a project manager on plans for several innovative and edgy development projects Downtown. His other endeavor has been the design of custom furniture and limited production pieces, something he’s done since he was thirteen. Ewert recently won an award for most innovative designer at FADS (Furniture Art Designers Showcase) for his body of contemporary work, and there’s a large social aspect to what he does, albeit from his own workshop, after 5 and on weekends. “People are looking for something different, something no one else has—at least those with a strong design sense. They bring photos to me of something they saw in a magazine, maybe a detail in a chair, and I work with that inspiration to create a new piece.” And his pieces are not unlike the timeless Corbusier and Mies Van Der Rohe in working with simple, clean lines as an understanding of how the body relates to furniture. In fact, Ewert’s work (including the metrosexy faux suede and steel recliner) is fast becoming known in inside circles as the Corbusier alternative; some of his pieces are being sold in places like the trendy Modern Home furniture gallery here in Tucson. Not bad for a midwesterner turned downtown artist with strong family values who likes to spend quality time with his wife Michelle and famously “bad pug”, Oscar. In work or art, unpretentiously, Ewert feels his lifestyle choices are largely about engagement and connection.
“Ever since I visited a friend in Colorado who said I had a good eye for photography, I continued to shoot. It’s such a spur-of-the-moment decision. I never considered it as a hobby or a business. At a certain point however, I realized I had a marketable skill and wanted my cameras to pay for themselves. What I really use them for is to make beautiful photos whether it’s for an architectural project or a wedding of a friend. My favorite photo projects however include “found objects, like shopping carts and road signs. They’re an interesting accumulation of society’s aspects.” Creativity aside, Fredericks is finding himself challenged to pursue other interests. Having been pursued for high-end architectural rendering design jobs, he’s looking to what little time he has off to work on a new home he’s purchased. The photography in the mean time, like the primary pursuit of other types of artists, has to reinvent itself through these other creative undertakings. For artists of this generation, at least there are options and Frederick’s savvy understanding of both creativity and business is making those options available to himself.
Hailing from the Seattle area and three generations of fine artists, Falk is business partner with mother, Melba, in the 6th Avenue art gallery, 3 Falk. He says that if he focused only on the arts in college, his options for making a living would be limited. Even in the so-called “art world”, making a living strictly as an artist is difficult. Like Fredericks, he wanted more options than that so he combined his art education with computer science and vice versa. Shortly thereafter he found himself as project manager and creative director for a software company in Victoria, British Columbia. In 2000, he joined his mother in taking over a fine arts gallery in Tubac. It moved to Main Avenue in Tucson in 2002 and to its current spot on 6th Avenue near Broadway in 2003. Politically liberal, yet in many ways conservative in the choices he makes for himself, (short of polo shirts and khakis), Falk is focused, driven and impeccably honest. He speaks freely about what’s important to him and what he expects of himself. “I don’t have a need for filler in my life which includes dating although I’d like for someone to change my mind where I can’t help it. I see myself focusing more on my painting career and pursuing other markets in addition to Tucson. Most galleries understand business but not art and most artists understand art but not business. I have a distinct advantage and fall between the two. I’m an artist, I sit on committees for downtown, and I know and socialize with the downtown set who are really solidifying as a group. Although I have liberal underpinnings, my business style is conservative enabling me to have grown the gallery in a declining economy over the last three years while other galleries needed to cut back or close. We’re excited about where we can take it. Especially since the purity of the artwork we show is about the art and it is all it will ever be.” Falk says the foothills has never come close to manifesting the kind of art and social culture he speaks of and that he feels there’s a vibrant potential for downtown to become the cultural center that everyone will eagerly be moving to in the not-too-distant future. He endearingly refers to it as his “universe” and a viable and interesting place free of big box and chain stores. As is typical of the creative class, Falk’s passion is not just with art but with everything. As people, Golston, Hamilton, Ewert, Fredericks, and Falk don’t want to narrowly define their life and work and prefer to evolve its essence. They see themselves gladly sacrificing to make choices they want to make rather than choices they are forced to make. And when it comes to a sense of place to commit their energy to, it’s inspiring to report that there’s no place they’d rather be than in their own community, in Downtown Tucson.
Biblio 222 E. Congress St. • 520-624-8222 Hamilton Entertainment 110 S. Church Ave. • 520-624-0926 Robert Ewert Designs www.robewertdesigns.com 3Falk Gallery 41 S. 6th Ave. • 520-628-9601 The results are in!The Tucson Downtown Alliance and It’s Happening Downtown, Inc. would like to thank those who participated in our November survey issue. The response was excellent and provided us with important feedback on how our Downtown might become a better place to visit, live, work, and play. Yes, we do agree that our survey was long and even confusing at times. However, for those of you who tackled it, your efforts may just be rewarded. All surveys have been placed into a drawing for various prizes and winners will be notified the first week in March. Thanks to Cushing Street Bar and Restaurant, Old Town Artisans, La Cocina Restaurant, Brooklyn Pizza, and Gold’s Gym for providing prizes.
Identification Section:Which of the following describe you? (Check all that apply)
Do you take Sun Tran to get to and from Downtown?
Have you ridden the TICET shuttle Downtown?
Have you ever called the Tucson Downtown Alliance for a safety escort?
Survey Section:What was the reason for your most recent visit to Downtown Tucson?
How safe do you feel in Downtown Tucson? Please check the viewpoint(s) that best describes your own perception of safety and security Downtown.
Which of the following attractions or projects proposed for the area near the Science Center on the east side of the freeway do you think would contribute the most to the improvement of Downtown? What other projects, not listed, would you like to see?
Rank the importance of the following elements in terms of their positive impact on Downtown Tucson. (1 being the most important).
What type of special events would you like to see in Downtown? (ranked in order of importance)
How frequently do you want to see public events in Downtown Tucson? (ranked in order of importance)
What modes of transportation do you feel are most important for Downtown’s future? (ranked in order of importance)
What kind of shopping would you like to see Downtown? (check all that apply)
How would you rate this paper, the Downtown Tucsonan, in terms of its overall effectiveness in marketing Downtown? Please check one.
What would be the best use for the land at the northeast corner of 6th Avenue and Congress? (check all that apply)
Please rank the following marketing projects or programs, in terms of their usefulness in promoting Downtown.
Please rank the following, in terms of their importance as Downtown assets:
Please rank the following, in terms of their importance to Downtown’s economy today:
Please rank the following, in terms of their importance to Downtown’s economy, in the future:
What type of businesses would you prefer to see more of in Downtown Tucson? (rank in order of importance)
What is your view of having chain or franchise-type restaurants or retail businesses in Downtown (versus independent, locally-owned businesses)? Check off the statement that best applies.
Please check off the viewpoint(s) that best describe how you feel about social services in Downtown Tucson.
What frustrates you about coming Downtown? (Check all that apply)
What would be a good location for the new Greyhound Terminal?
How important is it to finish construction of the last mile of the Barraza-Aviation Parkway to move through-traffic past Downtown?
What elements are consistent with the ideal future character of the Warehouse District? (Check all that apply)
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n any given day strolling along the corridor of downtown streets, it’s not likely that you would notice much more than what you noticed a few years back. Yeah, a few new businesses have popped up and a few have fallen by the wayside. The parking lot of the Hotel Congress has a new fence around it and the old train depot is under renovation. Talk about Rio Nuevo dominates discussions about the formal aspects of revitalization. Perhaps you’ve gotten a sense something’s happenin’ yet you’re not sure what. Unless you’re willing to commit yourself to seeing beyond the obvious, it’s rare that you’ll get the opportunity to know and experience the forces and faces that are accompanying the changes downtown and who the force and faces behind them include beyond the usual credit takers.
Maggie Golston, poet, writer and owner of Biblio, a bookstore on Congress St., has been hangin’ in Tucson for 17 years. With a BA and MFA in creative writing from the UA, she giggles when saying Tucson is a good fit for her even though she’s left a few times for the Big Apple and San Francisco. Nonetheless, you can tell she means it when stating that despite the conveniences that these larger cities offer for the arts, Tucson’s Downtown is a vibrant environment, ripe for budding artists, in terms of quality of life.
Golston is not necessarily alone in her views, although other verbally colorful artists like musician/producer Kevin Hamilton look at the issue of revitalization, and making it as both an artist and business owner in Downtown Tucson, as a welcome challenge. The velvety smooth Hamilton is creator of Hamilton Entertainment in La Placita Village. He’s sung in the church choir since age five, and matter-of-factly tells me he is a graduate of young diva, Norah Jones’ alma mater, the Dallas School of the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas. After a stint in the Air Force working on F15’s, directing 3 musicals in Okinawa and travel from Japan to Nashville, he landed in Tucson in 1999.
If what Richard Florida says is true that everything happens at the margins and that the best happens at the street-level scene, then it’s worth taking a look at what’s fallen into place downtown for former Minnesotan Robert Ewert.
Tucson-born (but New South Wales educated) bachelor, photographer/designer Liam Fredericks couldn’t agree more, and it shows in his values and his success. His exceptional photos of the downtown Ice House Lofts Project and the Paulus 007 house on Country Club, have appeared on the cover of Desert Living, Tucson Lifestyle, in bizAZ, cutting-edge magazine Dwell and numerous other publications and yet he still maintains that with all the press and the referrals he’s gotten from it, he is not willing to give himself up completely and let work consume his life.
And so we come full circle. However, if you still need convincing that the cities with the most educated and creative people experience the most success and thus are able to attract more talent, then look no further than fine artist, Jason Falk, for verification.
How would you feel about encouraging the development of a “neon sign” district on Congress Street?