The first annual Columbia Art District Festival, scheduled this Saturday, September 22, in Holland is much more than just another street party.
Hopwood DePree, a film producer and CEO of Tic Tock Studios, says the festival represents the ongoing transformation of a downtrodden thoroughfare on the city's east side into a vibrant urban hub of arts and creativity.
The Columbia Avenue corridor suffers from dilapidated housing and storefronts, an overall lack of identity, and some gang-related problems. But it's not like it's the ghetto. In fact, a growing band of artists have lived and worked in the area for years.
Those musicians, restaurateurs, and other members of the local creative class now aim to ramp up their public profile and leverage it to strengthen their community. They've organized a day of festivities to showcase their talents. And the overarching goal is to steadily rebrand the neighborhood and, ultimately, physically make it a more attractive place to live and work. The Columbia Art District Festival, in other words, is part of an overall strategy to encourage the revitalization of downtown Holland.
“I grew up around this area,” says DePree. “Now I work here everyday and would like to feel safe. Residents want to feel safe too.”
Communities across the nation have successfully leveraged the arts to spur urban revitalization, generate jobs, and attract young talented residents. In Lowertown St. Paul, Minnesota, for instance, civic leaders established an arts district – complete with low-rent housing and workspaces geared specifically to artists – in a nearly deserted neighborhood with 50 inhabitants and a 90 percent vacancy rate. After just eight years, the area was booming with approximately 5,000 residents and a 10 percent vacancy rate.
Philadelphia launched a similiar Avenue of the Arts initiative in 1983 with an initial investment of $8 million. By 2004, the project had leveraged a total investment of approximately $650 million and created 4,000 full and part-time jobs; businesses there annually generate some $200 million in revenues.
Grand Rapids, MI launched its Avenue for the Arts strategy around 2004 in the historic Heartside District. The focused effort, along with a number of innovative state and local policies and funding programs, has been instrumental to the resurgence of appealing residential and retail opportunities in the South Division corridor. Seattle, Reno, and Minneapolis all have initiated similar programs and experienced similar results.
Hopwood DePree, who spends considerable time in Los Angeles, points to the Abbott Kinney corridor of Venice Beach to illustrate the power of the arts to reverse urban decline. In the 1970s and 80s the beach community was defined by grime and crime. Then, in 1984, residents organized the Abbot Kinney Street Festival to celebrate art and music and galvanize residents around neighborhood improvement.
“Their festival sparked an amazing change,” Depree says. “It is now one of the most popular areas to live and visit. It has become eclectic, hip, interesting, and fun."
The scale of the challenge and opportunity in the Columbia Avenue corridor of Holland, MI, is somewhat smaller than the prospects for change in major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle, or even Grand Rapids. But the idea is essentially the same. And now civic leaders are setting it in motion.
“We are trying to create an atmosphere of art and music,” says Jodi Rademacher, owner of the Till Midnight restaurant. “Holland is growing up. The previous generation is moving on now and a new generation is coming along that wants more culture.”
But executing a successful neighborhood revitalization strategy requires much more than a one day street festival. Organizers of the Columbia Art District have worked closely with city leaders to develop a corridor beautification program. In 2009, they hope to begin enhancing the strip with decorative lamps, landscaped street corners, an arched iron gate to Prospect Park, and other amenities that make the overall scene more inviting to pedestrians and new residents.
Finding the funds to implement the various projects will requires some political wrangling at both the state and local level, especially in these tough fiscal times. In the meantime, organizers hope the first-ever Columbia Art District Festival will help draw public attention to the improvement plan and demonstrate broad community support for making the investments.
The event will also provide a platform to showcase the rich artistic talent in the neighborhood and throughout the city. In this its inaugural year, the festival will be located on Columbia Avenue between 18th and 20th streets. It kicks off with a bed race at 11:30 a.m. and ends with a movie at dusk. Attendees can enjoy a variety of music, food, beer and wine and, of course, local art throughout the day. A full schedule for the day is available on the Columbia Art District Festival website.
“We have had an overwhelmingly positive response from artists, neighbors, and the city,” says Hopwood DePree. “This is going to be a fresh, young, hip festival that appeals to all ages."
Christen Oliveto is a freelance writer. She last wrote for Rapid Growth Media about
podcasting Muskegon's renaissance.
Photos:
Hopwood DePree on Columbia Avenue
The Black River Gallery and the Leaf and Bean Expresso Bar are indicative of the types of businesses changing the perception of the corridor
This bannered building will host activities during the festival
The Till Midnight Restaurant and Bakery sits in a renovated Baker Furniture factory on Columbia Avenue
Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved