Arts and Culture in Lower Manhattan

Rebuild Downtown Our Town (R.Dot) in collaboration with the New York City Arts Coalition and the New York Foundation for the Arts conducted a panel titled Arts and Culture in Lower Manhattan: Giving Visual Artists a Voice in Planning. The panel, which is part of the Civic Alliance's, Beyond 16 Acres program series, was held on February 2, 2004 at JP Morgan Chase and was attended by approximately 110 people.

The objective of the program was to enable visual artists, who are mostly removed from planning initiatives, to have a voice in city planning. Policymaking and politics are often conducted in such a way that excludes artist participation.

The panel discussion was designed to bring policy makers and visual artists together for the expressed purpose of opening up a dialogue about how visual arts can be better incorporated in the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan. The organizers' objective was to enable the artists to have a voice in city planning. Policymakers and arts organizations were asked to give brief presentations of their arts and culture activities in the redevelopment of Lower Manhattan.

Jon Salony, Vice President at JP Morgan Chase Community Development Corporation, welcomed everyone and gave a brief overview of the history of arts and culture in Manhattan. He extolled the essential role the arts have played in revitalizing various neighborhoods in the city. Mr. Salony then introduced Beverly Willis.

Ms. Willis gave a brief description of the Civic Alliance's Beyond 16 Acres program and thanked the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for their generous support for this program. She also thanked Jon Salony, Vice President, and Jean Smith, Vice President of the JP Morgan Chase Community Development Corporation for their excellent accommodations.

The distinguished panelists were Anita Contini, Vice President and Director for Memorial, Cultural and Civic Programs at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC); Alan Gerson, New York City Council Representative, District 1; Norma Munn, Chairperson of the New York City Arts Coalition (NYCAC); Theodore S. Berger, Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) and Beverly Willis, President of Architecture Research Institute and Co-founder of Rebuild Downtown Our Town (ARI/R.Dot)

Panel moderator Kinshasha Holman Conwill lead an interactive discussion between the members of the panel and the audience. What emerged was a keen insight into arts and culture needs and an inspiring look at the potential of artists to have a direct impact on the policies that govern their own communities.

Anita Contini opened her remarks by citing the LMDC's assistance with the History and Heritage Program, a consortium of fourteen downtown museum organizations including the Skyscraper Museum, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, and the Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island Immigration Museum. She told of the LMDC's role in establishing a marketing strategy for these organizations to attract tourists and visitors to the downtown area. One of the key elements of the strategy was the co-sponsoring of the website, www.NewYorkStartsHere.org

Ms. Contini stressed the importance of artists maintaining a strong voice throughout the development process. She summarized her presentation by citing the necessity of examining cultural institutions and the ideas of individual artists. She insisted that it is crucial for artists to maintain their energy and voice so they are not ignored in the increasingly rapid development process.

Councilman Alan Gerson said it was not enough that artists have input in existing government programs but that policymakers should draw their inspiration in forming public policy from artists' ideas and work. He said his office had two basic commitments to the arts community: the first was a "true democracy" wherein artists have a legitimate say in public policy, and the second, that government designs itself to facilitate artist input without censorship.

Gerson pointed out that land use initiatives and zoning laws would be one of the most important areas for artists to weigh in on in coming development. He cited the establishment of "precatory language" in zoning laws in Soho and Noho. In these areas legal language was established for the first time, defining arts and culture as a legitimate and crucial element of development policy.

Councilman Gerson discussed the legislative initiatives of his own office to require that 5% of all space in any new development be set aside for artist live/work space. In his presentation and in his responses to audience questions, he stressed what important issues zoning and land use are in developing and maintaining a vital arts community. He said it was not enough that artists have input in existing government programs but that policymakers should draw their inspiration in forming public policy from artists' ideas and work.

Norma Munn pointed out that New York's historical diversity is mirrored by its artistic diversity. She called for arts and culture to have a voice equal to real estate and industry in forming public policy and for government to form a real relationship with the arts community. Ms. Munn insisted that the "ecology of the arts" be respected and maintained by the city government.

Theodore Berger addressed the dire situation that artists are in currently and the need for a serious bolstering of the arts community. He said that NYFA had provided millions of dollars to the arts and artists but also pointed to a survey conducted by the Arts Recovery Fund (under the auspices of NYFA) that showed 82 percent of artists had lost 46 percent of their income since September 11th. Mr. Berger declared that Lower Manhattan is the center of creative vision for the entire city; a city that is one of the cultural capitals of the world. He argued that there was simply not enough going on to encourage artists to participate in the re-development of Lower Manhattan. Mr. Berger implored the group to be more vocal in their ideas and designs.

One of the most pertinent elements of the discussion was to further clarify how artists speak to the political community. Several artists pointed out that they do not know how to speak politically. They are used to communicating through their own forms of media.

The level of concern displayed by the artists for their own position in the city's culture and their own future was perhaps the most telling aspect of the meeting. Each panelist continued to insist that the artists keep their voices strong in the community. The group assembled on Monday illustrated that in the right forum and with the right support they would not remain quiet as the city steam-rolled ahead with more industrial ambitions. They showed themselves to be a passionate, dedicated people who were anxious to have a legitimate voice in government. They were fearful and skeptical of the city's intentions but were willing to participate.

If enough events of this nature are sponsored by concerned policymakers and advocacy groups, it will assist in uniting the artists in a cohesive and powerful political body. Artists could join not only in a social, communal setting, but in a lobby of sorts wherein policymakers and politicians could relate to artists as they do to corporations and other special interests. Whatever designs may emerge, and despite who is chosen to be exhibited, events such as this one empower artists if only to make connections with other artists and show that there is a strong and active community of which they are a part.

Beverly Willis showed slides of maps illustrating planning approaches. The Lower Manhattan maps showed different neighborhoods and possible cultural zones that were, or could be created. The idea was to give artists examples of the range of possibilities and areas of interest.

Artists, by nature, work in isolation. As was pointed out by several audience members, establishing forums and a social framework for discourse among artists is as important as providing them space to live and work. The panel served to bring the artists together to discuss shared concerns.

Artistic expression is often too sublime to be easily dissected by committees and councils. In this world of rapidly expanding corporate structures wherein political power is increasingly condensed into fewer hands, artists must join together and fashion themselves into a viable political body that sways policy not with political rhetoric but with artistic vision. It is precisely events like February 2nd's panel discussion that allow them to do this.

The panel discussion, in our view, not only achieved our goal, but exceeded expectations and broadened the potential scope of artistic contribution in Lower Manhattan and the city in general.

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