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THE ART OF LIVING
Artist survey extended to April 12
BY LOREN KING

The housing crunch in Boston is particularly hard on artists, who often face the dual problem of large-space needs (those big canvases require lots of room) and low incomes. To sustain diversity in neighborhoods that have historically attracted artists and to assist the city’s efforts to develop new, permanent living-and-work space for artists, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) last year launched the Artist Space Initiative. As one of its first actions, it is conducting a confidential survey to determine what kinds of space artists need and what they can afford to pay.

The BRA announced this week that the deadline for submitting the 2002 Boston Artist Survey has been extended to April 12. The four-page survey — which solicits information about income, current housing, housing needs and preferences, and lifestyle — has been mailed to 10,000 artists in and around Boston. The BRA hopes for at least 1000 responses, to get a significant sample. And it bears repeating: artists who fill out the survey need not supply their names or any other personal information.

According to BRA director Mark Maloney, the agency, which oversees planning and development in Boston, will use the survey findings to guide the BRA’s current and future efforts to create permanent space for artists and to make sure that such space meets their needs. The BRA plans to share its findings with arts professionals, city officials, public-policy makers, philanthropic organizations, commercial and nonprofit developers, and artists themselves.

Artspace Projects Inc., a nonprofit organization that specializes in the development of low-cost housing for artists, was commissioned by the BRA to conduct the study. Artspace has conducted market studies of artists’ space needs in 50 communities nationwide and developed 500 "live/work" spaces in 15 cities, including Chicago, Seattle, Pittsburgh, St. Paul, and Portland, Oregon. (Visit the organization’s Web site at www.artspaceprojects.org.)

Former Boston Center for the Arts director Susan Hartnett, who was hired in 2001 to head the BRA’s Artist Space Initiative, says the survey is an important first step in the agency’s effort to address the problem of artists’ housing in a systematic way. Artists who have not yet filled out the survey are encouraged to so and return it to the BRA in the no-postage-required envelope provided with the survey by April 12. Anyone who has not received a survey and would like to fill one out should contact Susan Hartnett at susan.hartnett.bra@ci.boston.ma.us, or call (617) 918-4246.

Issue Date: April 4 - 11, 2002
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