The
Many Doors of Artists Alley
There
is a saying, When one Door Closes, another will Open. One Beautiful
Door has closed in Artists Alley. The Muramid Mural Museum is now in
storage awaiting their new venue hopefully in Oceanside.
Is there a future for individual artists and Art studios/centers in
Oceanside, especially in Artists Alley? When in 1992, My space for
the very first studio/gallery in Oceanside, in an alley full of the
every nights detritus of the homeless and their cohorts, I paid 300.
a month for rent. Within a few years we had nine working artists in
residence in the Art Building. Now the same space rental is 1800.00.
I can think of no artist capable of affording this kind of rent. The
Alley is not retail. It is an alley and as such there is no foot
traffic or highway visibility which would give the artist any way to
attract clients and customers. "The Alley" as it is
affectionately called, has been the life center of our Monthly First Friday Art Walk and the Muramid, it's main attraction.
For
Centuries, artists have worked and created in out of the way lofts,
backrooms, warehouses, and other non desirable places to make their
art works. The drive to do the art thing, is not an option it is a
fact of existence. For the true artist, they will create their works
in a bedroom if no other spot is available. In our Downtown area,
these little out of the way places for Artists have disappeared and
our Artists have left.
Large
cosmopolitan Cities have always had these small spaces for
artists,writers, and performers. They also have the vital
element of Arts Patrons. These individuals will open the
galleries, playhouses and support the Libraries that are essential
for a thriving Arts Community.
Oceanside
is in the process of creating a Master Plan for the Cultural Arts
which include the fine arts, visual, performance, musical, and the
written word. OMA had been a leader in the fine arts as an
institution, and the Library our guide for the Arts Commission. In an
article in the San Diego Union Tribune this last week, which was
about the creation of a Master Plan for the Arts, the mention of
Galleries was included twice. As of now, there is one gallery, and
one artist studio and their future is uncertain. Is there a way to
include individual artists and bring galleries/art centers to our
downtown Oceanside? Perhaps a new format could be considered.
A
civic Art Center is one way in which many cities have been successful
in providing a place for teaching and creating the Arts. City
buildings are another way to create gallery spaces where people come
on a regular basis looking for building permits and new business
possibilities. These folks are prospective consumers of art and
potential clients.
As
we contemplate the many doors of Artists Alley it might be that these
doors become a state of mind. These
doors can be in Hotels, Restaurants, Coffee shops, City
Hall and
in vacant malls in our City. The Artists would be well served to have
a partnering with our City in this endeavor, to include this dilemma of
unrealistic rents for future artists occupation, and to create new
spaces in our Downtown in the Master Plan for the Arts.
Perhaps
East
Oceanside can
be a new Door. South
Oceanside has
opened the Door for artists and artisans with the participation of
many of the new young business owners with the South
O Walkabout”
There are many doors within the Educational structures of the
Oceanside Unified School District along with Mira Costa. So my
journey down the pathway of Artists Alley will continue to have my
presence for what ever can be arranged, but we now seek to find new
Doorways that will become the New Artists Alleys of our hearts
desire. We await our beloved Muramid Mural Museum's search for a new
Home and we hope that it is in Oceanside.
