Artist Housing Needs

    Affordable housing specifically geared toward working-class artists is vitally important to sustaining the artist community as a whole.  The sliding scale rent determination system (based upon median income) allows working artists access to specially developed space for living and work.  Because of the volatile nature of art sales for non-established artists and the dependence on economic fluctuations, artists are vulnerable to periods of inconsistent income.  Art, by nature, is considered a luxury item as a purchase, which is why artists are so susceptible to market changes.  It is for this reason that affordable housing is so essential.  Working-class artists, especially those with families, can easily become 'at risk' for homelessness if they are unable to sell their art for a period of time.  According to the 1990 Census  study of 7,500 artists in King County, more than half of them live at 50% of the HUD median income or below.  

Specialized Housing Requirements:

natural light

large exterior facing windows

open floor plan

storage

ventilation

facilities for the disposal of hazardous art supplies

    The Tashiro Kaplan building was exclusively designed to be in accordance with these requirements as well as the strict guidelines dictated by the City of Seattle Department of Housing.  There are dictum for all aspects of design as well as guidelines for governance of behavior outlined by the City of Seattle.  

 

Benefits of the Tashiro Kaplan Building:

William Traver Gallery                      

"Yesterday"                  "Carousel Hero Unicorn"           "Migration 3"
2003 - Danny Perkins     2003 - James Lee Hansen        2004 - Lloyd Blakley
William Traver Gallery    Brian Ohno Gallery                  Foster/White Gallery

the mixed-use construction removes the necessity for an artist to choose between renting living space or work space

the artists will not have to choose between two essential spaces because of economic hardship

the burden of two payments for leasing of space is also alleviated

access to galleries, community art exhibitions (i.e. First Thursday Art Walk), and lobby art display space

there are 31 galleries in the Pioneer Square neighborhood

the foot traffic drawn to the neighborhoods to shop in the established gallery district will be beneficial for the Tashiro lobby exhibitions

living and work space in the 'mixed use' building eliminates the problems with 'spatial mismatch'

the difficulty often caused when the cost of housing in the vicinity of the jobs, in this case galleries, becomes exorbitant in relation to potential income is eliminated

commuting no longer necessary and there is convenient access to public transportation to reach downtown galleries

 

Home Page    Introduction    Artspace Projects Inc    Pioneer Square

First Thursday Artwalk    Application Process   Pro Forma

  Social Impacts    Dissenting Opinion    Conclusion

Additional Resources