Co-operative artists gallery on H Street

See the write up in the entry "A new cooperative gallery on the H Street corridor NE,"from Daily Campello Art News blog about the City Gallery at 804 H Street NE, on the second floor.

There are a couple of other galleries in the area, Studio H, at 408 H Street NE, and Conner Contemporary Art (also see this article from the Post, "Leigh Conner, the driving force behind Conner Contemporary Art") and G Fine Art at 1308 Florida Avenue NE (see "Galleries: Jessica Dawson reviews A.B. Miner show at new G Fine Art" from the Post).

Interestingly enough, when I was part of H Street Main Street in 2003-4, we discussed the idea of extending the idea of an "arts district" on H Street to beyond the corridor specifically, both in the schools and on Florida Avenue--in part Florida Avenue is attractive because in the 1300 block there are some appropriate buildings, which have since been recaptured for use as galleries.

The advantage of this area for artists is that relatively speaking the rents are less than they are in the core of the city either downtown ("Zenith Gallery Is Shutting Its Doors" from the Post) or 14th Street NW ("Other 14th Street NW Galleries Could Close in Wake of G Fine Art" from the Post).

But that doesn't change the real problem in DC as it relates to arts production... the city doesn't have a strong market for the purchase of artist-produced goods. DC is more about "consuming the arts experience" at institutions such as the Smithsonian Museums or the National Gallery of Art.

There are some best practices initiatives in promoting acquisition of art, especially by Arts Council England, see Market Matters: the dynamics of the contemporary art market, Cultivate - Developing the visual arts market in the West Midlands, and How to buy art.

Developing comparable initiatives here are in order if the DC region is going to have a community of arts workers in addition to large, nationally oriented arts institutions.

The recent discussion about expanding the number of allowable restaurants and taverns in the "U Street Arts District" is relevant to this ("Should a restaurant or bar or coffee shop be considered an arts-related business as a matter of course?").

I neglected to mention that there is a difference between an entertainment district and an arts district. An arts district ought to be about art and artists, not just drinking and eating.

See:

Montgomery, J. “Cultural Quarters as Mechanisms for Urban Regeneration. Part 1: Conceptualising Cultural Quarters.” Planning, Practice & Research, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 293–306, November 2003

Not to mention, the planning report that undergirds the U Street Arts Overlay district, DUKE: Development Framework for a Cultural Destination District Within Washington, DC's Greater Shaw/U Street from the DC Office of Planning.