By Patrick Dennis
I am an artist and I’ve been thinking…
Of course all us crazy artists know that we are on the bottom rung of the economic ladder, which has been steadily sinking into the mire, meaning we are really about three feet deep in doo doo if that’s how we make our living. But have you ever known an artist to give up trying? Hang up their brushes? Smash their camera? Bust up their kiln? Well, if you have it is definitely not a pretty sight plus it makes a mess.
Artists are fearless creative fighters, innovators and survivors. You wouldn’t want to see your artist friends suffer like being left in the kennel to face the gas would you? Of course not! We help them out any way we can because all us crazy artists know that you “regular people” out there can’t really live without us. If you tried, your homes would be all beige, your hair would be a mess and you wouldn’t have any good stories to tell at your parties.
Recently I received a letter from an artist I haven’t heard from in awhile. He had sold paintings at Atlantic Station Market, featured at Eyedrum (eyedrum.org) and worked as painter on three movies filmed here in Atlanta. Unfortunately, he hasn’t worked in three months and he was seeking my advice on where an artist on a shoestring budget where he might showcase and sell his work.
My first reaction was that this artist has done pretty well for himself! My second reaction is that he’s only had two months of searching, but that is the equivalent of about two years for “regular people,” which is sort of like dog years because artists live on less, and it’s an eternity when the rent is due or you’re waiting to be let out.
My third reaction was that Atlanta is huge, so there should be a wide range of opportunities for artists here, am I right? My fourth thought was how I could land a set painting gig, but that made me feel a little guilty since naturally I was obliged to do what I can to help a struggling artist, plus I was getting a little disoriented from all these reactions so I went back to reaction number three and what to do about it.
As it turns out, options for artists to “get work” on a regular basis are more limited than ever at the very same time they’re more needed than ever. That conundrum felt queasily close to a Star Trek topic, so before I started wandering too far off the path, I did some serious thinking about the need for regular weekend artist markets. Not just for my artist friend, but for all you non-artist folks who teeter dangerously close to the brink of tastelessness, or at least blandness without us.
Weekend artist markets are essentially a requirement for a prosperous, progressive city. Artist markets draw visitors, encourage people to get out of their cars, breathe life and color into the neighborhood economy while reducing crime.
The Midtown Pop Up Shops and Artist Market (facebook.com/MidtownArtistMarket) opened with a bang during the holidays and is poised to be open at the 805 Peachtree St. building each month until a permanent tenant discovers this luxury space.
The Dashboard Co-Op (dashboardco-op.org) event on Brady Street in January was an innovative and daring way to show art in an empty warehouse. They plan to keep their proverbial (or possibly literal) artistic ball rolling with future events at secret locations like a ‘90s rave scene.
The 2nd Friday Art Stroll on Castleberry Hill (castleberryhillartstroll.com) was voted “best neighborhood art walk” in a recent publication, so surely they will expand to include more artists and safely attract pedestrians. And my observations about the Bennett Street Galleries (bennettstreet.com) is that they really need an outdoor artist market on the weekends to draw visitors since it’s hard to see their turn off Peachtree Street when one is dodging traffic at 70 miles per hour and can’t turn in.
So I’ve decided that the best solution for everyone is to hire my artist friend to get my foot in the door of the movie companies. No actually, that wouldn’t help anyone. The best solution is to round up all of my favorite artists and get them to support and overwhelm the few weekend artist markets we have, so we’d create a demand and competition for our art that would drive up our prices which would make us happy and give you other folks, whom we love by the way, another good story to tell.
Patrick Dennis is an artist, gallery owner and President of the Atlanta Foundation for Public Spaces. Email him at Patrick@affps.com.
