ART DISTRICTS BASICS

ART DISTRICTS

Art districts

DEFINITION:

A mixed use area in a community with high

concentration of cultural facilities and

operations aimed to promote economic

development and cultural activity.

WHAT IS AN ART DISTRICT??

Art districts

Art districts

WHO IS PART OF AN ART DISTRICT??

•Cultural Facilities

•Arts Organizations

•Individual Artists

•Art-based Business

•Ancillary Merchants

Art districts

WHERE ARE ART DISTRICTS LOCATED??

•Cultural Compounds

•Major Cultural Institutions

•Arts and Entertainment Districts

•Downtown Arts Districts

•Cultural Production Districts

•Combo (Art) Districts

TYPES OF ART DISTRICTS:

Art districts

CULTURAL COMPOUNDS

Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Art districts

MAJOR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS

Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA

Art districts

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICTS

Pomona Arts Colony, Pomona, CA

Art districts

DOWNTOWN ARTS DISTRICTS

Downtown Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Art districts

CULTURAL PRODUCTION DISTRICTS

The Brewery, Los Angeles, CA

Art districts

COMBO (ART) DISTRICTS

•Historic District

•Downtown District

•Art District

Riverside, CA

Art districts

MAJOR DESIGN ELEMENTS:

CULTURAL FACILITY

Riverside Art Museum, Riverside, CA

Art districts

MAJOR DESIGN ELEMENTS:

PUBLIC SPACES

Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

Art districts

MAJOR DESIGN ELEMENTS:

PUBLIC ART

From The Great Orange Event, Riverside, CA

Art districts

URBAN DESIGN ELEMENTS:

Pedestrian

orientated design

Landscape

design

Way finding /edge

design

Art districts

WHY ART DISTRICTS?

•Economic

•Public Health

•Sustainability

•Imageability

•Community Pride

BENEFITS OF ART DISTRICTS:

Art districts

OPPORTUNITIES TO DESIGNATE AN

ARTS DISTRICT

•Part of a Community Visioning Plan

•Champions for the arts and culture in the community's

leadership

•Political

•Government

•Commercial

•Grass roots

•Established/Growing Base of Arts and Culture

Operations within a Geographic Area

Art districts

DESIGNATING AN ARTS DISTRICT

•Private Development Group

•Community Based Organizations

•Promotional Bureau

•Planning Authority

•Local or State Legislation

Art districts

BASIC STEPS TOWARDS ESTABLISHMENT

1. Identify Stakeholders

2. Conduct Community Visioning Sessions

3. Prepare Strategic Plan

4. Formalize Arts District through Proclamation or by

Geography

5. Manage, Monitor and Promote the District

DESIGNATING AN ARTS DISTRICT

Art districts

MECHANISMS

A. POLICY

1. Marketing/Branding/Establishing an Identity

2. State Legislation

3. Urban Design Tools

• Streetscape

• Way finding/Connectivity

• Festival Spaces

B. ZONING

DESIGNATING AN ARTS DISTRICT

Art districts

•Artist link

http://www.artistlink.org

•Americans for the Arts

http://www.artsusa.org

•Planning and Urban Design Standards, John Wiley &

Sons Inc. ,2006

RESOURCES