Case Studies
Case Study #1:
Arts & Entertainment District
Galveston, TX
Problem:
Diminishing art buyer traffic, empty buildings, disenchanted merchants, fewer galleries, emerging artists not adequately represented.
Solution:
A grassroots plan was used to repurpose vacant architecture, and revitalize art-related business opportunities within the district.
Embella founders, David E. Warner and Deborah A. Kaufman began the process with a belief in a single tenet – that art and art-related activities can serve as economic catalysts to the revitalization of downtown districts. The Post Office Street arts district, once alive with galleries, shops and art-related activities had begun to wane with businesses heavily dependent on three or four entertainment events a year to bring in traffic.
Warner and Kaufman began their initial effort to revitalize interest in the arts district by opening Bremond House Gallery. The premise was that critical mass could not be achieve with one or two galleries on the street. The district needed three to five galleries to be a player in the minds of art collectors. Adding another gallery helped, but more work was needed. An aggressive public relations and direct mail advertising campaign was launched to capture interest from the district’s primary target market, art buyers from nearby Houston.
The initial effort was enthusiastically received by the art community and quickly grew into outdoor art exhibits and the need for permanent wall space where artists could show and sell their work. It became apparent that more space was required and negotiations for a temporary 12,000 sq. ft. facility to display art were successfully undertaken.
The new enterprise was called, The Earthman Art Center (EAC). Warner negotiated with benefactors, Jim, Margaret and Addie Earthman to temporarily donate 12,000 sq. ft. to the arts initiative. Graciously, the Earthmans agreed and the Earthman Arts Center was formed. The Center’s primary mission was to provide regional artists with the tools and services necessary to cultivate their work through shared networking, exhibit access, and marketing services.
Outcome:
Word of mouth began to spread quickly and within a matter of months, EAC had 28 artists on permanent display at the center, 20-30 artists each month involved in Art in the Park, and an additional 10-15 that would show in vacant buildings during Art Walk. The EAC sponsored between 60 and 70 artists a month in different venus, resulting in a three-fold traffic increase to Postoffice Street. During that three-hour monthly art walks, the Earthman Art Center would have between 600 and 700 visitors in the facility.
This grassroots effort helped generate income for artists and ultimately fed back into the community with derivative spending at restaurants, hotels and gift shops. Over the last few years, two new galleries have moved into the district and monthly art walks continue to generate strong interest.
Case Study #2:
Historic Downtown
Elgin, TX
Problem:
Empty buildings, one closed gallery (which left the town without any galleries), a couple of artist studios, merchants struggling with spotty local traffic, arts initiative lacking universal support, unique downtown brand not established, downtown awareness from nearby Austin and IH290 traffic limited.
Solution:
A grassroots plan began with interviewing community leaders, business owners and citizens in an effort to determine how receptive they would be to positioning the downtown district as an arts destination. Their enthusiasm propelled the plan into action and the first town meeting was held to discuss the details of the plan.
As in Galveston, one of the first steps to achieving interest from art buyers is to create critical mass of art-related businesses. Elgin needed galleries to be taken seriously as an arts destination. The first year timeline below details how the plan unfolded.
First Year Accomplishments
1. The July art event was moved to the fourth Saturday in April to increase the size of the crowds and move away from the heat.
2. In October of 2006, the Roseminn Gallery location became Kingfisher Fine Art and Music.
3. In January of 2007, the website www.artinelgin.com was established as a central clearing house for all information about Art goings on in Elgin.
4. There are now ELEVEN Art Events planned for each year – eight Elgin Art Walks, one Art on the Spot event, Holiday by the Tracks, and one Art in the Park event in April.
5. An open meeting was held in April 2007 to get the community behind the Elgin as an Arts Destination initiative.
6. Bremond House Gallery opened up a 6,000 square foot gallery on Main Street in June 2006.
7. W. W. Treenware has converted from a country store with antiques to W. W. Treenware Folk Art Studio and Gallery.
8. Eñye Studio and Gallery opened on Ave C in October 2007.
9. The Art & Artisans group, which met every six-eight months voted to become the non-profit Elgin Arts Association. They now meet once a month and provide outreach to the community and support for the Arts and Artists.
10. Press coverage about Elgin and its initiative has been extensive across the state, and this is causing additional artists to move into town and business owners from outside the area to consider locating here. From the Dallas Morning News, to Texas Monthly, to the Bastrop Advertiser, and Elgin Courier – all have picked up the press releases that have been sent to them.
11. Elgin had THREE artists selected for the Texas Originals Program. A fourth lives only a few miles out of town, so Elgin can boast four of the 38 total artists in this Texas Commission on the Arts program as ‘home-grown’.
12. Because of the extensive press coverage, a family has decided to build a fifth gallery on 2nd street, 2.8 miles from downtown.
13. The Arts initiative has broad-based support from the Chamber of Commerce, the Main Street Board, the Economic Development Corporation, and the City of Elgin. Elgin has been known as the Brick Capital of the Southwest and the Sausage Capital of Texas. An additional line has been added: Our enthusiasm for the arts will move you!
14. Southside Market and BBQ had their 125th anniversary, but decided to make Art a large part of it. Thirty-eight artists participated in this ‘tented’ event in June 2006.
15. Elgin was entered in the IKEA competition to do a $50,000 downtown makeover – all based on using Art for economic development.
16. Local businesses have stepped up to the plate donating materials for Art Walk signage, and three banks have donated money for collateral materials.
17. The Pearls Art Show has a new name and renewed energy and is now under the Elgin Arts Association. This allows the scholarship program to expand because of the EAA’s non-profit status. Their October 2006 had the most participating artists (43) and highest number of entries (113) in the shows history.
18. The majority of the main street businesses have agreed to stay open the extra hours during Art Walks and those that have room are hosting artists. The first Elgin Art Walk held on October 13, 2006 had over 60 artists participating in person across a four block area.
19. Art workshops are being scheduled, and some have already been conducted to include more people from the surrounding community in the Arts initiative. Those who want to learn a skill or those who want to improve their existing craft can now find local education to do so.
20. The Chamber and Main Street board printed over 20,000 post cards, several hundred flyers, library book marks and printed cards for kiosk’s to promote the Art Walks. The city has offered its bulk rate to those artists and galleries who wish to use it to reduce postage costs. A local bank mailed Art Walk cards at their expense to their entire list of shareholders, a local realtor and gallery both covered postage costs to expand the mailing of cards into additional high-end neighborhoods.
21. Four new businesses have moved into the downtown area because of the new focus on the arts. All of them are prominently featuring local artists works on the walls, giving them another selling venue. A company has selected the downtown area to build moderately priced homes that will make for great affordable artist housing within walking distance of the galleries.
Outcome:
The Elgin arts initative is still in its infancy; however, the initial feedback from the community tells a very compelling story about how a community, historically known for bricks and sausage, is enthusiastically embracing the concept of becoming arts destination.
Testimonials
10/27/07 – Let me give a belated cheer for your first Art Walk. It was absolutely wonderful. For me one of the most touching things was to run into neighbors who had stars in their eyes. I can’t tell you how many times I heard things like: “Is this really Elgin? “This is just what we’ve always wanted our town to be like”- in short it was magical.
Signed A. G. – Elgin
10/17/07 – I wanted to let you know what a success I felt that the first Art Walk was! I have heard nothing but praise about the entire event.
Signed J. K. – Elgin
10/16/07 – I heard the Art Walk was a huge success. Congratulations on a job well done.
Signed B. W. – Elgin
10/15/07 – Hell of a job putting that show together!! (notice the pun) I’ve never personally experienced anything like it. You’ve raised the bar again!
Signed M. R. – Cedar Creek
10/15/07 – Hey man, Great job on Saturday night. I think everybody enjoyed it and was satisfied that it was a success.
Signed J. B. – The Arbors
10/15/07 – I understand that downtown was full of people. Everyone said the walk was a great success. Keep up the good work, Elgin needs your vision.
Signed S. R. – Elgin
10/14/07 – I have no words! Saturday night was the most incredible happening EVER in Elgin! Even from Nancy Lou’s courtyard, I almost lost my voice from talking to folks! Bless your heart for coming to Elgin! This is absolutely phenomenal!
Signed S. K. – Elgin
