Gentrification as ‘Benign Ethnic Cleansing’?

All I know is that because there is no central place for artists to be anymore, it is REALLY hard to meet and collaborate with other artists. When I lived in Queens, I didn't run across any other artists, and when I went into Manhattan, all I really met were upper-middle-class yuppies. And this was ten years ago!

Generally, this dispersal of artists has created an isolating effect. No like-minded community for me; it's just everyone for himself. And basically, that's a bad thing. What's worse is because of rising rents and property values, performance and art spaces are also now being priced out. So soon, there probably won't be anyplace to showcase our work! And while I realize that the rich have traditionally supported the arts, the current generation does not value the arts at all. To them, the arts are The Lion King on Broadway, and that's about it.

It's not the rich I have a beef against; it's the yuppie Philistines.

Well, yeah. I don't have anything against mass appeal, mind. But because of the lack of artistic education in the schools, people don't appreciate symphony orchestras and opera. We are spoiled here. These institutions will not close here, but symphony orchestras are closing all over the country. The Florida Philharmonic is the last casualty I know of, but there may have been others. People wonder why I didn't stick with the oboe, but it's not like I would have been able to make a living. The problem with the smaller orchestras closing is that they basically functioned as feeder institutions for the larger orchestras. Now that's being lost. There's no way for young musicians to get their professional sealegs as it were. That's just one example.

We also live in an era where people feel that what you offer as an artist, whether as a musician, actor or writer, should be free. How many of you downloaded stuff that you didn't pay for? That's money out of artist's mouth. Free advertising doesn't usually create money at the end of the road. One of the ongoing fights I've had with my ex (who's a producer) is with his refusal to pay non-union actors while of course, SAG actors get at least scale (and usually more than scale). He's expecting people to take off work for a few weeks to work on his production for NOTHING except maybe a dream of recognition and a SAG card yonder. Frankly, I think it's unfair. It's fair to pay non-union actors less, but NOTHING? And considering the level of profit he gets from his movies, I really don't think paying non-union actors for their time would really make much of an impact on profits. But then, he delights in being an ass, which is why he's an ex.

Unfortunately, his attitude is not uncommon. I can't tell you how many people I've run across who expect me to offer my services, my lifeblood for little or nothing. I got called to play a wedding at the last minute. He wanted me to find a cellist (not difficult) and play duets. I told him it would cost $300. (Note: I'm AFM and have to charge at least union scale.) He totally balked because he was expecting to pay $10 AN HOUR. Thus in his head, he was going to pay $40. I told him that $300 is to pay for the time we have to take off work in order to rehearse, since it was last-minute (wedding in two days) unless he expected us to show up totally unprepared. He thought what I was asking was unreasonable, at which point, I told him that he should find some high school kids and have them sightread, which is all he would find at the rate he was willing to pay.

This is insanity, yet I run across it every day. (Tip: It's cheaper to hire musicians if you don't wait until the last minute to hire them. It should be next on the list after you hire the caterer.)

As far as artists being centrally located: well, there is already a theme park. It's called Broadway. The problem is, off-Broadway theaters are closing because they can't pay the rent, and they act as feeders to Broadway. Where are we to find our professional sealegs when they go?

When cheap housing was centrally located and you had artists in that area as a result, you had an amazing cross-fertilization that is no longer happening now. Now, it's almost impossible to even collaborate. I have tons of phone numbers of possible collaborations, and it isn't that I haven't tried, but when one person lives in Queens, two in opposite ends of Brooklyn, and one in the wilds of Southern New Jersey, it's really hard to accomplish anything.