This special event is part of the #ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE collaborative exhibition by Humphreys Street Studios artists at Assemblage Arts Space (Fort Point Arts Community).

The panel discussion is to discuss potential solutions to the artist displacement challenge in Greater Boston and features panelists:

Raber Umphenour, Filmmaker, Midway Studios, Fort Point

Kara Elliot-Ortega, Chief of Arts & Culture, City of Boston

John Barros, former Boston Mayoral candidate & former Chief of Economic Development, City of Boston

This event is in partnership with WBUR radio & will be moderated by Amelia Mason.

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This event is in relation to the multi-faceted visual art exhibition #ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE by Humphreys Street Studios artists taking place at Assemblage Arts Space in South Boston through November 5, 2021--a visual representation of the decades-long, systemic displacement of artists throughout Greater Boston and asks: WILL ARTISTS STAY HERE?

Over the past twenty years, over two-dozen artist community buildings in Greater Boston have been either sold or redeveloped, displacing nearly 1000 valued visual and performing artists, causing them to reluctantly re-locate outside of Boston and even outside of Massachusetts. Generally, artists do not have the liquid wealth nor the business savvy to navigate purchasing their communal properties, find funding, govern a community, or manage a property.

#ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE marks the year-plus journey of one Boston arts community: Humphreys Street Studios, in their campaign to preserve their property as affordable artist workspaces. Humphreys Street Studios includes 40+ artists and creative small businesses who have had workspaces at 11-13 Humphreys Street in Uphams Corner, Dorchester, collectively for twenty years.

BACKGROUND

In 2002 sculptors Joe Wheelwright and Gneal Widett founded Humphreys Street Studios. After running the artist community for nearly twenty years, both had recently passed away, leaving the two remaining owners plus their widows wanting to retire and sell.

In July of 2020, after learning that the studios property was for sale, the HSS artists organized, with the goal of keeping the property as artist workspaces, and as affordable. They launched their #ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE visibility campaign, earning 1500 petition signatures, three dozen community letters of support, help from stakeholders, and media coverage. After intense work with the city, elected officials, the neighborhood, and the arts/culture sector, the artists joined with real estate developers New Atlantic and Placetailor who agreed to purchase the property, and make it affordable artist workspace in perpetuity.

Currently, the owners’ group has accepted an offer to purchase the property by the artists' development partners and are currently negotiating a Purchase and Sale Agreement. The plan is to build much needed affordable housing in the property’s vacant back lot, which will help support the artist workspaces. The new venture will be partially owned by the artists, who will have a seat at the table, moving forward.

What began as an immediate, desperate hustle to save their own workspaces, through the preservation journey, became a social movement calling upon sustainable, long-term solutions to the artist displacement problem in Greater Boston. Thus, when Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC) invited HSS artists to show their work at their Assemblage Arts Space, they immediately decided to use the opportunity as a visual representation of this movement, hoping to bring the crisis of artist displacement to a broader audience.

#ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE asks Boston and Massachusetts for a solution that has worked in other states: to form a stand-alone nonprofit agency to purchase, develop, hold, and manage arts spaces, preventing them from being sold on the open market. These properties would become designated as permanent arts spaces, preventing future displacement of artists, who are vital to building and keeping healthy, thriving communities. Visit www.humphreysstreetstudio.com to learn more about the campaign, sign the petition, meet the artists, and more.

ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION #ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE

This exhibition features a handful of components visually representing both the long-term, region-wide problem of artist displacement throughout Greater Boston, as well as the individual preservation journey the Humphreys Street Studios artists began in July of 2020.

The exhibition floor is a map of Greater Boston, marking some of the artist buildings recently lost or threatened. Central Street Studios (Somerville), launched as artist workspaces in 1983, was the most recently reported, displacing 20 artists. In 2018, the EMF Building in Cambridge’s Central Square displaced over 200 artists, musicians, bands, and recording studios. Also in 2018, the Piano Craft Guild on the South End/Roxbury line, lost over 150 creatives when the building was sold. Other buildings that were either sold or threatened include 59 Amory Street in Jamaica Plain, AAMARP in Jamaica Plain, Joy Street Studios in Somerville, A Street in South Boston, Green Street Studios in Cambridge, and others.

The gallery’s middle column, outlined in brick, represents that Humphreys Street Studios, though threatened last year, still stands, poised to join new owners at the table. The HSS artists plan to offer various programming – including Open Studios, exhibitions, workshops, and community gatherings to the Uphams Corner and Dorchester neighborhoods. With the incoming new owners, the artists will have a new community space on site, where they can welcome neighbors young and old.

In the gallery windows, visitors meet the HSS artists – in The Faces and Places of Humphreys Street Studios featuring portraits of the artists on site in their studios and workspaces. Artists were asked how losing their workspaces (should they be displaced) would impact their art practice, business, and lives overall. Bites from those answers are displayed throughout the gallery here.

More than the loss of a building, the exhibition explores what could be the loss of an organically unique community. Humphreys Street artists range in age from 20 to 80 - male, female, non-binary, gay, straight, transgendered, Black, Latinx, white, Asian, multi-lingual, Boston natives, transplants, and immigrants from Venezuela, Canada, Cape Verde, Russia, Argentina, Haiti, and Portugal. They represent a range of artistic practice, including sculptors, woodworkers, blacksmiths, fashion designers, photographers, painters, fabricators, furniture makers, scenic designers, video directors, graphic designers, fine art framers, and architects. According to HSS artist Brendan Haley “sure, I could rent another physical space -- but THE thing that can’t be recreated is the unexpected, shared creativity that results from putting this seemingly disparate group of people together in one space. We couldn’t be more different -- in terms of age, race, culture, artistic medium, education, privilege. But we find the commonality to create -- and we’re all open to that WITH each other. We share creative ideas, materials and even business opportunities. It’s so inspiring and fulfilling.”

Through video projection, visitors witness HSS artists at work in their studios, creating, collaborating, earning livings, contributing to the economic development of Boston and beyond.

Finally, visitors may view a variety of individual art works by HSS artists, including photography, textile, sculpture, mixed media, custom apparel, and paintings.

“We’re lucky,” shares HSS scenic designer Cristina Todesco “that we’ve been able to work with our landlords as well as New Atlantic and Placetailor on purchasing the property so it can stay as affordable artist workspaces. Many artist communities have not been so lucky, which is a huge loss for Boston and the region. We’re extremely grateful to so many organizations and individuals who helped us get to our particular solution – including leaders at City Hall and throughout Uphams Corner. But ours is only one building and one preservation journey. We need a long-term and sustainable solution as this will continue as Boston property values rise.

The HSS artists pay homage to all Boston-area artists of all disciplines, who have struggled to preserve their spaces and won, and especially to those who have been displaced over the years. Through this campaign and this exhibition, the HSS artists plan to keep this issue visible and convene arts leaders and government in conversations and plans for a sustainable solution.

Special thanks to Kelly Pedersen and Patrick Smith from Fort Point Arts Community for inviting the HSS artists to exhibit. Thanks also to all the individuals and organizations who supported the HSS artists through their #ARTWORKSHERE, #ARTSTAYSHERE campaign. Thanks to all the HSS artists who curated, created, and installed this exhibition over the past 2 months. Thanks to New Atlantic and Placetailor for staying in for the long haul. Thanks to Marc Barcus and Frank Criscione. And thanks to Joe Wheelwright, Gneal Widett, Joe Jim Cooper, Peter Haines, JJ Lomatire, Susan Wheelwright, and Boris Black.

About Humphreys Street Studios

Humphreys Street Studios’ mission is to foster a collaborative, diverse, affordable, and accessible artist workspace community in the Uphams Corner neighborhood of Dorchester, MA; to share its wealth of artists’ talents to serve the community through classes, workshops, apprenticeships, mentorships, exhibitions, and creative services; to work in partnership with neighboring artists, organizations, and initiatives to keep arts and culture vitalized; to encourage active participation in the Uphams Corner and surrounding neighborhoods ensuring the cultural and economic health and well-being of its residents; and to provide creativity, inspiration, and fellowship to friends and neighbors. HSS also hopes to serve as a model for non-displacement of artist studios in Greater Boston.

Humphreys Street Studios (HSS) is a dynamic and expansive property in the Uphams Corner neighborhood of Dorchester, MA, housing working artists and creative small businesses since its beginnings in 2002. HSS provides workspace for a diverse community of up to 40 tenants. HSS members have been valuable contributors to the beauty and cultural vitality of the Boston area--engaged in art, craft, design, and artisanry providing services, experiences, public, private, and commercial artwork. humphreysstreetstudio.com

The Artists of Humphreys Street Studios

11-13 Humphreys Street, Uphams Corner, Dorchester

Catherine Armistead

Gary Barcus

John Beckwith

Jaypix Belmer

Sharon Berke

Boris Black

Mira Cantor

Gary Constant

Kristine Cortese

Gillian Christy

Catherine Della Lucia

Mark Dewilde

Jenny Edwards

Louise Farrell

Erica Femino

Elson Fortes

Wilson Fortes

Katherine Gardner

Pablo Gonzalez

Andy Good

Tim Heavican

Aaron Higginbottom

Liz Joseph

Sebastien Joseph

Eliane LeBlanc

Franklin Marval

Elizabeth Mooney

Annette McCarty

Nancy Mags

Georgia Oldham

Maria Ritz

Josh Rose-Wood

Gregory Rubin

Chris Sageman

Katya Solstad

Fabian Swain

Jem Stephenson

Ryan Taft

Peter Thibeault

Thomas Tietjen

Cristina Todesco

Blair Toland

Nora Valdez

Joe Wardwell

Virginia Yazbeck

Yotron the Don

About Fort Point Arts Community

The Fort Point Arts Community builds cultural vibrancy in Boston by cultivating an empowered community of artists, organizations, and supporters. FPAC promotes the work of our artists to a broad and diverse audience, advocates for art opportunities, develops permanent, affordable live-work studio space and ensures that art is an essential part of the life of a creative city.

Fort Point artists generate art all year round, hold Open Studios events, advocate for the development and preservation of permanent artist live-work studio space, organize art lending, curate galleries, enable temporary public art, and actively participate in decisions that affect our neighborhood. We encourage new ideas, collaboration, connections, and economic growth. Learn more about FPAC at fortpointarts.org.