Arts Alliance makes final push for housing study

It’s been more than three years since Veronica Morgan started telling people in the community about a potential live/work venture for artists.

It’s been nearly one year since the conversation about potential artist-housing developments, which fell dormant after an initial period of energy and interest, was revived — with Morgan and the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County determined to recapture the momentum it created in 2014.

Today, the group remains $9,000 shy of its fundraising goal of $42,500 — money that will be used to fund a study of the market for artist housing in the region.

After more than three years of work just to try to get a study done — a long way from actually developing any housing units — it would be easy to walk away from the issue. But the Arts Alliance remains convinced Sarasota is a good place to develop artist housing, and it remains committed to keeping the conversation alive.

“This could really help be a real stimulus for redevelopment and for cost-effective housing,” said Jim Shirley, executive director of the Arts Alliance. “These are two big issues that face us as a community today. Even though, overall, we’re a fairly wealthy community, there are a lot of spots where we’re not.”

The Arts Alliance has been working with Artspace, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that specializes in developing affordable artist live/work housing. If Artspace chooses to build a project in a community, it manages it in perpetuity, ensuring the residential units remain affordable.

Artspace representatives held a series of meetings in Sarasota in 2014, and a preliminary report concluded a mixed-use housing project could serve as a “catalyst for change” on the North Trail. The next step, the firm said, was to raise the $42,500 for an arts market study, which would determine the demand for artist housing within a 50-mile radius of the city.

Based on the arts community in Sarasota and the surrounding areas, Shirley is confident the study would show positive results once the funding is there.

“I feel pretty comfortable they would come back and say this would be a great space for an Artspace project,” Shirley said.

But right now, he can only speculate.

There are signs of progress. In the past year, the group has raised $23,000 for the Artspace study. The Arts Alliance hasn’t let artist housing fall off its radar. Next week, the organization will host a series of small community events with individuals it believes could help push the fundraising over the $42,500 goal.

“I feel pretty comfortable they would come back and say this would be a great space for an Artspace project.” — Jim Shirley 

Although it’s taken this long to raise $33,000, Shirley has seen firsthand the excitement surrounding the prospect of creating affordable housing for artists in Sarasota. Once the fundraising problem has been conquered and residents can see progress, he said the energy will return.

And he said the fundraising goal can be met in the very near future.

“We’re prepared, along with Artspace, to begin the process of going forward just as soon as we get that money in hand,” Shirley said. “I would hope, with a little luck, it’s not inconceivable we could give the Artspace organization the go-ahead sometime in early March.”