| dc.description.abstract |
Artist communities both generate, and coalesce around, sites of cultural significance
and aesthetic intrigue. In doing so, artists and artist-run spaces impact the cultural
and socioeconomic value of place. The connection between urban transformation and
artist communities is not a new concept but, as American cities adapt to post-industrial
economies, economic development strategies increasingly leverage artists’ cultural
capital to regenerate disinvested urban areas. Over the last decade, Durham, North
Carolina was ranked as the top creative class metro in the country, exceeded national
medians in arts economic impact studies, and scored in the highest percentile for
arts vibrancy. Durham’s new creative economy has led to a rapid period of real estate
development that now threatens to fragment and erase its local arts ecosystem. In
spite of its top performance in national metrics, almost half of Durham’s independent
arts venues have closed or relocated outside of the downtown core. This project investigates
the history of Durham’s transformation, considers its influences, and measures its
impacts on artist communities and artist-run spaces during the time period of Durham’s
Cultural Master Plan, 2004-2019. Complementing current academic theories and original
research with a decade of experience with Durham’s artist-run spaces, the author concludes
with a series of observations and recommendations for the city’s cultural workers
and policymakers.
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