Abstract

It is generally accepted, within the community, comprised mainly of artists including this writer, individually and collectively the local artists have often struggled to make their voices heard, with policies often made on their behalf. Hence, there is an emergent view on the arts that argues for a shift away from the statement of need and assistance to a discourse on the vital economic role that the local artists play, as well as the huge development potential that they offer to cities. This nascent interpretation is not about corporate social responsibility, control over the market, policy, and/or the model coming from large-scale art institutions. Rather it is about strategic partnership, working together to achieve more desired artist outcomes. In concrete term, as interest in arts and culture grows, and large amounts of capital are mobilized, it is imperative that the artists, who see themselves as a business, are included in economic development. Indeed, the artists are small- medium enterprises (SME) that from materials to finance span the entire value chain, which makes them crucial to the creative industry.

Introduction
Many years ago, Roxbury was considered the poorest neighborhood of Boston. This ranking, from the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA), was based on the lowest income, college graduation, and home ownership. Since it is said, there is no social problem without solution, this writer, in collaboration with Samareign©, initiated an art strategy to place the local artists at the center of economic development, with the expectation that they would not have to relocate, to other poverty-stricken urban areas, due to gentrification. The proposed model will not push poverty to someone else’s backyard since it is conceived to connect the local artists to live, work, and retail space in their own neighborhoods. Moreover, he articulated the following points of unity. Our aim is to value the assets of the people who live and reside in the inner cities. Our work with this population is based on a collaborative leadership style to convene and facilitate thinking, learning, and communication among the local residents, policymakers, funders, developers, and other stakeholders. In our view, given the opportunity, most people, irrespective of social backgrounds, would prefer to be in service, to their country, rather than be served. It is this belief in the happiness of all that keeps us engaged in sustainable development for a Better Neighborhood Future. 

It then follows, a causal thinking arose within this community to replace the cause and effect view of the neighborhood, which limited thinking, learning, communication and skewed the real challenges, and stories of success at the local level. As a result of this causal thinking, the community is connected to a causal web of interrelationships intended to developing general content representation skills by representing specific content (Egner, J., Richmond, J., Richmond, K., Stuntz, L. 2010), illustrated in Figure 1-1.

Roxbury is becoming a neighborhood, vibrant, with a rich eco-system of local artists, aiming to gain earned-income from their craft. For instance, the tactic of attracting the local artists to do graffiti on walls free of charge, which at some point will be destroyed, became obsolete. With this shift of mind, the opportunity for the starving artists to become rich is a goal that can be achieved by connecting them to the stuff of wealth, e.g., capital, equity, and resources. The ensuing success stories confirm the findings to inform the reader, it is not about how, but who is leading change? This will be the focus, as this writer takes the reader on a discovery of who is making the transformation of Roxbury happen for the local residents. This will be shown in the subsequent narration about three (3) local initiatives, i.e., Z Gallery, Frederick Douglass Memorial, and Bartlett Station.

In the beginning was Gallery Basquiat
Every once in a while, there comes a number of individuals who happen to meet at the same place and time. Most interestingly, such meetings which appear random, and/or by chance, occur actually organically. For, such moments enfold the properties of living organisms. It means that these individuals constitute an integral component of a whole, like community and/or society as an organic whole. Gallery Basquiat, this writer founded in honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat for his transformational leadership, which later became Z Gallery is similarly organized.

Imagine for a moment, you are a local artist, self-taught, without a degree from an art school, competing for space. In Boston, this task, even for the well-connected artists, can be daunting. Indeed, there is overwhelming research that shows, a lack of access to space is the number one problem that most artists, creators, and designers face. Evidently, getting to space is a complex issue that no individual, couple, organization, or municipality can solve alone. Leading with Art Strategy, this writer launched Z Gallery in the spring of 2010 to place the local artists at the center of neighborhood development. The timing could not have been better since the late Mayor Menino had kickstarted Roxbury’s revitalization with a strategic master plan, complete with an oversight committee made up of elected officials and local residents. At a meeting with David Price, Executive Director at Nuestra Communidad Development Corporation, this writer pitched the following Art Strategy. “Economic development is not just brick and mortar; it also includes the art. Therefore, support for the local artists, who see themselves as a business, will stimulate the revitalization of Roxbury”. The ensuing strategic partnership with Price led to the signing of a lease at 391 Dudley Street the current location of Z Gallery.

Z Gallery, as an organization, is conceived to support the highly engaged population of artists who want to stay in the city and thrive. It is uniquely designed to bring together diverse residents and visitors as arts creators and arts consumers by maximizing arts and creative opportunities for all residents, facilitate art, and culture throughout the city, perform partnerships across sectors, and take advantage the creative industry offers. It aligns ideas, people, and resources in sustaining shared-mission designed to put the arts and culture at the very heart of city life; highlight contemporary identity; funding for local artists; celebrate diversity; facilitate resident engagement, as well as lead with thinking to multi-solving challenges big and small. The organization is committed to create and continue an artistically inspired and driven neighborhood, while preserving Roxbury's rich history and mapping its assets to positively impact its future, is powered by his experience and proven track record of leading, creating, and developing a network of artists of diverse cultural experiences. He expects the local artists to play a prominent role in neighborhood development, as their contents enfold personal creativity and skills that characterize innovation and originality.

Samareign©, Owner, Proprietor of 33Fusion® LLC, Co-Founder, and current President of Z Gallery, explains that “Creativity is at the heart of our organization. Our service is delivered on site for the convenience of participants; nonetheless, to spur multi-relations, some learning activities take place across different venues. Our team will meet with the local artists, agents, and agencies to develop new modules and make appropriate recommendations. It works with the local artists to design business models according to their specific content. For instance, we are presently working at Bartlett Station in Roxbury on a project to elaborate a plan for the design of a public plaza”. 

In furthering its mission, artists seeking earned-income from their craft, Z Gallery actively supports the Boston Creates Cultural Plan, while highlighting the advantage of its position in Roxbury, an epicenter of African American culture in New England, through the promotion of the neighborhood’s rich artistic and cultural heritage, active, viable institutions, and committed residents eager to patronize new options for socializing and enjoyment of live performances in Roxbury, which is becoming a preeminent destination for not only the African American population, also the entire region, as a hub of arts, culture, and entertainment.

This collaboration with the City of Boston helps to ensure the mixture of elements and future uses in Roxbury are in step with the aspirations of the residents; that is, to maintain a robust and diverse artist community as an essential element of Boston’s creative industry. According to Mayor Walsh, “Arts and culture are the building blocks of community. That’s why we are committed to elevating arts and culture in the City of Boston” (Boston Creates. 2016). Figure 1-2 is conceived to show the contribution of Z Gallery to the vitality of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It is an adaption of a Reinforcing Loop (Richardson. 2014), to voice the following story; Z Gallery, by attracting the local artists as a business, expects the number of artists business to go up, which in turn will increase the tax base, making the artists businesses profitable.

For example, the Research Division of the BRA in a presentation for Boston Creates, reported, “Creative employment in 2002 totaled 29,720 direct jobs excluding self-employment. This was 5.5 percent of Boston’s total private sector employment. When self-employment is added, creative employment increased to 34,085. The creative economy supports an additional 17,300 jobs in other industries such as retail, business services, professional services, and food services. These spin-off jobs represent a regional employment multiplier of one, that is, for every direct job in the creative sector, one job is created elsewhere. Total income from the creative economy reached $1.9 billion in 2002 (payroll plus receipts of self-employed)”. The research team defines the Creative Economy, as “Any direct activity in which individual creativity and skill is brought to bear, and which is characterized by innovation and originality and leads to the creation of intellectual property in the form of copyright; any activity (upstream and downstream), which directly contributes to creative activities such that the product would not exist in the same form without it. In addition, it provides an outline of “The stages of the “Creative Production Chain, proving the point that to be consumed, a cultural good or service must first be created, produced, perhaps manufactured, and distributed to consumers. Its main finding is that the Creative industries contribute to economic vitality in many ways, such as jobs and income, government revenues (local, state and federal), attract industry and skilled workers, encourage tourism and conventions, highlight a location’s history and traditions, enhance property values, serve as important anchors for downtown and neighborhood revitalization efforts, and promote tolerance and diversity”.

Beautifying the Neighborhood: Frederick Douglass Memorial Over the years, several efforts to commemorate Frederick Douglass in Roxbury have taken place, but none have met the objective of raising awareness beyond the neighborhood. These efforts have included murals print and painting of the abolitionist on the wall of a local business in the late 1960s, and an additional mural developed by youth in the early 2000s on the side wall of a very popular eating establishment. Other efforts include the naming of a condo association after the abolitionist, and a listing of the historic square in the state’s Cultural Resource Information System.

In 2012, the Friends of Frederick Douglass proposed a public art work, and developed with the strong support of the City of Boston, to honor a great an important American leader, orator, abolitionist, and suffragist; engage, remind, and educate the community about Douglass’s legacy; and reinforce his connections to Boston, and New Bedford, Massachusetts. It will feature the creation of a communal green space and a monument of Douglass, conceived to respond to the expectations of the community, and transform this stark, urban landscape along Tremont Street into a place of local, cultural, national, and even international significance. The landscape design scope, by a team of landscape architects from Sasaki, is part of a larger effort to create another permanent memorial to the landscape of Boston. Even though, the patrons for this public artwork are expected to be the people who live, reside, and visit Boston; yet, the site at Frederick Douglass Square makes it a welcoming gateway to Roxbury.

The Frederick Douglass Memorial received its start-up cost from The Edward Ingersoll Browne Fund, and Boston Art Commission approved the design of a bronze sculpture of Douglass by Paul Goodnight and Mario Chiodo. As the leading client on this project, the Friends of Frederick Douglass, in relationship with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, is actively seeking funds to complete this memorial. The Friends of Frederick Douglass, an ad hoc committee with broad representations from the public, private and third sectors, is led by Aziza Robinson Goodnight, Chairperson and, this writer as Consultant. The two of them, in partnership with the members of the ad hoc committee, and staff at Sasaki, shown in Figure 1-3, are responsible to ensure the project stays on schedule, as well as vetting designs, with community partners, and project stakeholders, as key performance benchmarks toward the completion of this memorial.

Figure 1-3. Fernandez, D., Robinson-Goodnight, A., Lafontant, D. F., Isidor, M., and Outlaw, B. at Frederick Douglass Sq. (From L to R)

Artists Engagement at Bartlett Station
From Frederick Douglass to Melnea A. Cass to Malcolm X to Mel King to Doris Bunte to Che Madyun, Roxbury has a deep and rich history of activism. Indeed, organizing by local youth shut down the Bartlett Bus Yard, a documented source of pollution that helped cause soaring asthma rates in the neighborhood. Bartlett Station a mixed-income housing complex is designed in response to the rising movement addressing gentrification. It will provide economic growth for community residents through jobs and business opportunities, while also giving local artists and vendors a place to showcase and sell their arts and crafts. In 2018, Price invited Z Gallery to a process intended to plan arts events at Bartlett Station, a mixed-housing development by the Nuestra Communidad Development in Boston, MA, and to begin the visioning of how a permanent public plaza could be a significant venue for artistic and cultural activities in the future, as well as reclaim Roxbury’s cultural diversity, including the rich heritages of the various countries and ethnic groups. Samareign© maintains, “The common, for the community, is a place to share, create, and learn. This was a historic moment that we seized to provide an artistic input, the idea of a public plaza, share some early thoughts on live performance at the public plaza, and discuss fundraising raise for a public art installation, and other events at Bartlett Station”.

Through Patronicity, crowd granting would be possible, as well as a major capital campaign to raise funds to create the plaza based on the planning team’s vision. This was an opportunity to be involved in the design and management of the public plaza, and to challenge over commercialization, promote the works of the local artists, and communicate the positive impact that small- mid-size companies will bring to Bartlett Station. The intention and action are to engage in meaningful partnerships with development corporations that appreciate the powerful role of the arts in stimulating economic development and to strengthen their connection with the neighborhoods.

The design planning team, with Samareign© and this writer as co-leaders, proposed that the plaza should be equipped with an amphitheater, seating, and a commercial kitchen for community dinner, and show nights, to display the local flavors of the community, and expand public interest beyond the local area. Most importantly, the team thought, it was paramount for Bartlett Station to have living quarters for artists in residence, workshops, studios, public access, and storefronts for artists since this is a new approach to public art installation in Roxbury.

For instance, the following language with instructions for a call to Muralists is indicative of this change. “We are looking for Muralists that examine Roxbury’s past and look to Roxbury’s future. The murals must show the importance of art, activism, culture, and nature to Roxbury’s past, present and future. But most of all, we are looking to capture what it is like to be local in Roxbury in 2018. This will be a temporary installation, Oasis@Bartlett’s first live mural painting event, featuring twelve (12) to eighteen (18) artists to simultaneously paint on steel containers at a live event, including food trucks, local vendors, illustrated in Figure 1-4, musicians, and spoken word artists. Mixed-media installations are also welcome. The responding artists must have previous mural experience. Preference is for Roxbury residents, although applications from Boston and Boston-area muralists are welcome. Selections will be made to advance art equity, including diversity of race, nationality, language, culture, artist fee, commissions and supplies, and other expenses”.

This initial installation event effectively set the stage for the subsequent public art installations and events featuring local artists, not limited to only painters and studio artisans, also freelance workers (e.g., written media, film, broadcasting, crafts, performing arts, visual arts, architecture, photography, design, advertising, sound recording, and music publishing), and creatives alike, with voluminous collections ready to share and sell.

Figure 1-4 Samareign© at Oasis@Bartlett

Final analysis
At this phase, this writer is pointing out the main finding from the data, literature, and stories that he reviewed to write this article. In 2002, the creative industry in Boston created a total of 51,385 jobs, (e.g., direct jobs, self-employed such as writers, artists, etc., indirect jobs, other jobs in industries such as retail, business services, professional services, and food services), and generated total income of $1.9 billion. Moreover, the voices of the artists cited in this article show a concerted effort to ensure Art Equity, e.g., equal number of female and male artists, Earned-Income, i.e., payments of artist fee, in addition to art supplies, and Access to live, work, and retail spaces, as a mean to boost Earned-Income in Roxbury.

Beyond these incentives, the cases previously described seem to indicate the success of an artist-centered model of economic development. However, further study is necessary for any evidence of success among the participants, i.e., artists, developers, investors, and policymakers. Yet, the ultimate success will be the number of available and means-tested live, work, and retail units built for the local residents, not solely artists because the well-being of every individual entails housing.

Discussion
This writer maintains, the artist is owner and proprietor of own knowledge, with the responsibility for own transformation, and wealth. In light of this explanation, he postulates the artworks enfold personal creativity, acquired content, and skills that characterize innovation and originality for optimum user satisfaction and joy. Indeed, they are the individuals leading and creating intellectual property in the form of trademark, and patent.

This article on community and its content is not meant to be exhaustive. It rather communicates the voices of the local artists in Boston who do not want the SoHo effect reproduced in their neighborhoods. SoHo is a neighborhood in New York City the local artists made famous that remains an example of neighborhood gentrification. In SoHo, the developers took advantage of the passion of local artists to turn them into an instrument of gentrification. In that case, the local artists could not afford to rent, buy, live, work, or sell in a neighborhood that they helped redevelop, with public art installations that conveyed to buyers what it would be like to live in SoHo.

The stories, in this article, point to the strength-based model as one of the best practices to getting local artists engaged in neighborhood development. It also contains enough variables to suggest that resident involvement, with a particular focus on the “local artists as a business”, makes economic development sustainable. Yet, more research must be done to ensure the findings that this paper articulates can be redeveloped elsewhere.

Notes
Z Gallery, formerly Gallery Basquiat, was founded to simulate this model
2 Inspired by World Urban Campaign by UN-Habitat
3 This writer contributed to the Boston Creates Cultural Plan, as a member of the Leadership Council
4 Visit 2010 US Census Bureau’s FactFinder page at https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml
5 Visit the registry here: http://mhc-macris.net/Details.aspx?Mhcld=BOS.RE
6 Members of the Friends of Frederick Douglass: Rhonda Berkower, Chantal Charles, Louis Elisa, L’Merchie Frazier, Barry Gaither, Paul Goodnight, Yvone Lalyre, Mac Murray, Byron Rushing, Bill Singleton, & Nataka Crayton Walker

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Dumas F. Lafontant, ML, Playwright
Dumas F. Lafontant, ML, known as Doumafis is an educator and urban thinker, with many years of experience in system dynamics. He is the author of Introducing Nubia a curriculum designed to teach the Kingdom of Kush to school-age children. He has written several articles, books, and poems that are published by Boston Society of Landscape Architect, New American Writing, Potomitan.info, and Tanbou Tri-Lingual Press. Lafontant, ML, possesses a Master of Leadership, which he completed at the University of Southern California in 2011. The following four words inform his teaching methodology: Learning, Interactive, Fun, & Experiential (LIFE). As grant writer, he has raised over two million dollars in funding. He leads, educates, & empowers his team to communicate better than none. He exemplifies integrity, vivacity, and resourcefulness in every detail of his daily life. Lafontant, ML is Owner of Abrigani, business-to-business start-up; Ecofugees©, green initiative to protect natural habitat and endangered species, both founded in 2021; and Proprietor of the trademark for the hexagonal canvas, registered in 2016, in Massachusetts. Dumas story intwines with a cadre of individual artists and a community committed to addressing the issues that affect the neighborhoods, while reducing carbon footprint by creating artworks with recycled and/or eco-friendly materials. In the neighborhoods of Boston, where he lives and works, as well as the ones that he has visited in Accra, Amsterdam, Foshan, Havana, Hong Kong, Kampala, Montreal, Nairobi, Grande-Riviere du Nord, Santo Domingo, Tainan, and so on, he teaches the local artists to serve the art community on One Palette.