Artists as “Shock Troops” of Gentrification?

2022-03-17 · 2 citations

This chapter explores the widely held view that artists are key agents in the process of urban gentrification, as they migrate to economically depressed neighborhoods and industrial zones in search of cheap places to live and work. The influx of artists changes the local culture and ethnic mix, making the places more amenable to a second wave of moneyed hipsters, gourmet cafes, and higher rents. Revenue-hungry municipalities often join in by designating the areas arts or historic districts. Recent hype about a burgeoning “creative economy” only encourages the process. To help explain this complex phenomenon, I recount my own experiences of arts neighborhoods in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, noting differences in how gentrification has plays out. Also referenced are recent studies showing that no single model defines gentrification in all locales.

The Neoliberal Imagination

2019-09-03 · 1 citations

Distributed Creativity

2019-09-03

Creative Economies

2019-09-03

Creative You

2019-09-03

Everyday Creativity

2019-09-03

Introduction

2019-09-03

Divine Madness

2019-09-03

Anxious Creativity: When Imagination Fails

2019-09-03 · 2 citations

Creativity is getting new attention in today's America--along the way revealing fault lines in U.S. culture. Surveys show people overwhelmingly seeing creativity as both a desirable trait and a work enhancement, yet most say they just aren't creative. Like beauty and wealth, creativity seems universally desired but insufficiently possessed. Businesses likewise see innovation as essential to productivity and growth, but can't bring themselves to risk new ideas. Even as one's "inner artist" is hyped by a booming self-help industry, creative education dwindles in U.S. schools. Anxious Creativity: When Imagination Fails examines this conceptual mess, while focusing on how America's current edginess dampens creativity in everyone. Written in an engaging and accessible style, Anxious Creativity draws on current ideas in the social sciences, economics, and the arts. Discussion centers on the knotty problem of reconciling the expressive potential in all people with the nation's tendency to reward only a few. Fortunately, there is some good news, as scientists, economists, and creative professionals have begun advocating new ways of sharing and collaboration. Building on these prospects, the book argues that America's innovation crisis demands a rethinking of individualism, competition, and the ways creativity is rewarded

Becoming Creative

2019-09-03