Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The Arts: Combating an Impoverished View

As urban theorist Anne Markusen documents, the economic impact of the arts and the contribution of creative professions on city and regional economies is often derided as a discretionary element of a city’s industry, finance and basic services.  Interpretations of the arts and artists as well as creative occupations and workers are, in fact, impoverished by an outmoded view of the relationship between city and industry. 

Los Angeles, even as one of the creative capitals of the world, is not immune to this interpretation.  REthink Development’s Cherokee Studios addresses the need to support industries that quietly contribute to what makes Los Angeles a mecca for the arts and green development through example and advocacy. 

Generally, the arts are measured as a contribution to economic impacts for city economies by totaling the dollar amount that patrons spend on performances, restaurants, parking and shopping in and around districts that house cultural facilities and retail shops.  While this is a good first step, it is also inadequate to address the function of a city beyond basic services – to seed vitality through the attraction and retention of residents that may themselves develop vital neighborhoods through their own industry within the urban setting. 


Cherokee & Economy

REthink’s Cherokee Studios is an opportunity to house artists.  As residents, they may distinguish themselves not as a fortunate few star entertainers but as everyday designers of forms and ideas – as material and building designers, internet entrepreneurs, advertising executives and videogame designers to give a few examples.  In this new interpretation, the arts are not a bi-product of or parasite upon business economy.  Instead, the arts community contributes to innovation and economy by machining original ideas.   

Los Angeles will benefit from corralled services as the placement of artists within cultural facilities increases.  Artists enhance the design, production and marketing of products and services in other economic sectors, attract the recruitment of other creative firm employees bolster both local economic base and export production out of the region.

With the development of cultural facilities like Cherokee Studios, creative individuals of various ages are not lost to out-migration.  Cherokee is, instead, a hub of creativity where spillover-effects within creative industry and arts-related economy will originate.  And as artists are attracted to live, work and congregate in and around Cherokee Studios there will be increased incidents of networking, partnership and learning resulting in greater opportunities for artists and creative professionals.

The placement of art and artists within urban settings can combat the idea of the creative industry as a discretionary element of a city services.  With Cherokee Studios, the interpretation of the arts and artists as well as the creative industry is, in fact, enriched.  For, Cherokee Studios within Hollywood will place artists that can compound the effect of creative industries on the local economy and continue to support the interpretation of Los Angeles as an international creative mecca.

Monday, May 4, 2009

Individuality. Diversity. Leadership.

Cherokee Studios presents its fellow community members and future residents with several shared values, including:  individuality, diversity, and thought leadership. 

 

Individuality

Like Cherokee’s building design, community members that live, record and interact with Cherokee will be recognized for their individuality.  Cherokee’s innovation of design is as individualistic as its residents’ choice of lifestyle habits.  The design and development process for Cherokee was demanding and unique.  The process positioned Cherokee to be the first multi-use, live/work building designed for LEED Platinum certification. 

Similarly, Cherokee community members will have a unique live/work environment that can include a custom, home-recording space within a LEED certified residence not because they are eccentric or demanding artists, but individuals that are pro-active in discerning conscious lifestyle choices. 

 

Diversity

Cherokee Studios’ history may stand in contrast to the diversity of resident professions for which the new home-recording spaces are designed.  Any musician, professional or recreational, can live here.  Loft recording specs are outfitted for film scorers as well as music, film, and game producers.  Editors, writers and animators should view our spaces too.

Residents of Cherokee will see the benefit of living and working in a community of diverse, albeit like-minded residents.  Each resident may form worthwhile professional bonds or engage in otherwise infrequent conversation regarding life and work in and around Cherokee.  All recording enthusiasts or professionals can identify with Cherokee’s design for pro-active, conscious and creative lifestyle demands.  The result will be a community of creative design leadership.

 

Thought Leadership

Cherokee Studios is not a benchmark in development, but a call for innovation to our peer group of creatives and greenies.

Cherokee Studios welcomes individuals that will work, as Cherokee’s design team has done, to create new meaningful forms and expression.  Just as forms and expression such as the Capitol Records building and so many lyrics about Hollywood or Sunset Boulevard, the creative community at Cherokee Studios will be leaders in creative identity of Los Angeles and in their respective fields as they create, for example, video games, screenplays and viral videos.     

Cherokee Studios can serve unto its fellow community members as creative stimulation.  As creative community members demand innovative thinking and design measures in their own work, Cherokee Studios demanded the same of its builders in planning and design.  As a result, Cherokee Studios is not a project of scale or a derivative of proven development measures, but a case study in green development. 

In other words, Cherokee Studios is space for the creative individual to utilize extracurricular and work skills to design a participatory home/work environment… to actively participate in developing their community.   

 

For more information on the specs of the custom, home-recording spaces, please contact DeKoven at REthink Development at DeKoven@REthinkdev.com.