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Project begun to save art site: Artists hoping to purchase 4 old warehouses, prevent them from being razed(Houston Chronicle (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Nov. 25--The groundbreaking for luxury townhouses on Commerce Street caught the eyes of artists working in warehouses across the street. On land where the Art Park once showcased metal sculptures, utility lines now stick up from the ground -- a signal that downtown development is slowly creeping east of U.S. 59 into the 2200 and 2300 blocks of Commerce. To save their galleries, studio spaces and metal-work facility, some of the artists involved in the Commerce Street Artists Warehouse -- commonly called CSAW -- drew up a long-term plan to preserve the old warehouses they lease. "The only way to save it is to buy it," said Clement Aldridge III, executive director of the Commerce Street Arts Foundation. The nonprofit foundation has started a $15 million to $18 million project to save four historic warehouses, built between 1928 and 1945, from the wrecking ball while also enhancing the arts in the area. The owner of one warehouse has given the foundation until November 2007 to raise $2.5 million to buy it. Aldridge said the foundation was set up to raise money to purchase and restore the warehouses. They will house one of the largest gallery spaces in Houston, a museum and an art school for underserved youths in the eighth grade to high school. "We really want to put Houston on the major, major art scene," said Aldridge, a screenwriter and a music company owner. "The Commerce Street Arts Foundation wants to be the official promotional body for the arts in the city of Houston. Not only if it's happening here, but if it's happening at the museums, if it's happening at the Alley (Theatre) or if it's happening at the Wortham (Theater Center)." Some of Houston's influential artists started at Commerce Street, including founders of the Art Car Parade, Project Row Houses, the Art Guys and the ArtCrawl. "It was just basically five crazy artists who set out to put a lease on a building," said Rick Lowe, founder of Project Row Houses, a public arts program. "We were basically pouring our own pennies in it to make it a habitable place for others. We were living there and cleaning the place at the same time." Lee Benner, a sculptor who was the first artist to move to Commerce Street, said the foundation wants to make Houston the place for creativity. "Up until just recently," he said, "if you were an artist and you got to be successful at all, you left town. There was no successful artist staying here in Houston." Benner, called the godfather of the Commerce Street art movement, was a sculptor for 20 years before he moved to Commerce Street in 1984. The four warehouses have historical value that the foundation is trying to get recognized by the city of Houston. Randy Pace, the city's historic preservation officer, said the area should qualify as a historic district. The City Council, he said, will make the final determination after an application is submitted. In addition to the buildings, CSAW also has a rich history that artists want to preserve. It grew out of the Lawndale artist warehouse that started in 1978 to host classes for the University of Houston's art department, which was destroyed by fire. When classes returned to the UH campus in 1983, Lawndale ceased to exist and the artists moved to Commerce Street in 1984. Commerce Street artists still work with UH students and provide them exhibition space. "There's nowhere else in Houston where UH can show (artwork) unless you got a degree and you're a well-known artist already," said Chloe Stewart, a UH senior and president of the Association of Student Sculptors. "It's very hard to get in the art scene." [email protected] Copyright (c) 2006, Houston Chronicle Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |