Not to toot horn here again (I know people seem to hate this, but there is no precedent EVER in Jacksonville, it needs to learn from other cities, and in the south Atlanta does the most and does it best):
ACAC is in an old warehouse district (albeit larger than anything in Jax, but not "large"). It has unique funding and a unique program to provide studio space for budding artists. Its mission/goal is half to bring world class exhibitions to the city (about 8/year), and half to nurture growing artists in 14 artist lofts that they rent through special programs.
The history could serve as a model for CoRK:
1970s
Founded in 1973 by a group of Atlanta photographers, Nexus was a storefront cooperative gallery supported by member dues and staffed by volunteers. In 1976, the organization leased an old elementary school and began to increase its activities and formalize its infrastructure. Nexus Press, dedicated to creating unique publications by invited artists, was begun, and studio spaces for working artists became a core part of the organization.
1980s
Nexus marked its 10th anniversary with a commitment to develop a higher public profile, expand its Board of Directors, and increase its financial security through fundraising efforts. In 1984, the name of the organization was officially changed to Nexus Contemporary Art Center. The Atlanta Biennial and Art Party became signature events during this period. In 1987, seeking a permanent home, the Board completed a $1.95 million capital campaign to renovate a 30,000 square foot warehouse complex on Means Street, near the Georgia Tech campus.
1990s
The multi-year, phased renovation had the Press move into the new facility first, followed by the Gallery and, finally, the Studio Artist Program. 1996 was an exciting year for Atlanta with the Summer Olympics bringing international attention to the city. 1998 marked the 25th anniversary of Nexus, which had established itself as a contemporary arts center of national consequence. Its local presence played a major role in the urban renewal of the historic Marietta Street Artery corridor.
2000s
n 2000, Nexus was renamed the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (nicknamed the Contemporary), asserting its pride of place in the Southeast and acknowledging a peer relationship to arts venues in other cities. ACAC became one of thirty-one organizations selected in 1999 to participate in the multi-year Warhol Initiative, receiving a significant grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to undertake long term institutional planning. Nexus Press closed in 2003, leaving a legacy of some 150 titles produced, each exploring the formal and conceptual possibilities of the book as a work of art. Broadsides, boxed sets, folded sheets, and variously bound books produced at Nexus have been sought by and distributed to collectors, booksellers, galleries, museums, and libraries around the world. Nexus Press books are available for purchase in our Shop.
Since 2005, the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center has developed original and often-imitated programs including Artist Survival Skills, now Creative Lives & Careers, a series providing information, training, and networking opportunities for artists to develop their creative lives and careers; 15 Minutes, monthly discussions and portfolio reviews for artist members of the Contemporary; Open Studios, a biannual event bringing together our studio artists and the general public; and the Resource Room, a social and educational space featuring books, catalogs, periodicals, and digital media focused on contemporary art and visual culture. The Resource Room also features a community bulletin board for exhibition and event postings and free Wi-Fi access. In 2009, we co-founded the Westside Arts District, featuring monthly third Saturday art walks with educational programming coordinated within the district’s art spaces.
The Studio Program with sites for each of the 14 artists there currently:
http://www.thecontemporary.org/studio-artists/The area is one not served by MARTA trains, yet it has been built up with thousands of new lofts, apartments, student housing (Georgia Tech is nearby), and condos. Major national retailers and designers and firms have set up shop here, including Jonathan Adler, Room & Board, Anthropologie, Facebook, and more. It is one of the hottest spots in the city for adaptive reuse and infill - and the first pioneer into the area was the Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (Nexus Press at the time). Currently one of the most famous homegrown chefs in the country operates her restaurant business here, which includes 1 5-star restaurant and 2 4-star restaurants, and the place has gotten to be so popular people are getting married here in warehouses restored for event space (including a coworker of mine).
It is important to note that even 10 years ago one would have been stabbed simply walking down the sidewalk. Now retailers are doing $750/SF ++++ and some of the hottest restaurants and galleries and showrooms in the country are here. Facebook's SE regional office is here amongs the tens of thousands of SF of collaborative workspace and media rooms (influenced by nearby Georgia Tech presence). It has been a 25 year process.
CoRK needs to look to nearby resources. It needs to engage the liberal and wealthy art patrons/collectors. It needs to partner with the breweries. The breweries, the art studio, and other local businesses need to partner to create a neighborhood group. The only challenge I see is that it is barely a warehouse district in the traditional sense of the term. There aren't a bunch of higher density, historic brick structures with stories behind them. I see the area becoming a "design" district that folks drive up to 15 years from now, with perhaps a clumping of 40 showrooms and galleries and furniture/antique stores.
I see Jacksonville's artist/studio scene drifting from there and clumping in a rehabilitated Springfield Warehouse district, which is the only place in the city with legitimate warehouses for such purposes.
