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I hear you too, stormweary,crackerjack, and onthe road! Maybe we SHOULD start an artists colony somewhere! Its seems to be what we are all looking for. (no kidding, I would consider it, maybe we should all move to Durango,or Silver City ,and start a co-op?)
Thanks for all the great comments. I am reading all the posts with keen interest.
As for a 'cheap' place near NYC? LOL, there is no such thing anymore, my town is 60 mins away and so expensive now. And even towns closer like Bayonne or Jersey City or Hoboken have gotten way out of reach.
The shore is nice here, but there's that grey sky that predominates the winter from late October to the end of April.
I have read that Best Small Art towns book, btw, and it 's totally out of date as far as prices of housing,etc...I think it was written a few years ago and things have changed dramatically.
I was going to consider the NW, but the I want to get away from the rain, even if it means not having much green around. I just feel better on the few sunny days we get.
I did see the show on Susan Rothenberg, I love her work. And what she says about the vastness I can understand, and I think I can deal with, I feel so crowded-in here in NJ.
I did get that 'soulfull' feeling when we did visit NM....We were driving across the country to see relatives in Poway,Ca., and driving on Rt.40, when we approached the mountains near Albuquerque, and I really got awe-struck. It was a deep and stirring feeling, so I am maybe gonna consider going out that way again. But while we were there, it got pretty cold and it snowed a bit.
Then, we drove down to Las Cruces,and it took a long time, a whole day, and isn't at all like driving down the East Coast. I understand what you mean, Ontheroad, there weren't any places to stop, and the tiny towns were few and far between.
Las Cruces was pretty, though, but we kinda didn't like all the housing 'developments'. We are used to lots of different styles of houses in a community, and they were all alike, and boring. I don't know exactly why, but we didn't like it.
(After we got to Cali. we noticed that lots of towns out West have developments like this...Victorville is one that I wanted to check out, but it looked so over-developed that we didn't even stop there. The Poway weather was so beautiful, but the prices are out-of this-world,and it is crowded too.)
I'm not sure where we will end up, but I will keep you posted as we search again this winter. Think about the Co-op idea! I 've always wanted to do that, and if we all had the same 'mind-set' it might really work.
ps) I also shop online at Rochester Fine Art....my middle son lives in Roch, just graduated from RIT, a graphic artist, and I love it up there, but talk about COLD!
pps) sad to thing of all these small shops and towns becoming one big ...Mart, but it seems inevitable ,unfortunately.
ppps) I also LOVED Paris, but couldn't afford to live there, but I would if I could.
I have a friend who goes to an art colony every year in Ireland....she gets a grant to paint there, sounds great ,right?
I'm out the door to pick up some stuff, but just one quick remark about a colony
I lived, albeit shortly, on one of the major communes in New England, and let me tell you "it is hard, hard, hard" for folks to make love not war. People would argue about the smallest things, like where a plant would get rooted, and what to have for dinner. It was a marvelous learning experience, and my contributions were marketing, and communication were appreciated, but I don't think I have the patience to go through the honeymoon stage, let alone the marriage stage again
iriegirl,
How does your friend do the grant thing? I've heard that getting them is hard.
And yes, living in a commune with a bunch of artists probably wouldn't be a good idea. But a co-op just sharing studio space and having exhibitions I think, is a viable idea. i know of one in Key West that seems to do well. Daniel Smith had an article from someone who started one in Germantown, Tenn. It would need a business minded person to organize and run. Something to consider. I am guessing but I would think Silver City has one... i want to say i read that somewhere.
Las Cruces is on my list of places to visit. The sameness of houses is a bummer but i wonder if there are older areas of the city in need of refurbishing/renovation that might have more variety of styles. Mesilla which is right next to LC is supposed to be nice and art friendly.
otheroad: Philidelphia is a wonderful city for art ( never been but that is what I've read) don't know about the cost of living and the weather but a possiblity.
yes, it Is out of date but at least for me it was a starting point. it was where i learned about Silver City and Mesilla. i wish there was more info like studio availably and area resources like co-ops (!) and faciltites like printmaking or sculpture foundries and such!
Hi all...
Yes, we had a lovely sunny day here in nj, good for cleaning up the Billions of leaves that fell in the storm and winds last week!
I was actually thinking of a co-op studio situation, as stormweary said, not a commune...those days are also passed for me too. I guess what I mean by living in an 'arsty' town is, that there are other artists, people have an appreciation for art, and it is not overlooked as it is here in NJ. There are a lot of artists here, but we are mostly isolated from eachother,unless you join a guild, and then its mostly retired people painting the seashore, imho.
I'm not really sure how my friend got her grant, I know she applied for it, and she lives in Tucson, and has many shows there, and in Phoenix. There are some web sites that tell you how and when to apply for a particular grant, there are lots of them , i think, but I haven't done it yet.
There is an art community in New Symrna and one near Bradenton, Fla, I have read about them. They have good classes, art fairs, lots of studio space, open studio days, and publicise their artists. We don't have this in NJ, there are hardly any art shows, and you're not allowed to do business out of your home.
I did like that art towns book, I read it and re-read it a lot! It does give you an idea of what an area is like...but the affordability is way off now.
You sound like such a free spirit Ontheroad, I envy you! My husband is still working and so we are some years from retiring...
but since we traveled last year, we bought a travel trailer,and I have major wanderlust.
Maybe we'll pass eachother on the road!
I like your positive attitude Stormweary about finding a place and if it isn't the one, go to the next one, until you do. The thing is, you have to try. If you don't, then always in the back of your mind will be, "what if...?" I don't want any "what ifs" in my life.
Ironically Iriegirl, Durango already has several communes and co-ops, but I don't think they are artist only per se, but many families do live in communes together. As far as jobs, Durango has it beat with galleries, people buying art and everyone from sculpturers to dancers live there, with a healthy business. The people of Durango are very culture oriented. I love Silver City, but it is still small. It does have some artists and is growing, but it really isn't big enough yet to sustain many.
I know what you mean about mountains calling to you Ontheroad. They speak to me too. Paris does as well. It drips culture! But I love the West. It isn't shiny and glittery, nor is it any kind of fancy plate, but it is beautiful, rough, edgy and stark. Sort of like modern art; it is usually stark, but so full of color and to each person, it will be interpreted as beauty, or to others, as nothing. To me it speaks beauty.
Crackerjack:
You've got me convinced to at least visit Durango!! I'll have to amend my trip plans or just plan for a longer time
My biggest fear about Northern N.M./ southern Colorado is the winter weather. Snow... driving around in it..... and how long does it stay cold? I've lived in the N.E. so I have an idea of snow. There, the roads were cleared fairly quickly. But I also remember the cold grey days that lasted for several months. I get the impression that it is cold in N.M/southern Col. but that there is lots of sunshine?
I grew up in the south, lived along the east coast, am back in the south, dislike the heat and humidity, long for four seasons BUT don't want an extended winter with below freezing temps..... don't mind a few days but not the Nov. to March cold I experienced in the N.E.
Crackerjack, I'll have to do more research on Durango but you have convinced me to give it a serious look! thanks
My biggest fear about Northern N.M./ southern Colorado is the winter weather. Snow... driving around in it..... and how long does it stay cold?
I don't know how well you tolerate cold, but the cold in SW CO/NNM is a dry cold. I was in Pagosa Springs, CO (60 miles east of Durango)...put on a Speedo to go to the hot springs after a day on the slopes. It was 15°, but so dry I hardly noticed the cold. It is nothing like the Midwest cold/damp...and I'm going to assume that NE cold is just a worse version of the Midwest for cold and humidity together.
There is abundant sunshine....and to me, it's just magnificent. Durango has to be probably the prettiest place on earth to me (looking back 20 years), but not having been there for several years, I imagine it has changed quite a bit. Every time I was there (anytime from Jan-April), it was cold, but dry and sunny, much more often than not.
The only thing that keeps me from seriously considering Durango is the sheer expense of the housing--just out of sight. One of my friends who lives in Hesperus says that the roads are no big deal. there is quite a bit of snow, but they keep the roads well-cleared. I don't remember ever driving on snow and ice in Durango or on the road to Durango Mountain Resort/Purgatory.
Crackerjack, while dozing off to sleep, last night, I thought about this note from you, and wondered if I could better express both to the thread and to myself what it is that makes for the soul to speak--to me.
When I drive, let's say to Abiqui, or even most recently, Angel Fire through the Canyon Road, my heart stops with the sheer beauty. In Abiqui, the colours and sweep of peak to mountain, and in the National Forest on the Canyon Road, the mammoth pines. Several times I wished I could stop (but the road's too narrow) to examine the white of the changing Fall chamisa, or the wisp of lavendar sprigs, or the wild baby astors.
But the towns do not possess the wonder of the land; to my eyes they seem to detract, and yet, it is in the town(s) we must live or at least I must live, and not in the mountain itself. Somehow, for all the natural beauty of the open space in the West, the development of towns failed (again, only to my eyes) to blend with the same natural wonder and integrate themselves.
If you know the Pueblo here in Taos, you may recall the mountain as you enter. It is one of the most extraordinary views in this part of the county, and you approach it without interference of industrial and commercial development. The pueblo itself, although, not in the best condition, is part of, rather than external to the landscape.
It is this I miss here--the integration of man-made and nature. This has always been important to me, and perhaps in more established (read: older) towns, their development was more organic. Stones taken from local quarry; lumber to make homes from local forests; the formation of a town from an arterial space--a lake, a seashore, a valley, a plaza that spirals out graciously.
Perhaps I studied design and architecture, too much and too early, to ignore the whole
Quote:
Originally Posted by Crackerjack
I know what you mean about mountains calling to you Ontheroad. They speak to me too. Paris does as well. It drips culture! But I love the West. It isn't shiny and glittery, nor is it any kind of fancy plate, but it is beautiful, rough, edgy and stark. Sort of like modern art; it is usually stark, but so full of color and to each person, it will be interpreted as beauty, or to others, as nothing. To me it speaks beauty.
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