The light rail is coming to Bellevue. Will a vibrant arts scene follow? (Seattle: real estate, rental)

[homesinseattle]

Article link here: https://crosscut.com/culture/2022/02...s-scene-follow

"Ray Cullom can picture it: a new downtown Bellevue light rail stop — adorned with a jewel-like screen of “ripple” glass by artist Paul Marioni — that will tether the Eastside to Seattle. Across the street: “Bellevue 600,” a shiny, 43-story office tower for Amazon office workers. And, on the same block, in the middle of a three-tower, skyscraping multiuse development: a playhouse and community center dedicated to the arts.

“This street, 110th — especially in this part of town — is going to be the Times Square of Bellevue,” says Cullom, founder and CEO of EastHUB, a new Microsoft- and private philanthropy-funded nonprofit that will help develop the $105 million multiuse theater. “It’s going to be where everything is happening, and this playhouse is going to be right in the middle of it.”

Cullom, the former CEO of PACE/Tateuchi Center, a Bellevue playhouse in the works since the early 2000s, founded EastHUB right before the pandemic hit. With local construction continuing to boom despite the shutdowns and supply-chain issues, Cullom saw an opportunity to embed cultural spaces in the many new developments — and to market the Eastside as a cultural destination.

“[Technology] is what’s driven the economy, driven the conversation, driven where buildings go and where people live and why people move to the area,” Cullom says. “Our goal is to make sure that as we build and as this incredible pace of development moves forward, we are keeping in mind that the region needs a cultural soul — that it’s not just a place where people work. It also has to be a place where people and families live. That hasn’t been the reputation of the Eastside…. We want to change people’s minds about that: arts and culture do flourish on the Eastside.”

Much has yet to materialize, but EastHUB hopes to build more than a dozen new art spaces — including theaters, dance studios, recital halls, exhibit spaces, live music venues — within the next 5 to 7 years.

The nonprofit, which has a staff of seven, will also operate as a sort of “broker” for Eastside arts organizations, to connect them with each other and advocate for the needs of the sector at various levels of government. Plus, it will help smaller arts organizations with “backend” services, including accounting, graphic design or navigating rental laws. For the past two years, the nonprofit has held roundtables, conversations and surveys across the region to figure out the gaps, needs and issues across the sector (one thing that has emerged: demand for more rehearsal space and spaces without religious affiliation).

“The goal is to allow arts and culture groups to spend less of their time and resources on administrative and real estate management tasks and more of their time on pursuing their missions and engaging with their audiences,” Cullom says. “One of the biggest traps a lot of arts organizations fall into is this dream of owning a theater or operating a space. What organizations find very quickly is that they stop becoming an arts organization, and they become a real estate management company that sometimes does art.”

While the realization of EastHUB’s unnamed playhouse is still years out — groundbreaking is slated for next year — the group is making its first public move this month. On Feb. 23, in a partnership with the city of Bellevue, the nonprofit is launching a new website, EastsideLive.org, which will be an online (you guessed it) hub where residents and art groups can find a calendar of events and a handy roster of Eastside cultural groups and art spaces.

[CrazyDonkey]

Depends on how many "vibrant artists" live or move there. A "scene" implies a living creative community, not just galleries, exhibitions, performances, periodic festivals, etc., although they can help to tie such a community together. On the other hand, "local" scenes in the Internet age and post-Covid reality may be becoming increasingly defunct.

An art scene also encompasses both currents and counter-currents. What kind of art matters? Police Art? Outlaw Art?

[Gardyloo]

Lots of cities have tried to create "arts districts" using various kinds of incentives - live/work space permissions, etc. Few have succeeded. My brother in law is an arts administrator with experience all over the country, including NYC, Chicago, Seattle including the Eastside, and currently in the Carolinas. He describes these efforts as akin to being a professional cat herder.

[rjshae]

There's already an art museum and multiple art galleries in Bellevue. Probably people just aren't aware.

[t. raleigh fingers]

More likely a vibrant crime scene will follow light rail from Seattle to Bellevue.

[jabogitlu]

Unfortunately a real arts scene often requires affordable warehouse/studio space, which is gonna be tough in Bellevue. The Bel-Red area would have been fine for this but it's now been gentrified out of existence, for the most part.

Now if they're talking about pumping mega money into performance space/galleries for folks to exhibit their works, then sure, that's doable. But those folks will be living and/or working in SoDo, South King County, Pierce County, Everett, etc. etc.

[jertheber]

Just as San Francisco was, at one time, a very attractive place for artists and galleries, Seattle and Portland have seen their better days for artists, pass by. We may see "the arts" coming to a car centric Bellevue, but not the artists. Bellevue is a great example of a financialized culture, and their motto could well be, "we're all biz here," so the arts are not exactly on the front burner for Bellevue-ites.

Hopefully we can look forward to a greater art presence in the outback areas of the Pacific Northwest, small towns where the rent is cheaper, and the drive will make it a nice destination spot for a few hours of appreciating the creative works of ordinary artists. Giving young and talented people a space to work along with a place to show the work will allow for a greater spread of art. More light rail into the back country makes more sense to me when considering leaving the car at home for a Saturday or Sunday of wandering a small town's art scene..

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Maybe light rail will bring the arts. More likely, though, it will enable the criminals and the homeless to have easy access to the area.

[norcal2k19]

Originally Posted by t. raleigh fingers

More likely a vibrant crime scene will follow light rail from Seattle to Bellevue.

Dogwhistle - not cool.

[october2007]

Originally Posted by t. raleigh fingers

More likely a vibrant crime scene will follow light rail from Seattle to Bellevue.

I agree.