EVERETT – Katie Hodge could barely contain her excitement Wednesday night as she listened to plans for an artists complex in Everett.
The Kent woman smiled, laughed and quietly said “yes” several times as the vice president of a national arts group described how similar “live and work centers” in other cities have brought together artists who previously had little or no contact with each other.
“Everything he’s said has been my thought, my hope,” said Hodge, 34, a dancer who wants to open a nonprofit dance school for children. “Sometimes you need inspiration, and being around people of the same thought process helps spark the creativity that’s inside of you.”
Hodge said she would probably move to Everett if the arts complex is built. That’s exactly what Everett and Snohomish County economic development officials wanted to hear.
The city and county paid $5,000 to Minneapolis-based Artspace – the country’s largest nonprofit real-estate developer for the arts – to look into creating a regional artists center in Everett.
The group’s vice president, Chris Velasco, was awed by the turnout of nearly 150 people Wednesday night at a presentation he made in an Everett Events Center conference room. Judging by a show of hands, about half of those who attended were artists.
Everett is one of a number of cities that have asked for Artspace’s help, and the group has to reject many of the invitations. But Everett is clearly off to a good start. Velasco said the type of enthusiasm he saw Wednesday is exactly what can make an artists center possible.
Artspace must first study whether an artists space is feasible in Everett before deciding whether to take the city on as a project. “We can really create an arts destination here, and that would bring in cultural tourism,” Velasco said.
City Councilman Mark Olson sneaked in to the presentation after Wednesday’s City Council meeting. He said any project of this magnitude would require some city money. But it could bring in far more money to Everett in the long run, he said.
“It would attract a different mix of people here, and adds to the menu of cultural and recreational options people here have,” he said. “It would make Everett a more desirable place, particularly for younger people, to live. The people who will be driving economic development in the next generation – people in their 20s and 30s – need these types of cultural opportunities.”
Aurora Lindquist, who paints, draws and creates artistic cards, lives just outside downtown Everett. She and several other artists have been talking about an artists center for about two years. She was excited to hear that it is now more than just a far-off dream.
“The inspiration, the camaraderie, the sense of community, the critical mass – that’s what this would bring,” she said.
Reporter David Olson: 425-339-3452 or dolson@heraldnet.com
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