East Dearborn DDA Works to Drum Up Funding, Move Forward with Artspace

It has been almost a year since the took up the task of bringing a project called Artspace to Dearborn.

After a pre-feasibility visit to Dearborn from the national arts nonprofit last fall, an was disseminated to local artists and arts groups during the winter to gauge local interest in the project.

This spring, the project moved into the site selection phase, bringing Dearborn one step closer to becoming an Artspace community.

Based in Minneapolis, Artspace is a real estate developer that focuses on creating low-cost, live-work rental spaces for artists in areas across the country. More than 20 properties exist currently in California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada, New York, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Texas, Nebraska, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

East Dearborn DDA administrative assistant Melissa Kania said the hope is that within another two to four years, Dearborn will host a 37-unit live-work space for metro Detroit artists.

While it seems like a slow-moving process, it’s due to thoroughness on the part of Artspace, which has been working on projects like this for more than 30 years, Kania said.

“They’re very thorough,” she said. “These guys know what they’re doing. They come out for that intense two-day pre-feasibility visit just so they can gauge the community and the support on a city and county level as well. Then they do the Artist Market Survey to verify that they have the market.”

The survey was administered during the winter holidays and therefore, difficult to promote. But in the end, 329 individual artists and 50 arts organizations responded.

One of those was co-founder Michelle Plucinsky, who said she and husband/co-founder Chris Nordin are very optimistic about what Artspace could mean for the arts in Dearborn.

“We’re excited about it. Any more arts that come to Dearborn–we think it’s great,” she said. “It doesn’t really affect us because we wouldn’t live in the building, but to do a show there would be phenomenal.”

Furthermore, Plucinsky said she hopes it will bring the arts together in a centralized way never before experienced in Dearborn, creating opportunities for collaborative work.

“Sometimes between two-dimensional, three-dimensional, acting–there can be a disconnect,” she explained. “And what will happen with Artspace is that it will pull these mediums together more. Poetry, the written art, music–I think it will pull all those genres together, which doesn’t happen in Dearborn.”

Kania is looking forward to seeing the ways in which it could influence the greater business community, too.

“The beauty of Dearborn is that it’s so community oriented, so naturally people are excited about (Artspace),” she said. “They see the potential that such a project would bring. You’ll have this cool, artsy little district and the next thing you know, coffee shops are popping up and little art stores and galleries."

Kania hopes to see the project remain in east Dearborn, although much of that will rely on funding and site selection.

A total of $750,000 in funding is required to bring Dearborn’s Artspace project up to the construction phase. Funds would cover reviewing and selecting a site, obtaining a purchase agreement, architectural design and costs associated with closing on a site.

According to Kania, Artspace has already secured a $150,000 commitment from the Kresge Foundation, while the East Dearborn DDA is waiting to hear back from the Ford Foundation on a $150,000 grant they applied for this spring.

“This is where Artspace is a pro, because this has to be creatively funded,” Kania said. “Of course the DDA is going to kick in money. But we have to continue exploring creative ways to fund it–both through the private sector and the pubic sector.”

But for the East Dearborn DDA to continue working to fund Artspace Dearborn, the project must remain in their district, which only includes stretches of Michigan Avenue and Schaefer Road. While this limits site options, east Dearborn has locations that could work, said Kania. The largely vacant Schaefer Building on Schaefer and Michigan Avenue and the (also known as the Fordson Hotel) top their list of prospective spots.

“East downtown is urban, it’s gritty, but yet it’s safe,” Kania said. “(Artspace) is going to only be in Dearborn. Now where it actually ends up–east or west–we don’t know. But we have high hopes.”