Robert Pilgrim
Ahhh, suburban life. It has long represented the end of coolness and creativity for many in the arts community. The cookie-cutter houses and white picket fences typical of many North American suburbs, just don’t scream dynamic artistic expression. And that is one reason why major arts events still tend to be held in the hip downtown areas we expect them to be.
But urban artistic neighbourhoods have become as much a stereotype as boring suburbia: ‘Interesting, dynamic’ areas where the functionality and intentional straight-forwardness of suburbs is considered the antithesis of what creative space is supposed to look like.
I’m not suggesting there’s anything wrong with existing downtown arts venues. But who said the arts could only thrive in run-down old buildings and sterile, glossy galleries?
Like it or lump it, suburbs are not going away and it seems unfair to write off entire areas based on urbanite snobbery. Instead of adopting a haughty attitude toward supposedly bland suburban life, bringing active artistic spaces to suburbs would be a more progressive approach.
That has already started to happen in several North American cities, where sky-rocketing urban rents have forced artists to seek out less glamorous suburban housing.
According to a recent Massachusetts Library newsletter, many artists in Boston have relocated to the suburbs and have successfully brought their work and lifestyle with them.
Here in Ottawa, similar efforts are being made to open up suburban areas to the arts. Arts Ottawa East, an umbrella organization dealing with east-end arts groups, has been lobbying the municipal government for a major arts facility for over a decade.
The facility would provide a more professional setting for east-end visual and performing artists in the heart of the Cumberland area.
Christine Tremblay of Arts Ottawa East says a professional space for performing and visual artists would help establish a stronger community identity.
“Let’s face it, most people live in the suburbs,” she says. “If you create a dynamic space, it will draw patrons and also a better caliber of artist.”
The facility is hoped to provide a more sophisticated atmosphere than the church basements and community centres where east-end artists currently display their work.
I suspect such a facility would help to create a more arts-friendly community where patrons and artists could function just as easily as they would downtown. Plus, they would have a brand new audience that might view their work with less disdain than the jaded urban art crowds.
As far as I can see, there is no reason why suburban communities should be separated from artistic ones. It’s not as if creative people don’t emerge from suburbs, and if they have a place close to home where their artistic interest is encouraged, it seems like a win-win situation.
So, by all means, bring quality artistic production to suburbanites. Let’s decorate those cookie-cutter houses with some nice coloured sprinkles.