As a symbol of artistic authenticity, the popularity of street art has given rise to festivals around the world. Depending on who is putting the festival together, its purpose might range from “social-bonding [or] place-making, [to] place-marketing.” The power of street art extends beyond its provocative messages, as the addition of a large-scale, powerful mural solidifies a location’s identity. These festivals can also change as dominant forces in their environment shift. This transformation is perhaps best exemplified by the amorphous art industry in Miami, Florida.
The Wynwood “Makeover”
The transformation that has taken place in Wynwood (Miami) exhibits how wealthy developers can commodify street art, a traditionally rebellious, even illegal act, harnessing its democratic power for their own profits. A documentary called “Right to Wynwood” released four years ago by R17HUB delves into the Puerto Rican community’s struggle against changes brought on by Goldman Properties, who saw potential in its blend of low-cost land and urban edge. Affordable rents attracted artists, who the documentary points out, began “turning ugly into trendy” with their work.
Wynwood’s makeover has been compared to the changes that took place in New York’s Soho. However, FIU Sociologist Marcos Feldman rebuts that the changes that took place in Soho differ from Wynwood in their speed and leadership. Whereas Soho’s change took place very slowly and was predominantly artist-led, Wynwood’s came about rapidly at the hands of wealthy business people. Feldman contends that “one of the great myths of neighborhood revitalization is that you have a binary choice between economic growth or economic decline … it’s clearly a false choice. It means giving control of the neighborhood to people who have the capital to invest in it, or leaving the neighborhood to the people who have been sticking it out for the last decades in which people have decided to disinvest from it. Many social scientists who observe this false choice ask, ‘Why can’t the gains of some of this new investment just be shared in a way that benefits some of the people that live there?’”
Adopting the Wynwood Model?
Longtime residents of Lynn, MA, face a similar battle against developers. As the ninth largest municipality in Massachusetts, Lynn sits only thirty minutes away from Boston and recently hosted its own Beyond Walls street art festival. Citing Wynwood as one of its inspirations, Al Wilson founded the festival in 2016, and it came to fruition in 2017 through grassroots efforts. According to its website, the first edition of Beyond Walls “garnered in excess of 75 positive news stories celebrating both Beyond Walls and the city, made 4.5 million impressions on social media, and boasted 5,000 visitors.” Through its grand tributes to the history of Lynn, the organization identifies itself as “a creative placemaking non profit” and states its mission “to activate space to strengthen communities.”
As in Wynwood, Lynn’s emerging artistic scene has lured hungry new developers. The small city is witnessing an influx of corporate wealth manifesting in the form of the new Beacon Chevrolet and Gearworks luxury buildings. A new building called North Harbor apartments has also sparked outrage.
Isaac Hodes serves as director of Lynn United for Change, an organization that fights to “keep Lynn affordable, diverse and working class.” He told the Boston Globe that “the problem with these buildings is they’re creating these segregated, wealthy-people-only enclaves and doing nothing for the rest of us.” This comes at a time where the city’s current, low-income residents are already struggling. The article continues, “in 2013, more than half of households in Lynn were low or moderate income, according to data from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. A study released last year by Policy Link found that 78 percent of low-income renters in Lynn pay too much for housing.”
Lynn United for Change took a stance against the Beacon Chevrolet project with a petition titled “No Segregated Housing on the Lynnway” published on The Action Network. The petition reached 419/800 signatures. It points out that “Lynn Redevelopment, LLC is planning to build 348 luxury apartments on the Lynnway for people from other areas, with not a single one affordable” to current working-class residents. Furthermore, “the current design eliminates a public park that was supposed to go on the site, and has no space reserved for retail.”
In its petition, Lynn United for Change qualifies its qualms with the disclaimer that “we do not oppose development. We want to see our city grow and improve. But new development will only be good for our city if it takes our needs and concerns into account and does not put out current residents.” In remedying the issue, the organization asked developers to commit to designating 20 percent of the apartments affordable, and set aside “some first floor space for retail, with priority given to small, locally owned businesses.” They also asked developers to ensure that job opportunities in creating the new building are accessible to current Lynn residents while respecting their right to unionize, and to “improve waterfront access and usability so Lynn residents of all backgrounds feel welcome.”
The organization’s community support has emboldened their refusal to simply succumb to wealthy developers, and they began instituting similar tactics to fight the North Harbor apartments. The company developing this project sought a major tax break from the city, much to residents’ chagrin. On June 13, 2018, many showed up to a local meeting to voice their concerns directly to developers.
Lynn United for Change published another petition titled “Reject Tax Breaks For Luxury Apartments” on The Action Network to combat what they perceived as corporate greed. The petition points out the project intends to offer an “indoor golf simulator” but “not even one affordable apartment.” The proposed units are to be rented staring at $2,500. In addition, they assert that the development “not only locks out current residents, but will also push up rents in the whole area,” thus escalating “gentrification and displacement.” Lynn United for Change continues, “it will only make things worse for the majority of tenants in the area who are already cost-burdened by unaffordable rent.” They stand by their staunch belief that “our city government should support the kind of development that benefits ALL of us,” continuing, “we need innovative solutions … that will make development truly equitable. We say yes to development but no to gentrification.”
Revitalization that benefits everybody…
In “Right to Wynwood”, Feldman emphasizes that urbanism promotes a lifestyle of contact in which people from various walks of life can interact with each other. It will take effort to preserve this as cities achieve revitalization. The current model that neighborhoods like Wynwood have followed does not promote a diverse, enriched lifestyle for all inhabitants. Instead, he says, it simply flips the previous script. Rather than lower-class individuals living in the city limits while upper-class individuals inhabit its suburbs, now rich people will live in the city’s centers while the poor out.
And what is to become of the artists being capitalized upon throughout this struggle? Those featured in “Right to Wynwood” seem resigned to the forces that be, opting to focus on their work instead. In Boston, Pat Falco addressed the city’s infatuation with incoming wealth in his 2017 immersive art installation of the “upcoming” Luxury Waters condo tower, which WBUR called “a political cartoon you can walk into” WBUR also covered a tongue-in-cheek project by Boston-based artist Tory Bullock, who developed “The Gentrification Game” to illuminate the pitfalls of allowing money to constantly win out over humanity.
Rather than focusing on the forces of good and evil in this situation, the true malady lies in runaway greed, provoked by our cutthroat capitalistic society. People don’t deserve endless derision for their greed, because greed is an inherent attribute of human nature. However, external forces give it a stronger voice, clouding our judgement and values, leaving our base instincts unchecked. Time and again, our species has found that what is better for all is often the most auspicious path to take. Pursuing alternative solutions to the affordable housing crisis, beyond the limited, ineffective measures politicians insistently rely upon what might be our only choice in ensuring a fair shot at happiness for everyone. The artists themselves hold the keys to illuminating and empowering our ideals. What better way to spur such a transition than through the transformative power of art?
Even Rafael Schacter’s notorious 2015 piece ends on a positive note, as he concludes the scathing article by saying, “I believe we can still find our way to a critical street art, which calls to attention the inequalities, counter-cultures and diversity embodied by the contemporary city… The festivals, the institutions supporting street art can still have role here – but only through supporting work which might not be liked… There is beauty in witnessing different ways of being, in questioning your own morals and mores and in being exposed to people and practices which are radically different to oneself… It’s no easy task, but better an ugly truth than a beautiful lie.” It is in diverting our focus from the material idols preached by our society to the diverse facts that come together in the greater human truth that we continue progressing forward, rather than sliding back to our dark, feudal roots.
