Real Estate & The Arts -- and invite plus a false-god reaction

From an email from, Andrew W. Thornhill,
thornhillontour - at - hotmail - dot - com

You are invited…

For the last ten years I have paid close attention to the proliferation of real estate successes based on close ties to the cultural community.

These ventures have been public and private, from individual structures to entire neighborhoods. As more and more professionals see the benefit of close associations between smart developers and the arts, I assume there will be even more interesting strategies to observe.

After a recent review of the amount of data I have gathered over these years, I have acknowledged that this could be a forever-growing file. So, to prevent absolute chaos, I am using these older stacks to create a better research routine.

My intended result is a book on the subject of positive cooperation between the winners in the land use planning, developer, architecture and builders world and the loftier planes of the creative artist, living environments, presentations spaces and cultural workers.

To narrow this wide arena, I’m starting with a Table of Contents for the book. The very innocent section titles are: National, State, Regional, Municipal, Neighborhood, Spaces, Buildings, Organizations, Trade Groups and Companies.

Based on this simple grid, I have started on my first outline. With this completed outline in hand, I will host a planning meeting on January 6th, 2005, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. Our meeting will begin at 3:00 PM and end at 5:00 PM. Please join us if you can.

The setting is unique. We’re in the Carnegie Library - Homewood Branch, Meeting Room 2. The address is 7101 Hamilton Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15208. if you need directions, call (412) 731-3080. This newly refurbished building is now one of the more beautiful monuments to knowledge in Pittsburgh. Take a look at www.carnegielibrary.org.

I am writing to see if you would care to send information describing your project or to suggest other opportunities for the book. After reviewing the materials, I will surely have questions and will get back in touch.

Let me know if this would be of interest to you – or if you would like to attend the January meeting. Other meetings will be scheduled for groups and in cities across the country. Let me know if you have suggestions.

My next step will be to secure partners and sponsors.

Sounds interesting. At first blush I'd love to point out the fact that the arts generally make an interesting discussion point, but I'm not easily sucked up in the hype.

The kings of the past always had a tight relationship with the arts. Court jesters, court artists, and other artistic statements were often made at great expense and held in great value. But, so what. I don't want to live in a kingdom.

I'm a former publisher with my own indie small press. I never once got a "grant" or was on some sponsorship trip. He ends his note as the next step is to secure sponsors and partners. That's not the way to go. Make the book, author it, edit it, craft the messages, then sell it. Produce a product. Take it to the marketplace. Go into production, either with your own investment of ink, paper and glue -- or get a publisher to publish it and accept an author's wage. Investors and customers are not the same as "sponsors."

Even in Communist Poland, or in Ancient China, there have been great artists investements -- while the people suffered.

I'm one who values the arts in the time of Jefferson and Franklin. Make folk art. The French and the Eurpoeans thought little of America in our early ages. Rather, we were busy building wealth, industry, products and growth with liberties and a united group of states.

Don't get me wrong. I love the arts. I love making music and supporting the arts. I loved being part of a group of voluteers for PCTV's show, The ART of NEWS. Great value resides in these efforts from my perspectives. But, arts don't hold the key to real estate successes. Not even close.