Mojo Risin'

CREATIVE CLASS RESHAPES DOWNTOWN ONE COOL CHANGE AT A TIME

STORY AND PHOTOS | MARY YATES

Louisville is just the kind of town to live a self-sufficient lifestyle and do it well. Many artsy people find eclectic work and business opportunities abound here and have set the stage for a local culture driven not just by corporate interests, but by a squad of edgy renegades who want to succeed at an innovative way of living and working.

This entrepreneurial spirit has ushered in an era of revitalization downtown based on visionary business endeavors. Maverick artists and gallery owners like Billy Hertz, Chuck Swanson and The Zephyr Co-operative have helped the East Market Gallery District become a frequent stop for tourists and locals looking for a different kind of entertainment and retail experience.

In 1987, a group of  artists opened Zephyr Gallery on East Market Street to give Louisville a necessary and sustainable arts district. For several years, Zephyr’s owners struggled to get other galleries to follow suit and move into the neighborhood. In 1991, Billy Hertz, Gallery Director who a founding member of Zephyr, left the cooperative to open his own space and be the first of a line of independent owners to move in to the area.

Hertz credits many “unsung heroes” with making his dream possible. One of these champions, Barbara Smith, refurbished existing buildings that had been written off as risky investments and sold them to art businesses for under market value. Hertz says that Smith’s commitment to the arts made it possible for Julius Freidman and Chuck Swanson to move downtown and form a core group of galleries on East Market.

These adventurous artists had a lot at stake in making their businesses work. “The truly unique thing about the galleries in Louisville is a spirit of cooperation and the desire for mutual success,” Hertz says. “If I didn’t have something, and I knew Julius did, I would happily send customers his way and vice versa. That made an impression on people.”

Fast forward a few years, and that spirit of cooperation still thrives, paving the way for other businesses to find prosperity downtown.

Artist-business partnerships have created vibrant arts scene. Glassworks, launched by Architectural Glass owner Ken vonRoenn and developer Bill Weyland is a highly successful studio and housing complex aimed at attracting young professionals and artists downtown. There are 44 apartments on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors. The first and second floors of the facility house VonRoenn’s Architectural Glass Art, which produces works for commercial, residential and institutional spaces.

The building also houses studio space for resident glass artists, a glassblowing facility, a gallery and The Jazz Factory nightclub.

Thanks to the efforts — and finances — of local philanthropists Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, Louisville is quickly becoming the talk of the national art world.

In addition to exhibiting contemporary works from their own collection in their restaurant, Proof on Main, and 21C Museum Hotel, the couple has now set out to create the most significant contribution to Louisville’s art scene, and skyline, in recent history: The Museum Plaza, a 61-story skyscraper will house an enormous modern art museum as well as space for the Master of Fine Arts program at the University of Louisville’s Allen R. Hite Institute and Cressman Center for Glass, headed up by Professor Che Rhodes.

Numerous condo developments, shops and restaurants continue to add vitality to downtown. “Good hospitality, and an inviting and interesting atmosphere, is key to creating a community,” says Derby City Espresso owner Matthew Landan. “Every great neighborhood has a coffee shop … We are going a step further by offering excellent service instead of the standard fast food coffee experience.”

These adventurous artists
had a lot at stake in making
their businesses work.

Gill Holland

Renaissance man Gill Holland, a New York City transplant who is a successful film producer, real estate developer, owner of SonaBLAST! Records, can’t seem to find enough hours in the day for his projects.

His gallery, NuLu, will move into a 110-year-old former dry goods store on East Market, which will be renovated and renamed The Green Building. When it opens this fall, Holland and his wife, Augusta, will go for LEED platinum certification — the U.S. Green Building Council’s designation for sustainable buildings).

The 15,000-square-foot, mixed-use building will house a street-facing café and event space on the ground floor, office studios on the top two floors and an indoor-outdoor courtyard in back. The gallery can, in off-hours, show indie films via video projector. The Green Building of Nulu will have more than 80 solar panels providing nearly 15,000 watts of electricity, geothermal heating and cooling.

This creative thinking is
another example of an artist
setting the stage for future
developments.

Holland sees Louisville’s creative scene as being similar to the early days in SoHo in New York and is putting his resources behind this vision.

“Louisville is a really cool city, but many people on the outside haven’t realized it yet,” he said. “That makes for a wealth of opportunity for those of us who do. We have all the key ingredients for success, and it’s just a matter of time before the rest of the world catches on to it.”

He says the rich arts community is helping everyone “look at the world differently and constantly question the norm, in that we must realize that right here and now, we’ve got these gem facades, and if we develop responsibly, we can maintain our aesthetic sense while attracting more businesses along with residential space. Like old-school European cities where people actually live, work and walk in their neighborhoods.”

As Market and Main Streets continue to move forward, and become more and more desirable property, we are now seeing a need for more development opportunities for those bohemian creative types that lay the seeds of early revitalization of older parts of the city and a movement towards the south and west is on for creative businesses. The well established Gallerie Hertz has found a new home at 3rd and Broadway, an area long known for theatres like the Brown and Palace, Hertz believes that it is a natural progression to see the arts district expand to include other parts of town. He says, “If you offer a good product and do business honestly, people will follow.”

Sculptor Ed Hamilton, who has made a name for himself beyond Louisville and has had the opportunity to observe the influence of the arts all over the country, says the role of the arts in city development is vital because artists seek out spaces other entrepreneurs won’t.

“Artists seem to go into places that others do not want to inhabit,” he says. “When we get together and rehab areas, then the money folks take note and say, ‘Ha! This can really work here.’”

On the flipside, the success of a neighborhood often results in higher costs of living, which prices artists out. Nevertheless, he says, artists “give a community its soul and mojo.”

Artistic development isn’t restricted to Main and Market. Graphic designer Bryce Hudson is opening a new gallery in a building he rehabbed on Portland Avenue in the West End. His plans include showcasing experimental works by regional artists, with a focus on collaborative works and curated exhibitions. Hudson thinks that a gallery in the west end will be well-received. “Crowds have attended functions in old warehouses in unfamiliar settings for the past 10 years I’ve been here,” he says. “My past few studios always had a great support base of people who not only attended, but supported by purchasing work.”

Hudson says Portland is undergoing a revitalization found in other cities.

“I think what is going on in Portland is exactly what happens in cities all across the country,” he says. “Artists go where there is an abundance of affordable space; they create a ‘scene’ and make the area somewhat of a hotspot. Then, slowly, people follow. I think what the few of us are doing in Louisville’s West End can teach the rest of the city a lesson. The location is exceptional – I’m just one exit from downtown.

“Also, the parts of town we’re working – and some living – in are really just that, parts of town. From the first month I lived in Louisville, I was warned that anything past Ninth Street was to be avoided. I kick myself for believing that as long as I did, and am happy I ventured west in the spirit that made this city. I think it takes people with the ability to see past boundaries to make a measurable change.”

Gwendolyn Kelly

Art from gallerie hertz

These adventurous artists
had a lot at stake in making
their businesses work.

Working toward a measurable difference, Gwendolyn Kelly has been working for the past few years in the 26th Street area of west Louisville on community workshops called ArtsReach Studios. These studios help people develop appreciation and skills in the arts.

Kelly says that she “envisioned a neighborhood based visual art studio for ‘non-artists,’ as a way of building community through shared experiences. Positive, productive communities are created when people share positive, productive experiences.”

This creative thinking is another example of an artist setting the stage for future developments. Kelly sees herself primarily as an “ide a generator,” who views creativity as a necessity to a city’s success.

Her works, she says, “will add some new thinking to the mix. How people spend their leisure time is very important. It can be squandered … or it can be spent wisely on activities that nurture family and community and that expand the mind. I’m convinced that thinking about how things look in one context will translate into thinking about how our neighborhoods look.”