An artist complex adjacent to Baton Rouge art shop Circa 1857 is scheduled to be built this year to offer local artists an economical place to live and work.
Danny McGlynn and local artist Dennis Hargroder co-own Circa 1857 and worked together to develop the new complex located on Government street, an area the pair said will be an art hub for Baton Rouge.
McGlynn said the complex is anticipated to be three stories, have approximately 30 living spaces and contain 5,000 to 6,000 square feet of retail.
The complex will also have work spaces for artists, said Hargroder, and working in such close proximity with each other will allow them to collaborate on works.
“They can get inspiration from each other and [have] cooperative shows,” he said.
The co-owners said the complex is to serve primarily as an artist community, but those who aren’t artists will also be allowed to live there.
“It will be to provide living, workspace and inspiration for artists and to establish Government street as an arts street or district,” McGlynn said. “There will be a preference for artists, but not a requirement.”
Rates have not been finalized at this time, but McGlynn said the rooms will be “subject to affordable rates” calculated from funding received from sources.
“There is a social purpose to that some [rooms] are rent restricted, not all of them,” McGlynn said.
“It’s incentivized to help artists who are early in their careers and need a place to live and work and to try to make it economical for them to live there,” Hargroder said.
Shelby Hemelt, graphic design junior, said Baton Rouge has needed something like this for a while.
“I’m aware of those types of facilities in other states,” she said. “[It’s] key in order to bring artists here.”
Other cities with successful art scenes usually contain artists living complexes, Hemelt said, which serve as a place for various artists to generate ideas.
Photography junior David Gibbs said the anticipated low cost of the complex’s rooms would help aspiring artists.
“That’s less money on rent, more money on art supplies and making art,” he said.
Funding for the project is a combination of private sources and new market tax credits from the East Baton Rouge Redevelopment Authority.
Circa 1857 was granted the credits from the RDA but lost them due to a deadline, McGlynn said.
“We hope that RDA will receive new credits in early March, that we can apply and be awarded somewhere within a month or two,” McGlynn said.
If the tax credits are available, the project may begin around August he said, but starting in 2013 is the goal.
