A city-owned building at 512 W. Fourth St. would hold three floors of shared space for arts events and programming and three floors of studios that artists could rent, under recommendations a mayor-appointed working group presented Monday night at City Hall.
The group, which Mayor Mattie Parker formed in June to shape the proposed Community Arts Incubator, is chaired by Bob Jameson, the former president and CEO of Visit Fort Worth. Its members include City Council members Deborah Peoples, Macy Hill, Elizabeth Beck and Jeanette Martinez, along with Arts Fort Worth Executive Director Wesley Gentle and more than a dozen other artists and community members.
It met four times as a full group and twice in subcommittees on the community and studio floors, according to the Nov. 9 presentation.
Who the building is for
The draft purpose statement describes an incubator that grows the people, organizations and creative work behind the city's arts scene by offering affordable space, shared resources and routes for artistic and professional growth.
Its guiding principles set a pecking order. Individual artists and creative careers come first, then arts organizations, then general public activity. The group also calls for space that is "meaningfully affordable and equitably accessible" to creatives at every career stage, operations that are sustainable and transparent, and room for a wide range of disciplines.
The group defines success as creative professionals staying in Fort Worth, finding what they need to build their careers, and feeling part of a visible creative community.
The floor plans
Architects from Bennett Partners showed concept layouts with a mix of shared and reservable rooms for events, exhibitions, performances and rehearsals, along with artist studios, a resource center and offices, the city said in a news release Tuesday. After the presentation, residents looked over the proposed floor plans in the City Hall lobby and left comments on cards and in recorded videos.
