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"Talking back to Richard Florida: Town Hall Tomorrow THURSDAY Night [CORRECTED]"

6 Comments -

1 – 6 of 6
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I do not understand why the artist community rejects the Florida model. Florida argues that artists should be appreciated for their contributions to urban life and his writings have influenced municipalities to recognize artists.
Whether or not cities they pay their artists, remains to be said and is another issue.

June 15, 2009 at 9:28 PM

Blogger Leah Sandals said...

Hi Anonymous,

I don't think it's fair to say that all artists oppose Florida. Or even a majority. Sorry if I implied that -- figures just aren't available. Though I'm sure they would be interesting.

What has been critiqued about Florida's theories is that it praises artists on one level--the level on which they encourage economic growth, up real estate prices, etc.--remember tony Yorkville was once an artist's hangout!--while actually avoiding the matter of getting artists (and many others) adequate wages, affordable housing, stable work spaces, adequate daycare for dependents, and so on.

What can also be critiqued about Florida's theories is that it encourages the proliferation of work situations that might seem glamorous to the outsider--like freelancing, which predominates in creative fields--but which are in fact quite precarious, stressful and, it could be argued, potentially unhealthy situations for workers and their families.

In this way, an unthoughtful application of Florida's "creative class" ideal simply encourages the disintegration of the many gains that unions made through the years in many fields with regards to job security, pensions, paid holidays, pay schedules, and the like. Those gains are of course already being eroded by recession-pointing CEOs and city heads--but the creative class idea can work in sync with these tendencies to glamorize the loss of these individual and societal benefits.

Does any of that make more sense? There's many ways to discuss Florida's theories, but that's just a couple of ways that come to mind.

June 15, 2009 at 11:05 PM

Blogger Sarah Cullen said...

yesss! I am very happy to hear this Town Hall is happening. I wish I could be there. I am a creative person, but very skeptical of Florida. I also worry a bit about a city that falls to its knees for this guy. Reading about him from the uk, I feel very protective of Toronto. What would he think if his cleaners went creative and mismatched all his socks?! I am glad to know there is discussion!!

June 16, 2009 at 6:40 AM

Blogger Leah Sandals said...

Thanks Sarah -- I hope to report on the event -- but was foiled this evening when I realized I GOT THE DATE WRONG, mostly because I'm a dumbass. Anyway, the post has been corrected and fingers crossed for me actually understanding the calendar on Thursday.

June 16, 2009 at 8:07 PM

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Is it not not odd that this Toronto Free that was first gallery in the Bloor - Lan -- the first creative type industry that ushered in new places like Mercer Union and that cafe -- is hosting this event? It seems funny but also like they are feeling guilty or something about what they have done (that they think they have pushed somebody out), and that they are proving Richard Florida to a tee and don't like it.

June 17, 2009 at 6:25 PM

Blogger Leah Sandals said...

Hi Anonymous --

I can understand where your observations are coming from.

When I've posed these types of questions in the past to self-identified politically active gallery owners, the general answer I get is "there's ways to open a gallery and work towards more equity/justice/sensitivity to the community and there's ways to open a gallery without any care for all these things. I'm trying to do the former."

I also think that the best part of the point that art-based critics of Florida et al are trying to make is that in the current city setup, yes, when a gallery opens that "pushing out" is likely happen -- increased rents, less affordable housing, etc. But what would it look like, they suggest, if we had better ways of prioritizing equity and housing for everyone in the city? It's a worthwhile question, something worth aiming for whether you're a gallery owner or not.

On the other hand, I hear you on some people's lack of self-reflexivity--or in other words, a tendency to see one's own subculture as the only truly "authentic" one. It's an attitude that satirists like the Onion have quite effectively skewered in items like "Sometimes I Feel Like I'm The Only One Trying To Gentrify This Neighborhood" (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/51852) and "Resident of three years decries neighbourhood's recent gentrification" - (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/31621).

June 17, 2009 at 11:11 PM

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