Emily Baime Michaels, executive director of Midtown Association, offers her insight into Sacramento business and arts partnerships in the Capital Region. For more from Michaels, check out “The Creative Divide” in our August issue. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll email you when it’s available online.
In what ways have collaboration between Sacramento’s business and arts communities changed in the past year?
Courtesy of Emily Baime Michaels.
Increasingly, Midtown commercial property owners are integrating arts and temporary activations in buildings while development projects come to fruition, and using the arts as a method to preserve the experience of the buildings inhabitants. Instead of storefronts and properties sitting vacant for any length of time, dynamic arts programming is bringing vibrancy and activity to spaces in transition. For example, 19J [a mixed-use project] being developed by Mohanna Development hosted a series of events including a wildly successful maker’s fair; 19J is now being constructed as a 11-story residential tower. Another example is the Sacramento Bee parking lot, which had a large mural installation on it and is now being constructed as a 250-unit apartment complex by SKK Developments. After developments are completed, both residential and commercial tenants expect more than curated lobby art — they expect an inspiring environment with on-site programming to spur creativity and build community.
What do you foresee as the biggest change on the horizon in the year to come?
Given the continuing successes of collaboration between property owners and the arts communities, the biggest change on the horizon will be a real shift from temporary art installation to more permanent integration into future spaces, regardless of project size. The Midtown business community understands the value of embracing the arts community, and true integration of arts into building design will raise the bar for the entire district.
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