Staff Writer

A representative of a national nonprofit dedicated to creating live and work space for artists got an up-close look at downtown Biddeford last week.

Roy Close, senior director of creative capital for Artspace, toured the mill district and talked about the national nonprofit’s efforts to create artist live/work units across the country during an April 13 presentation at City Theater in Biddeford.

Close said the Minneapolis-based organization is the only nonprofit arts developer that works on a national scale. Established in 1979, the group has completed 28 projects in 13 states. It is the owner and operator of 1,000 affordable live/work units that serve more than 2,000 artists, he said.

 “Our goal is to build better communities through the arts,” he said.

 Tammy Ackerman, executive director of Engine, a local nonprofit that promotes Biddeford’s creative economy, said she waited five years for the chance to bring Artspace to the city. She and other supporters of the arts think the city offers opportunities to create live and work spaces for artists in empty downtown mill buildings.

“We’ve all heard  stories of communities that have embraced the arts,” Ackerman said during the presentation at City Theater. “I believe we can do that here in Biddeford.”

Ackerman witnessed the positive changes that came with an Artspace project when she lived in Reno, Nev. She said restaurants and coffee shops popped up in an area not previously known for arts after a 1920s hotel was transformed into live/work units.

 “This project helped the transformation into a cultural hub,” Ackerman said.

Roxanne Eflin, executive director of Maine Downtown Center, said the state’s creative work force is growing faster than the overall work force. She said historic downtowns have a unique opportunity to create “cool” places for the arts.

 “For many years, something exciting and hopeful has been taking root in Maine. That’s the cultural economy,” she said.

  Close said Artspace began creating live and work space for artists in the Northern and Tilsner warehouses in St. Paul, Minn., in 1990 and 1993. The warehouses were in disrepair when the projects began.

 “It taught us a building can be pretty far gone and still be salvageable,” he said.

Artspace projects have been done in warehouses, hospitals, commercial buildings and old theaters, but never in mills, Close said. Projects generally are done in communities larger than Biddeford. The Kaddatz Artist Lofts are in a former hotel that opened in 2004 in Fergus Falls, Minn., which has a population of 13,000. The population of Biddeford was about 21,000 in 2010.

Close said most projects are in converted spaces but Artspace has built some new facilities. The Tashiro Kaplan Artists Lofts in Seattle is comprised of three new stories added to the top of a historic Pioneer Square building. He said the building was in a “dumpy” area of the city.

“That neighborhood is now starting to recover and is getting to be pretty cool,” he said. “We strongly believe the arts is an economic generator for the community.”

Artspace projects operate in the black and require no ongoing financial support from communities. The nonprofit’s work often puts buildings back on the tax rolls, Close said. The group uses a combination of low-income and historic tax credits, Community Development Block Grant funds and privately raised donations to fund its projects.

Close said Artspace only pursues projects in communities that are receptive to the idea. No decision has been made about whether the group will pursue a project in Biddeford. Close said if the company is interested, the first step would be to send a market survey to local artists to gauge interest.