Artists or galleries moving into a neighborhood with available and affordable space to have a studio or exhibition space can have a beneficial impact on the cultural life of a city. This activity, however, can also have a negative impact on these neighborhoods. They can cause housing prices to rise, the pushing out of local businesses, and the displacement of residents. Artists and art organizations are working to identify and acknowledge their role in gentrification and minimize their harmful impact as well as find stable locations to work and exhibit. 

In New York City, galleries are acknowledging and addressing the role they can play in severing neighborhood ties by attempting to create a strong relationship with their community. These efforts include being mindful of the demographics of the artists they exhibit, programming exhibitions with neighborhood residents, supporting local businesses, and exhibiting work that directly addresses housing issues.

Other efforts have focused on how to secure affordable, stable housing for artists outside of the often harmful agenda of developers. Artspace is an organization that purchases and renovates property in neighborhoods at risk of gentrification. A lottery selects the artists to reside in renovated units with priority given to artists who already are neighborhood residents. The Community Arts Stabilization Trust works to provide secure housing for arts organizations by purchasing property, selling it to an organization, and having that organization pay them back with a multi-year loan schedule and no interest.

In Mexico City, artists have worked to raise awareness about housing issues by establishing a “patron saint” of housing rights. The figurine and altar of Santa Maria La Juaricua has been taken up by neighborhood residents at risk of displacement and has even been utilized in protests and processions.

External links attached to this collection include a report issued by the World Cities Culture Forum discussing ways culture and cultural spaces can be maintained in the midst of rapid city development as well as a brief summary of ideas highlighted in the report. Also included is a discussion of ‘artwashing’ issues in Los Angeles and ways in which artists can acknowledge and reduce their role in gentrification.