Business can be an art and sometimes art is the business.
A concentration of it in Prince George is adding new colour to the commercial character of downtown, setting up shop in street-level storefronts, upstairs commercial lofts, even small apartments, wherever they can ply their trade with minimal added cost.
"I was working from my home. I've done that twice now and, ummm, wow, that is a really challenging way to go," said photographer Alex Zander, principal operator of an artists' collective called Picture Box. "When I first started out, that was fine; I had no clientele and I couldn't afford to rent a space. As I grew, it took over more and more of the house. And home is full of distractions."
Now there is a team of arts-based professionals all working out of the Picture Box location Zander found on Third Avenue. Debbie Malm, Crystal Desharnais, Rayven Ward, and Shauna Harper have joined him, each running their own independent ventures but sharing the door, the roof and the utilities.
"The first advantage is the cross-referencing we can do for one another," said Desharnais, who does everything from hair and makeup applications to interior decorating. "We each have different strengths and gifts and specialities so we can refer back and forth with each other. I have found that to be very beneficial. It's a good fit - a place where creative energy can thrive."
The other major benefit provided by pooling their resources is an affordable public face.
"It is easy for my clientele to locate me," said Desharnais. "It is very convenient for me, living out in the country, to have a welcome and central location in town. It gives my business a legitimacy in the eyes of clients."
Harper has her office at the Picture Box but is not specifically an artist. She is in the business of developing other businesses through her company Live Work PG, but she fosters in herself an artist's spirit. It's a creative mentality her clients appreciate.
"Prince George has a very strong arts community, but there isn't much for sharing spaces and having a storefront component," she said. "I was part of the Arch Building [a live-work artists' cooperative building] when I lived in Vancouver so when I got to P.G. I started looking for collaboration. You want to be motivated by each other. I think businesses are stronger when they have an active community. What Alex has is ahead of that curve, in Prince George."
Commercial photographer Ward said "downtown" and "collaborative" was a prudent combination for the Picture Box.
"It is a good way for a small business to get going," she said. "When you are starting out you can't afford an office and a studio and a place that represents you well to clients. Downtown Prince George has affordable space, we have a location that serves the needs of a group of us, and we seem to mesh well together."
Melanie Desjardines had a collective in mind when she established Groop Gallery but soon discovered a sole proprietorship was the way she wanted to go instead. Also on Third Avenue near George Street, she has a window on one of the busiest intersections in the city.
"I was looking for downtown real estate investment. I was frustrated with all the absentee landlords and am passionate about improving the profile of our downtown," she said. "I am an artist, I am a business person, I have a sales and marketing background, we had an existing operating company [a sheet metal business elsewhere in the downtown] to piggyback on, and I'm at a time in my life now that I can start doing something that I enjoy and give back to the community."
Now Desjardines creates in the basement studio and exhibits art [hers and the works of others] on the ground floor.
Desjardines cautioned that being an artist was like any other form of self-employed business, based on a properly planned budget. The realities of any small business are unforgiving to the bottom line, so strict calculations and preparations are her recommendation.
"I feel honoured to provide this service to downtown Prince George but I don't actually recommend it for a conventional entrepreneur," she said. "This is my fun thing. It is really hard to be viable at this, but I'm just lucky to do what I do [the sheet-metal primary business] so this can go along with it. To make a go of it in the traditional sense you would have to also be a frame shop or gift shop or have some other revenue stream."
Some artists are not financially able to buy their own property. For most, the art is a sideline project they fit into a schedule dominated by a primary job and family obligations. Keeping the living conditions modest lets Denise Godeau focus on her art. Her vocation is graphic designer for UNBC but her passion is oil painting, preferably on wood panels. She doesn't need a lot of space for her art. Her studio doubles as the living room in her Queensway apartment.
"I think I'll just always have it in my home," she said. "Why have another space to rent if you can do it where you live? If I had a print shop or a design studio as well, that's different, and that is definitely my goal one day. As an artist, you could work from a beach if you wanted to. I'm surprised more people don't get into creative arts just because of that fact."
Susan Barton-Tait has been that portable artist. She has come and gone from Prince George a couple of times, plus lived in other locations. When she returned from her latest sojourn she sought out a vacant store to rent so she could work in an open space and display her art (and sometimes the work of others). She also wanted a dominant window onto the street so passersby could look in on the creative process. She found a spot on Sixth Avenue where she opened up Storefront Studio.
"This space has been a tanning salon, some kind of retail shop, but it hadn't been in operation as anything for the past year or two," she said. "It was in disrepair but I didn't mind that. I've made it my own."
Adding real estate value to the one spot is only part of the benefit, said Barton-Tait. She is also adding commercial activity to her block and all-hours human traffic as she and other artists come and go from the studio.
She scoffed at any talk of downtown Prince George's social decay.
"Listen, I used to be in downtown Winnipeg which is 100 times worse than this," she said. "This is nothing. This is practically refined, around here. I love it here. When I started working on the space, I got noticed right away. People were peering in the windows, it was a very positive reaction."
She believes there should be more commercial investment made by individual artists, and in turn it will pay dividends.
"I've been a professional artist for many, many years. I firmly believe you have to work outside your home. If you're going to be a professional then you have to behave as one," she said. "You have to do up a business plan, calculate the cost of renting a studio space, and build that in."
Since most artists cannot financially rely on making a primary income from sales of original art, the professional artist must focus on earning grants, exhibition fees and commissions for specific projects, she said. That process is no different in the science or trades professions, she added.
"If you have to have a second job to support the costs of your artist's space, then so be it, but you need a space to work that has an environment of creativity and no domestic constraints."
The best-known example in Prince George of a multi-use artistic facility and business is in the psychedelic building at the corner of Third Avenue and Edmonton Street owned and operated by Jim Brinkman. The ground floor is a cavernous boutique book store, art gallery, live performance corner and coffee shop, all known as Books & Company.
Upstairs is an equally large configuration of artist studios and offices, a yarn shop, a vintage clothing store, a video production company, and art gallery encircling a large performance area for concerts and public events. Upstairs has its own name: Art Space.
In the basement, along with storage for all these endeavors, is more space for artist studios and theatre rehearsals.
"I like the arts, but I'm also a very pragmatic person," said Brinkman, who bought the former Danish Interiors furniture store while he was occupying a small storefront space a few blocks away, selling nothing but books. Brinkman realized that diversity in his business was the key to survival.
"I'm in a position now where I don't have to be afraid of anyone, anymore," he said. "You have to be a certain size to make it. You have to be big enough that people recognize what you've got, and be a draw to your space. People don't have to leave their homes to buy most things they want, so if you want people to come through your door, you have to give them a reason they can't get online. They have to feel they are part of a community."
It was respect for his customers that led him to his "mini-mall of the arts" model. The price was too good, the location too prime to turn down the opportunities but it was more building than he had books for. It was musician Derrick McCandless who suggested the concert space upstairs. Theatre Northwest was just getting going and approached him about being their ticket vendor. Artist and foodie Silvia Morrison and some associates were ready to operate a small cafe. It all grew from there.
"Things take time, they have to grow," Brinkman said. "People say we should just knock down all the buildings in downtown and start again. That's the wrong idea. Some new buildings are good, but you don't want the price of rent to be beyond the reach of the unique small business owner. They can work with what they have. It's already starting to happen when you look at what businesses like Homework and Nancy O's are doing. You need little operations that have their individuality."
