Building Takes Shape in Downtown Utica. How Does it Benefit Local Artists? | Focus Economy [Video]

UTICA, N.Y. — “Well, Artspace, as an effort, was something that came to the community 2016-2017 timeframe, to start to site locations,” said Mayor Mike Galime. 

You would have needed a telescope to see the building from the groundbreaking.

But now, it’s up and scheduled to be 50% complete by the end of the year and finished by the end of July, with artists living here shortly after.

First, screening.

“It’s somebody that comes to us and presents to us what their art is. It’s not for us to judge quality of art, either; that’s not our business,” says Becky Carlson St. Clair, vice president of property development for Artspace. “And so we evaluate it based on that and just see what the commitment is and what the interest is.”

What qualifies as art, for the purposes of screening tenants, is broad.

“A baker, hairstylist, there’s various types of art. It could …