Great cities for artists to live?

[dejashepherd]

Hi,

I'm brand new to this site,

But i was thinking this may be a good place to ask:
what do you think are some great cities/towns for artists to live?

I want a place that's affordable, lots of nature, not TOO hot or cold, not LA or NY or SF (no, no, no...), and a good amount of artists there.
A place on the coast would be nice, but not necessary. But not too far inland.

What are your thoughts?
Thank you :)

P.S. i'm an oil painter.

-Deja

[smugbug]

I'm just going to say I chuckled at your "not SF". It'll become apparent why....really soooon.

When it comes to great cities, I very rarely think of weather and mostly consider culture, architecture, food and anything else that feeds my creative nature. I'm from Portland, OR and I love it there. Thankfully, I'm not that far away and visit as much as I can to feed that creative monster. In all honesty, I love SF (I was born there, you know) and think it's a terrific city brimming with creative inspiration.

ETA: and a hearty welcome to CA. :D

[DavidSmit]

Any big city in Europe will do just fine! :)

[kelly x]

How about the Bay Area, not SF proper, but you may want to check out the area's around SF...

[nauvice]

by that are you looking for a place where artists frequent or just a place fitting for someone who does art?

if you want to be around artists, big cities are your best choices, so yes yes yes to LA, NY and SF... also Philadelphia, Chicago...

a place fitting for an artist would be those listed above too but some artist love a bit of space, so move to florida or rural areas, you will find artists there too

[Irishdrunk]

I've only heard great things from SF.

How about Seattle? Just don't expect to paint outside in the fall/winter.

[dejashepherd]

by that are you looking for a place where artists frequent or just a place fitting for someone who does art?

if you want to be around artists, big cities are your best choices, so yes yes yes to LA, NY and SF... also Philadelphia, Chicago...

a place fitting for an artist would be those listed above too but some artist love a bit of space, so move to florida or rural areas, you will find artists there too

hi, thanks for the replies you guys.

it's nice being around lots of artists but big cities are too cramped, dirt, and loud for me. oh and expensive. a bit of space would be great.

hmm, yes sf is nice but oh so costly. yes, i am considering the areas around SF. can you guys recommend any of those cities (like.. sebastopol, monterey, that kind of thing)...

thanks :) this site is pretty cool

[Wooly ESS]

It might depend on the kind of art you do.

If you paint landscapes, you may want to live close to the mountains, the ocean, deserts, forests, whatever. If you paint wildlife then you need access to areas that are still wild enough to habour wildlife. On a trip to Prague several years ago, I was struck by prevalance of abstract and surrealist art. In fact it was hard to find a piece of art that contained a recognizable feature. An artist cannot help but be influenced by his or her surroundings, so chose them well.

A culture supportive of the arts is also a big plus. One often thinks of large urban areas having a supportive arts culture, but small centres can also have a vigorous arts community as well.

I realize this isn't the list of specific towns and cities you may have been looking for, but it could give you the beginnings of a framework to make your own list.

[Krato]

Not SF? i too have heard allot of great things about that city..

[Psychotime]

I'm just going to say I chuckled at your "not SF". It'll become apparent why....really soooon.

I don't get it. ...FORESHADOWING IN REALITY!

But really, I don't get it.

On subject, I got nothin'.

[arttorney]

Monterey/Carmel is bloody expensive, but nearby Salinas might be closer to affordability.

If you can live without the ocean, might I suggest Flagstaff, AZ. Within range of a day trip are the San Francisco Peaks (aspen belt turns colors about Oct. 3. very "Lord of the Rings"), Grand Canyon, Meteor Crater, Sunset Crater/Wupatki (mini-volcano and a sackload of native american ruins), Walnut Canyon (more ruins in a canyon wall), Montezuma's Castle (cliff ruins), painted desert/petrified forest, Oak Creek Canyon/Sedona (where they film all the damned car commercials), and Lake Powell (where they filmed that opening sequence to Planet of the Apes. This was all 15 minute to 2 hour drive stuff except for Painted Desert/petrified forest which might be closer to a three hour drive.

Monument Valley is a few hours and might be worthy of an overnight trip. There's some other lesser known stuff and Flagstaff itself has a lot of historical buildings and a university where you could probably get into life drawing.

[SMILEFACE]

Seattle Washington they have alot of video game companies an its freak'n gorgeous well its freak'n cold now but its still beautiful an the air is almost always fresh

[GriNGo]

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

[smugbug]

I don't get it. ...FORESHADOWING IN REALITY!

But really, I don't get it.

On subject, I got nothin'.

It's because of Massive Black. The CA Atelier. The folks responsible for the creation of THIS site. It's also because of a LOT of artists who also frequent this forum who live in/near SF.

And it's also because of the art scene in SF is pretty darn incredible.

But really, in just about any, what would be considered "good" city there'd be: good public transportation; a variety of affordable (different income levels) housing; vibrant art (music, visual, performance) scene, diversity, history (this is where the US when compared to Europe and Asia won't really compare), food...etc.

I've heard Austin, TX is pretty awesome. I do like Seattle (but I won't live there). I'm more of a West coast gal anyhow and specifically, an Oregonian at heart. I loved Chicago; totally dig New York and adore Tokyo.

For my own reasons, though and those reasons are probably totally different than yours. As for where I'm at now - I got nature. I'm up to my ears in nature. But there's no museum. No decent public transportation; one or two restaurants/bars to hang - and practically no art scene. Give and take, eh?

[Raoul Duke]

Thanks for bringing this subject up dejashepherd I'd like to know what the great art communities are like as well. Maybe this could be a sticky later on.

Encinitas CA is cool. It's 15-20 minutes away from San Diego. It started as an art colony-creepy cult. It has changed allot but still has lot's of artists and a couple of creepy cults (Christian Science and The Self Realisation Center)to keep things from getting too cool. You can't beat the weather there though. There is a metric ton of commercial work, but I'm not into the galleries in that area. On the contrary it has some cool art schools.

Did I mention it's on the beach and there are tons of beautiful little nooks and crannies to paint.

Berkley CA is cool aside from no commercial work (aside from Pixar and Lucas) and no parking. It's a very liberal town and I mean to the left of Lenon. It has a shitty smoking ban, but pot is practically legal. There are NO schools in the area I can recommend, unless you want to go across the bridge to SF.

[Ian Miles]

Here in Europe, anywhere in Italy.

[rossipoo]

I want to go to Europe!!!

but you can always stalk Craig Mullins in hawaii :P

[Slash]

If you want nature there are some cities in norway around where i grew up. I've not seen anything like it yet. The downside would be limited public transport, lack of proper museums, lack of art culture and appreciation of that amongst your neighbors. Oh, and food & essentials are expencive here.



And pack sturdy boots and a warm coat. ;)

[Darjan Jurincic]

i` ve heard there`s a massive black cock somewhere in SF..
how about that for inspiration :)

cheers
D

[carlosranna]

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Of course...

[TASmith]

If you're intrepid, you can get a house here for only $500. That's to buy, not rent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091025/us_nm/us_usa_housing_detroit

[Purrdey]

Perth, Scotland.

You want to paint rivers? It's on the Tay - follow it down 25 miles and you're at the North Sea. There's long white beaches, yachts and watersports if you're into that. Follow the river north a bit and you're at the source.
You want to paint forests? It's in Perthshire.
You want bleak highland scenes, moors or mountains? Just drive north an hour or so.
You want to paint castles? There's bazillions.
You want culture? Edinburgh is an hour's drive, Glasgow is just a little further.

Forget what you heard about Scotland always raining, the East coast is a lot drier than the west, you just pay with it being a bit colder.

[Riley Stark]

Honestly, I like it here in CT. You're less than an hour away from Boston (depending on traffic) and you're close enough to NYC that you can make the trip on the train in just 2 hours or so. It's a good location if you want to have easy access to the city, but not necessarily live there.

You also have the benefit of having the extreme views to work with - you can find the absolute country (barns, farms, rivers, valleys, mountains, etc.) but you also have the option of city views, too. (Hartford and Springfield both have some pretty interesting architecture if you know where to look because a lot of the buildings are pretty old.) It's a good mixture of modern and historic around here (being that it's one of the oldest areas in the country).

I also like the changing seasons.. I find it very inspiring to watch them shift throughout the year.

Hope you find something that works for you! ^_^

[Mr.Delicious]

Hmmmmmmm, CT is not a very awesome 'art' location... I'm looking to move somewhere soon, some city somewhere... You guys gotta keep postin the best places ever. Is Vancouver cool, I think the location looks pretty awesome. Or what about Portland, are there any studios there or annn awesome atmosphere?

[Riley Stark]

Hmmmmmmm, CT is not a very awesome 'art' location...

Actually, there are currently a lot of art hot spots in Hartford and in Springfield, too. More low-key than any of the big cities like NYC and such (as one would expect), but the arts (in general) pretty prevalent here and are actually encouraged in the schools, which I know isn't the case in most places. There are a ton of galleries around the state (I've always wanted to go to the Yale (http://artgallery.yale.edu/) one, it's supposed to be pretty cool, but I haven't gotten around to it yet) and a lot of art museums, too. We actually have the oldest public art museum in the country (Wadsworth Atheneum (http://www.wadsworthatheneum.org/)) and it gets a lot of great exhibits. (My favorite was the Dali exhibit they had a few years back - it was amazing to see those paintings in person!) And a lot of famous authors and artists have come out of the state/area (CT (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Connecticut) and MA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Massachusetts) have produced a bunch of people, famous artists/authors/actors, etc. )

Most of the artists around here that are serious tend to commute back and forth to the bigger cities for shows and the like, which is more the point I was making that CT is good if you want to be near larger cities but not pay ridiculous money to live in them. It's a good half-way between Boston and NYC so that you can enjoy the ability to go to them when you need to, without it being a headache.

[aefx]

Vancouver is amazing. I don't know about the local artist community there but the city it's self and the location would be a great place to live.

I think Berlin would be a great place to live as an artist. Housing is comparetively cheap and the city has an amazing amount of artists in all forms of media. Another city would be Barcelona. The fusion of spanish and french art seems to collide with one another in that region... very inspiring Also, coming from London the sunlight has a certain quality which makes everything seem a bit more grand... not sure how to explain it really.

[Meloncov]

Berkley CA is cool aside from no commercial work (aside from Pixar and Lucas) and no parking. It's a very liberal town and I mean to the left of Lenon. It has a shitty smoking ban, but pot is practically legal. There are NO schools in the area I can recommend, unless you want to go across the bridge to SF.

The east bay half of CCA is about a mile from Berkley, and there is at least one atelier in the area.

[IanE]

Rio de Janeiro
Austin, TX
Auckland, New Zealand

[Crawley]

i know there are lots of art galleries and shows in mid to south florida. got an artist friend who just moved back there, but i don't remember the city he said he was based out of. florida's beautiful except for the lack of mountains.

[Bill]

Or what about Portland, are there any studios there...

Laika, who did Coraline, is in Portland.

[revenebo]

You mean something like this:

http://www.sentieroverde.org/Escursioni/0609_Calcata/Calcata-33.jpg

[Purrdey]

Have to say from an urban point of view I have found most of the US pretty artificial and uninspiring. Exceptions would be Seattle, Spirit Lake Idaho, Downtown Atlanta, Savannah and Honolulu. Maybe I'm just a country girl at heart :D Maybe one day I'll actually get out of the airport in California and get hooked I'm sure of it :)

[Krato]

isn't europe really big on degrees though? I dont think im going to attend a school that gives out degrees :<

[ChristmasBunneh]

Personally I'd love me some Barcelona, Prague or Vienna but as far US goes SanFran sort of appeals to me. Never been in the US tho so I wouldn't know.

[paberu]

Japan

[Raoul Duke]

Originally Posted by Raoul Duke View Post
There are NO schools in the area I can recommend, unless you want to go across the bridge to SF.

The east bay half of CCA is about a mile from Berkley, and there is at least one atelier in the area.
Let me rephraise that. There are NO schools I can recommend. Oh yeah that's exactly what I said. CCA is good for fashion designers and such, the only atelier I knew of was very expensive weak sauce.

I did forget about Expressions, but I still don't know enough to recommend it.

[b hOughtOn]

If your looking north Toronto is great. The Nuit Blanche art show is amazing, and your an hour drive up the highway to a ton of nature. All four seasons are real nice here as well.

[Dusty]

I've lived in Seattle for 9 years total and while I love visiting lots of places, I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. It's beautiful and sunny in the summer, and gray and rainy in the fall/winter...and that suits me perfectly.

http://www.charlesandhudson.com/archives/seattle-skyline-sunset.jpg

Even though I don't get out to many of the social art aspects of the city, there are definitely a ton of them and people that enjoy that kind of thing won't have a hard time finding them.

[dejashepherd]

thanks so much guys! i have such a sweet list of options now. europe and brazil sounds exotic, but then it would be time for learning some new languages and such!

:)

[Peter Coene]

Well, Denver is interesting. Not so well heard of in terms of art scenes, but it seems to have an emerging art culture, that if it takes off you'd be there to benefit with it.

[sodAp]

I think my hometown, Oviedo (in asturias, northern spain) would be a perfect place if there were things like live drawing sessions, a zoo, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oviedo

the modern part of oviedo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhSlNSVTfG4
and the more antique: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvBO68fimLY
christmas time!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12g9vRrsLPs

But If i had to choose just one city for an artist to live it would be, no doubt about it, florence

[Sepulverture]

Wherever you go be careful to do thorough research about it before moving there. Take a trip there for a few weeks if you can.

I chose Beijing largely because it is supposed to be the center for art and culture in China. Well, Culture (with a capital C) is hard to find here since the entire city has commercialized and art is almost at a premium, aside from the copy+paste advertising art that is plastered all over the city, and the derivative Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty painting taught in many of the art universities (refer to my other thread here about looking for college)

I am totally digging the idea of learning some traditional Chinese painting styles. I love the simplicity and the brushwork of some of their portraiture, however there is a lot of disappointment mixed in there considering how little emphasis is put on Art here.

If I had done more thorough research I might have chosen a different city for it's art environment, or possibly even a different country.

All things considered I'm quite happy here and love the city, just not for it's "Art and Culture'.

[Qitsune]

My suggestion is Montreal, they have an EA studio, a Ubi one, Eidos, A2M, Gameloft, and plenty of others I can't be assed to remember now, loads of art galleries, low cost of living, huge parks, nightlife, a gay neighborhood and funky architecture (aka, that thing we call an olympic stadium.)

[xinranliu]

i think sony computer entertainment has a studio in santa monica
and i believe that with internet the city you're living in doesn't really matter

but new york is very nice too, you have the league, grand central academy, a nice painting scene from what i heard

[Rist]

Krakow is a good one.

[i hate art]

SF is really cheap if you dont mind a low quality of living. I am in the middle of the city paying 200/month.

[Qitsune]

But do you live in someone else's locker and have to go the McDonald's to pee?

[Falchion]

New York City. Live in Queens and commute into the city, it's cheaper that way. Come for the sights and the scene, stay because you've just had all of your worldly possessions stolen.

[konstable]

For the US,

Santa Fe, NM has the second largest art market in the United States and is a beautiful place to live if you enjoy painting landscapes. Taos, NM also has a large art community with a small town feel. Austin, TX is great if you are younger. Flagstaff, AZ. I have heard there is a big art community in Idaho too. Some artist friends that moved to Portland, OR said it is ok and a developing art scene.

My vote is Austin, TX, it has a great music and art scene, lots of software studios (more job opportunities) and if you really need to go to the ocean you can make a weekend trip down to the Gulf of Mexico. Also a lower cost of living is important, especially if you want to buy a house or develop more financial freedom in the future.