A recent walk to Union Market discovered a personal
open letter addressed to unknown vandals in the Strathcona neighbourhood. Regrettably, the vandals taint the good name of aspiring artists whose efforts go unnoticed for many months and years as they hone their craft and find their market.
Living and working as an Artist in this modern age is no more and no less challenging than it has been at any time throughout history. Certainly, there have been eras and cultures where art is endorsed, encouraged, and appreciated more. Equally, there have been times and places that censored creative self expression, and dictated what is art and what is not art. What defies logic, are so-called Artists denying the very foundation of what most creative people long for – making a living with their art.
Pasted to a nearby light standard, it would appear the same vandals post their opinion as follows:
Art is challenging. Art creates social awareness around issues of oppression. Art is beautiful. Art is violent. Real art is not bought and sold b y vultures looking to profit off future fame, hype and speculation. When art becomes business; it takes its seat amongst all other agents of capitalist and cultural imperialism.
Culture Crawl organizers boast that they have managed to attract over 10,000 people to the neighborhood over the past 11 years. These same participants now complain of higher property taxes and loss of community because of gentrification but somehow absolve themselves as contributors to the problem. They see no connection between accepting City of Vancouver and Business Man dollars to facilitate a safe and pleasant stroll through East Vancouver and the loss of low income housing. Strathcona is now one of the most expensive areas to buy or rent a house in. Culture Crawl has put Strathcona "on the map" and is used as a selling feature by real estate agents.
When you open the door to consumption; you too might be consumed. No capitalist can cry victim in the brutal and money hungry world they helped to create. Boycott Culture Crawl. Art is from your heart not your pocket book.
Nothing is more tragic than the outright labeling of another person's truth, nor the mistaken attribution of blame on a specific segment of the population for a reality that is influenced by many factors. In this case, the
Culture Crawl and Artists are being blamed. Even more disturbing is the outright manipulation of words that suggest that no artist is entitled to profit for all of their passion, joy, blood, sweat, and tears that go into their creative pursuits. Every individual is entitled to pursue their craft, their trade, and their work equally. One of the most challenging aspects of an Artist's journey is that of demanding fair value for the effort expended. This is not cultural imperialism, nor agents of capitalism; this is valuing oneself and one's work.
Additionally, much attention focuses on gentrification:
The restoration and upgrading of deteriorated urban property by middle-class or affluent people, often resulting in displacement of lower-income people. Were the city and home buyers to ignore the decay of the eastside, in due time there would be more deplorable conditions, rubble, and ruin left along the streets of Strathcona. As it stands, there have been courageous home buyers invest in the repair and renovation of beautiful heritage properties that now preserve a wonderfully unique character created by the working class of a long-ago generation. Many of these home buyers are not the capitalist mongers out to displace anyone. Most home buyers are everyday working people like most of us who have made a decision to take a risk in a decaying neighbourhood, with a decayed house, and the promise of spending large sums of money not yet earned in order to realize a dream. As well, most have worked very hard to get to where they are today.
The problem of affordable housing is not confined to Strathcona, nor unique to Strathcona. Gentrification, rising home costs, and rising rents are not solely the fault of the Culture Crawl. The West End, Yaletown, Coal Harbour, Kits, Gastown, Burnaby, Joyce, New Westminster, and many other neighbourhood communities here, and across Canada, find renters moving in search of more affordable rent. In one particular location in the West End of Vancouver, tenants have gradually been encouraged to move, the building management company invested in renovations and doubled rents. A few tenacious tenants fought and won, the rest packed their bags and looked elsewhere.
Foreign investment is a long-standing reality for the Vancouver marketplace, both in business and in real estate. Many foreigners purchase properties, have children educated here, renting their properties, and securing a future in an ever-changing world climate that creates uncertainty for some. These are methods and tactics individuals use to carve out their own piece of security for the present and the future. Would any of us behave differently given the opportunity and fortunes reversed?
When the locale of Strathcona is considered in relation to all of Vancouver, the immediacy to the downtown core, no bridge to travel over, the quaint heritage of the neighbourhood, the positive publicity provided by architectural tours, history buffs, photographers, the Internet, real estate investment, buying dream homes, and a myriad of influences which also include the migration of a significant portion of the Asian community to Richmond all play a part in escalating prices. Are they truly artificially high in relation to the rest of Vancouver?
Why is it so easy to single out one group and lay the blame at their feet? Speaking with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), it is clear that many factors contribute to rising real estate costs, gentrification, and loss of low-income housing. Some of these factors are foreign investment, the 2010 Olympics, city improvements, policing, transient populations, and market trends themselves. To unfairly blame a Realtor, an artist, or a group of artists simply demonstrates a bitterness and jealousy for the natural evolution of change that one cannot, or does not choose to be a part. Are you in the game, or will you watch with that bitter taste in your mouth from the sidelines?
A final response to the posted note quoted above: When you open the door to consumption; you too might be consumed. No capitalist can cry victim in the brutal and money hungry world they helped to create. These two statements leave this writer wondering what you eat, where you live, what clothes you wear, how you earn your income, and how long you have been a contributing member of our brutal and money hungry world you helped to create? This writer also wonders how this platform is helping you gain a foothold in your own personal and professional agenda?
