Two St. Louis artists have found affordable housing in the Gravois Park neighborhood thanks to the St. Louis Art Place Initiative. The nonprofit has six more in the works to be completed by the end of the year, working to an eventual goal of 20 homes.
Art Place was formed in 2019 in response to the Gravois-Jefferson Historic Neighborhoods Plan, a community blueprint for improvements to some southeast St. Louis neighborhoods. Co-Director Kaveh Razani said the plan called for arts-based infrastructure, affordable housing and public art. Along with housing, some of the grants Art Place has received will go toward public art installations and a community art space and garden.
The initiative receives funding from a variety of streams, but the city’s Community Development Administration is one of its largest funders.
Art Place helps the artists by paying a portion of the down payment on their home, and then they pay their own mortgage, taxes and insurance. That’s something artist and musician Stan Chisholm, also known as 18andCounting, said is important to remember.
“Sometimes people will see the headline, and they will assume that, 'Oh, they gave you a house,'” Chisholm said. “I still got to pay for this.”
Chisholm was the first person to close on an Art Place home in 2021. This is the first place he’s lived that he hasn’t rented.
St. Louis Public Radio’s Olivia Mizelle sat down with Chisholm to learn about his experience.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Mizelle: So you've been here for four years. How's that experience been?
Chisholm: It's been great. I mean, it's nice to not have to rush certain things. I've had this conversation with a handful of other artist homeowners. It's always a work in progress. And that's kind of the beautiful thing about it. Not feeling like I have to hurry to get certain things done. Still just seeing how it works and building on it, treating the whole space as a living project in its own. But the stability — it's been awesome.
Mizelle: How has having this house helped you personally and professionally?
Chisholm: I just weave those together so much. Professionally, it's nice having space to dedicate different tasks and practices to a specific space without having to shift things around so much, to take on different projects. You know, sometimes at the expense of cleanliness, I have a place to keep it moving and do the next thing. This room is dedicated to records. This room is dedicated to these types of instruments. This side I can do acoustic instruments. This is where I do my business, or my small drawings when it's too hot at the studio. And then, I guess, personally, it's helped a ton. I mean, my family stayed with me for a couple years. My friends, when they're coming to town, they've got a spot. If someone's power is out and they need a place to crash for the night. Just being able to easily accept other people. Temporary or short term, whatever it is.
Mizelle: There's one other artist who has one of these homes around the area. Do you know them, or not really?
Chisholm: Yeah, I do. That's kind of the interesting thing about it. I'm the first one of what's slated to be 20, unless they've changed their numbers, I know that they're definitely building. They're definitely making the spaces. I’m fairly confident that the folks who will end up getting the other homes will very likely be someone that I cross paths with, someone that I know, because that’s just the nature of the work that I do.
But I know I'm going to be surrounded every couple blocks, or a couple on each block. And, hell, if it is someone that I don't know, then it’s someone new to meet. That's also a part of it, growing this community, and in the long run, as it fills up, collaborating with and helping come up with ideas for different public projects, different things in the neighborhood. Who knows what may happen.
Mizelle: The Art Place Initiative, beyond how it's helped you, what are your thoughts on it as a program?
Chisholm: It's amazing. When you hear about it, it's like, whoa. Have I heard of that before? Is anyone else doing that? It's nice to see an organization making sure that our artists stay put. Arts are always kind of this weird, magical thing that fits into everything, fits into every topic, but isn't always considered the most important. And I can understand that to some degree, but to have someone say, “Yo, these people are important, and we need them to stick around, or else they will get really good at what they do and then go to some other bigger city.” You become even more committed when you have a place that you're invested in, a place that you're going to evolve, your family is going to evolve around.
