By Shelley Ridenour | East Valley Tribune
Four years of planning, developing and building support for an artist community in downtown Mesa is nearing fruition.
The planned ArtSpace Mesa, on vacant land on Hibbert Street between First and Second streets, is intended to bring local artists together to live and create in a talented community.
ArtSpace Mesa is to include 50 apartments complete with artist studios. One-, two- and three-bedroom apartments are planned and rent will range from $385 to $830 a month, Mesa Housing and Community Development Director Liz Morales said. If all goes as expected, ground will be broken late this year with the project finished sometime next year. Morales says she’s excited about the project.
“It will have a lot of synergy with the Mesa Arts Center” and the growing art community in downtown Mesa, she said. “Art has such a great effect on the community,” Morales said. “An emphasis on art provides so much richness and brings people together.” Mesa City Councilman Chris Glover, whose district includes downtown Mesa, shares that excitement. He said ArtSpace “will be a wonderful asset to downtown Mesa.” Glover is optimistic that artists living and working in the heart of downtown will “inject new vibrancy into downtown.” He has a brother who works as an artist and Glover said when he explained the time frame for ArtSpace, his brother asked if the process could be sped up. “He wants them to do it even sooner than plans call for,” the councilman said.
ArtSpace Mesa comes about after five community meetings and a six-month survey of about 660 artists in Mesa and the Valley.
As tenants for the live-work spaces are determined, preference will be given to working artists and artists who are military veterans. Tenants must have incomes of between 40 and 60 percent of the median area income, Morales said.
