Hunters Point Shipyard is what some might call an industrial wasteland. Unused cranes and machinery share space with run down trains and scrap metal leftover from past wars as toxic chemicals bubble underneath its soil.
But one man's wasteland may be another man's splendor. For amidst the ruin of the decaying shipyard lies what is known as "The Point," the self-proclaimed largest artist colony in North America.
Here, in work-only studio spaces, 300 artists create alongside one another on a day-to-day basis. However, with redevelopment of the shipyard looming ahead, these artists may soon find out they have nowhere to go.
The Hunters Point Naval Shipyard found its birth as World War II found its beginning. In the mid-1970s, the Shipyard closed taking a huge toll on the surrounding Bayview Hunters Point community, as most of its residents found employment there in some form.
For artist Jacques Terzian the departure of the Navy signaled a new beginning. At the time, Terzian was working out of a warehouse in North Beach when he lost his lease forcing him to look for somewhere new to render his art. Growing up in San Francisco, Terzian knew where to look for new industrial workspace. Finding six abandoned military buildings on the shipyard Terzian began his conception of what is now The Point.
At that time, Triple A Shipyard, a private contractor was leasing the buildings from the Navy. Terzian approached Triple A Shipyard with the idea to turn the six buildings into artist workspaces. Under the proposed lease agreement, Terzian would rent the buildings from Triple A Shipyard and in turn be allowed to rent individual studio spaces to prospective tenants acting as their landlord.
Deborah Carroll, office manager of The Point, said Terzian signed such a lease with Triple A Shipyard under the condition he could get the plumbing working again. Terzian went beyond the agreement of running water by converting each building from the ground up into studio spaces suited for artists' use.
"He kept thinking other people would come out here," said Carroll. "He would take a building get it running and see if anyone followed---and they did."
Moreover, for the last 16 years, artists have continued to follow the path Terzian has built. Today the want for studio space at The Point is so great there is currently a 4-year waiting list for future artists to get in.
"In a sense," said Carroll. "The community here is an entrepreneurial idea, one's man look out on opportunity."
America, known as the land of opportunity, is built on the idea that one man's dream can stretch a long way. However, another hallmark of entrepreneurship now threatens Terzian's dream-big business. In 1997, plans to transfer the shipyard from the Navy to the City of San Francisco found its completion. At that time the City's Redevelopment Agency renewed Terzian's lease agreement of The Point with the condition it would continue on a month-to-month basis.
Under such a loose agreement, it is of little wonder why artists at The Point have felt such uncertainty about what their future holds. Although many of the artists spoken to feel it would be an unwise political move for the city to evict their community with little notice, there are those who feel they are biding time while the city searches for a reason to evict.
Furthermore, with the redevelopment process gaining speed within the last few years, artists' fears continue to mount. Since 1999 Lennar/BVHP Partners has held the exclusive rights from the City of San Francisco to develop the 500+ acres of Hunters Point Shipyard. Lennar likens the redevelopment of the Shipyard to a community renaissance. Their hope is that the newly designed space will revitalize the community in a way not seen since the shipyard was in full swing by the Navy.
"It [the shipyard] will operate as a sustainable urban place," said a spokesperson for Lennar. "Economically, environmentally, culturally, and socially."
Looking at Lennar's plans for the Shipyard show they are aiming high. Though the Master Development Plan is vague, it paints a picture of a bustling mixed-use community offering retail space, homes, restaurants, museums, an African-American marketplace, and a variety of other outlets aimed at city dwelling.
Lennar also says it is working with the community throughout the development process to ensure, "the community's hopes and dreams for the Shipyard are used to develop a set of principles to guide the redevelopment." The current development plan set out by Lennar divides the Shipyard into four distinct districts. Lockwood Landing is set to feature a vibrant artists community. In addition, spread throughout the four districts is the mention of light industrial and art production companies.
In the vaguest sense, it does appear that Lennar sees the importance of an artist community in its design plan. However, the general language used by Lennar acts as a trigger to the artists at The Point leading them to suppose they are not secure from displacement once redevelopment begins. Karen McNamara the current president of S.T.A.R. (Shipyard Trust for the Arts) is one such artist who feels this way.
"The city has recognized the arts as being an important aspect of this community but the details are not worked out so anything can happen," said McNamara. "But we are on the master-plan in some format and that is the point from where we will fight." Formed in 1995, S.T.A.R. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is "to preserve and expand secure affordable studio and work space at Hunters Point Shipyard."
Working out of a small one-room office with only a 10-member volunteer board, S.T.A.R. acts as the artists' representative to the city and is the only connection many of the artists have to the redevelopment process. McNamara a soft-spoken painter who has been at the shipyard since its incarnation sees the artist community as undergoing a compromise during re-development but does not feel the entire nature of the community must change.
"We're trying to prepare for the eventuality of re-development," said McNamara, "by showing them [Lennar] what artists need because they may have a different plan."
One of the ways S.T.A.R. hopes to accomplish this feat is through a comprehensive study they did on the artists' community presented to Lennar to use as a guide for redevelopment. With a 46 percent response rate the results of the survey identifies the artists' main concerns regarding redevelopment as being: fear of displacement, unaffordable rents under the new plan, and a lack of understanding from Lennar of artists needs and activities in a work environment. McNamara admits, and the development plan shows, that demolition of most if not all-existing buildings now housing The Point will be unavoidable. With the construction of new buildings, the artists' fear of unaffordable rental space seems both warranted and realistic.
ArtHouse, a Bay Area listing service of workspace for artists currently lists studio space renting at an average of $2 per-square-foot. In contrast, studio space at The Point rents on average for $1 per-square-foot, a rate that is considerably lower to rental rates found throughout the Bay Area. According to S.T.A.R.'s survey 54 percent of the artists earn under $30,000 or less per year, and 33 percent report earning under $20,000 or less per year. Using these figures 87 percent of the artists at The Point are low-income individuals who realistically would not be able to afford studio space if they lost the rental rate they currently have.
"Affordability was one of the reasons I got on board," said McNamara. "If we lost our space some of us would be dispersed all over the place and others would be scrambling with nowhere to go."
McNamara explains that outsiders might not realize the importance of a studio space to an artist but it is comparable to an office space any working professional is given. The survey done by S.T.A.R. shows that 54 percent of the artists surveyed work in their studios a minimum of 30 hours a week. This figure not only reflects the importance of a separate workspace but the dedication these individuals put into their work.
It is the dedication of the artists that McNamara values the most, "There is an incredible community here," she explains. "Something truly great about having so many people in the same place. It creates a wonderful energy."
Although a sense of community does come through among the artists group at the shipyard, there are varying opinions on how to approach strengthening their stability. In talking to numerous artists, guilt often surfaces concerning the distance they have kept from the larger Bayview Hunters Point community. Like the artists' community, Bayview Hunters Point residents are fighting on a daily basis to remain an integral part of the area against the threat of redevelopment. Some artists wonder if it is selfish of them to remain unscathed while the community outside slowly erodes.
Not only do Bayview Hunters Point residents deal with the threat of displacement but they also face a mountain of other issues such as crime, poverty, and poor health. Residents also face exposure to the industrial waste and environmental toxins produced by neighboring businesses such as a sewage plant and power plant. Nowhere else in San Francisco can you find such a concentration of industrial businesses as it is found in the Bayview Hunters Point.
The Bayview Hunters Point community is more than 50 percent black, with Caucasians representing only 10 percent of the entire community. These figures taken from the U.S. Census Bureau report are in striking contrast to the S.T.A.R. survey that shows that only 17 percent of the artists' community are minority.
"The artists group can no longer remain isolated and take advantage of our situation," said Toru Sugita, a 38-year-old artist on the shipyard. "We should speak up along with the larger community and make sure the neighborhood is redeveloped for them as well as the artist colony."
For many artists, joining ranks with the larger community is problematic due to geographical restrictions. Since none of the artists surveyed by S.T.A.R. actually lives in Bayview Hunters Point, the time they spend on the Shipyard is generally the only time they are in the neighborhood at all. Artist Carol Satriani also explains that restrictive access onto the shipyard contributes to the distance between the two groups. With a security checkpoint at the entrance of the shipyard only those with authorized passes may access its grounds. Consequently, The Point operates like an island unto itself with little contact from its surrounding neighbors.
Despite all of this, the biggest obstacle for most artists in bridging the gap is time. According to the survey 66 percent of the artists work full-time while 25 percent of the artists surveyed hold part-time jobs outside of the studio time they put aside for their artwork. These statistics coupled with the amount of time each artist devotes to work in the studio leaves little time for community involvement.
"I used to connect with the community and now I miss it," said Rebecca Haseltine a 47-year-old artist on the shipyard. "With an intense part-time job and my work I can't handle anymore commitments. Also it is harder to connect with the community when you don't know individuals within the area."
Forging connections and providing forums for the artists are top priorities for S.T.A.R. in the next year said McNamara. "Isolation is one of the biggest issues we deal with but we are definitely talking in our organization on ways to bring the two groups together."
McNamara hopes to make more connections with outside community groups as well as continue the outreach programs S.T.A.R. is currently involved in with Bayview Hunters Point schools. Linda Hope a board member of S.T.A.R. who also sits on the Citizens Advisory Committee feels that there are artists who are quite involved with the larger Bayview Hunters Point community. Hope claims that the isolation expressed by some artists at The Point is due to their own lack of participation.
"Within any movement there are only a small number of people who devote time and energy," said Hope. "People have to take responsibility for things."
Hope cites that S.T.A.R. makes continuous efforts to update artists on developments through a regular newsletter and hosts a variety of educational forums relating to the community at large. She also says that S.T.A.R.'s office is always open and available to the artists at The Point and that telephone numbers of all S.T.A.R.'s board members are available within the newsletters for contact information.
"A lot of people wait for it to come to them instead of looking for what's outside of them-how much do you have to alert people," said Hope. "But we'll be here. We must always be aware, we must always get out and make our voices heard."
In regards to the larger Bayview Hunters Point community Hope explains, "Our needs are not that different. My hope for the future is that more of us can come together to insulate the developmental process."
In an ideal world Hope would like to see more coalitions between artists and community groups as she recognizes there is strength in numbers. "However, coalitions do not spring up overnight," said Hope. "They take time and sincerity."
Hope does feel that one day increasing numbers of people from each group will come together but for now they are all a part of a large lace network, several groups of like-minded people bound together in their struggle.
Yet, as time continues to run out for the artists, both Hope and McNamara recognize it may not be enough to sit back and wait for connections to forge or for artists to come forward in the struggle. As a result, S.T.A.R. plans on expanding its board so they may put out more newsletters and increase the amount of meetings held. By doing so they hope to rally more artist support and gain a better perspective of the consensus held within the artists community; or to find out if such a consensus even exists.
As McNamara says, "In such a large group there is bound to be varied opinion. We [S.T.A.R.] want to have the best understanding of the artists' needs in order to be better representatives."
Despite the small number of artist participation, Linda Hope is certain they will prevail.
"Virtually every artist out there wants to stay," she said. "And if we need them to be there they will mobilize."
Without any resignation Hope is quick to point out that the artist community has faced similar strife in the past and today is still going strong.
"We fight issue by issue ," said Hope. "Every 2-4 years there has been something that has happened to threaten our community but we are still standing. Ask anyone -- they probably didn't expect to endure this long"
Hope's voice resonates with optimism, "If we fight for the next 2 years I think we will be out of the woods."