Over the past few years there have been numerous think pieces published on why it’s necessary for artists and creatives to leave New York City (or not come at all). High and ever increasing rent caused by gentrification make it difficult to afford to live in New York. Places that helped foster some of the biggest artistic movements of the last few decades have now been reduced to being the playgrounds for trust fund kids who think that a pair of sunglasses and an affinity for the color black are all that are needed to be the next Lou Reed.
As a recently graduated writer living in New York, these articles resonate with me. I’m tired of spending half my income on my rent, leaving me little to no time to do what New York was supposed to help me do–hone my craft. Yet, living in New York gives me access to internships, networking, and (hopefully) the opportunity for a casual encounter with a high profile creative who will mentor me and change my life. (That’s the City’s selling point, right?)
But you see, I don’t buy into the starving artist trope. Call me delusional, but I think that there should be room for me to be able to pay rent AND work on my next book/engage in a vibrant artist community.
So I read these articles on why artists should leave New York as if they are the Da Vinci Code for figuring out what to do next in my life. Because when I graduated I saw my life going a few ways: Either I would stay in New York, get tired of my ramen-based diet, and take the next marketing job to come my way only to find myself in ten years with a dozen half-written books and a burgeoning quarter mid-life crisis or I would move to the woods with only the heat from my Mac to keep me warm.
Okay, I’m exaggerating. But that’s what it feels like to be a creative in New York. You feel like you have to choose between having access to institutions that will help your career/ a (although dwindling) diverse group of people to seek inspiration from and the freedom to create without having to hold down three jobs.
In an article published on this site, one writer pointed out how, after leaving New York, engaging in the literary community in the Catskills region has been a beneficial and refreshing experience. One, she and her partner can afford to live there without working 70 hour weeks. Two, she found an artistic community to nurture her talent. Curious, I visited Catskill’s Wikipedia page. When I reached the demographics section I realized that Catskill is not a diverse town. In fact, people of color make up roughly 11 % of the town’s population.
So living in Catskill isn’t an option for me. It’s not an option because I’ve already lived in my own version of Catskill: Eau Claire, Wisconsin. My mom remarried and moved us there after living in Jamaica, our homeland, for the entirety of my existence. Being black in such a racially homogenous place (about 92% white) was downright traumatizing for me. So traumatizing that I wrote my first ebook about it (yes to shameless self-promotion!) using my favorite coping mechanism–humor. And now that I’m visiting Eau Claire right now for the holidays, I am reminded why I love living in Washington Heights where my community is filled with working class immigrants.
As a person and a writer, I need diversity. When you live in a place where you’re one of the few people of color, you feel like a fish in a bowl. You get stared at and even pointed at. People touch you (especially your hair) without your permission. You are constantly made aware of your otherness. You spend more of your time explaining your existence (“Yes, black people do comb their hair.” “No, we don’t all listen to rap.”) than going about your life. And I can’t thrive as a person or a writer in that sort of environment.
Now this is not a tirade against moving to Catskill. Even though Catskill is about as diverse as Eau Claire, living there as a person of color might be a different experience. From the piece I read, it seems like a progressive and welcoming place. Plus, it takes people of color taking action and moving into racially homogenous areas to make a community more diverse anyway.
But I’m not going to be that person.
I just want to point out that there is so much more to consider for artists of color who when they hear “artistic community” are thinking of the Harlem Renaissance instead of being the token artist of color. That’s part of the reason why New York was so lucrative to me when I graduated high school. I knew I needed to be apart of a community that nurtured and encouraged marginalized people telling their own stories and voicing their own truths. Which is what I thought New York would be.
But there is another option for artists of color looking to leave New York–the Write A House project in Detroit. Their tagline– “Write A House is a twist on the ‘Writer's Residency.’ In this case, the writer is simply given the house, forever.”
Write A House is not only attractive because of the free rent, but because their goal is to establish a literary community which they say they will foster through networking and publishing opportunities. And I looked at Hamtramck’s demographics (the community where the houses are being renovated). Lack of diversity is not an issue there.
Applying to Write A House seems like my best bet if I want to leave New York yet live and work in a diverse literary community. (But I welcome any suggestions for other places with affordable housing and diverse literary communities.) Plus, you know, free rent is something I thought only existed in my frequent daydreams.
I’m not saying moving to Detroit is the answer to all my prayers, but it seems a lot better than being a stranger in the village.
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