Encinitas' 101 Artists Colony faces loss of lease again

By: ADAM KAYE - Staff Writer | Sunday, April 1, 2007 12:11 AM PDT ∞

ENCINITAS ---- The 101 Artists Colony, an Encinitas organization that has brought vibrant colors, poetic verse and all kinds of music to the city for nine years, again is facing losing its lease.

For the third time since its formation, the cooperative must make way for new tenants or new development.

On April 25, the nonprofit organization's lease expires at the clutch of cottages it has occupied for two years on North Coast Highway 101 at A Street.

As soon as June, the cottages are scheduled for demolition to make way for a three-story complex of offices and condominiums. The project's developer, Stephen Sax, said that "The Lofts at Moonlight Beach" are scheduled to open in the summer of 2008.

The colony traces its beginning in the late 1990s to The Lumberyard shopping center on South Coast Highway 101. It later moved to E Street.

At its peak in its present location, the colony provided studio and display space for nearly 60 sculptors, painters and jewelry-makers. Today, many of the studios are empty in anticipation of the closing.

"This place was absolutely paradise for me," said Kathleen Hannigan, as she stood among her plaster castings of human torsos. "There's no replacement for it."

In interviews last week, the colony's president, Danny Salzhandler, didn't share Hannigan's melancholy. The organization would survive, he said, and would return stronger than ever, with an improved Web site and expanded board of directors.

"We need to sort of regroup," said Salzhandler, who has seen the colony through similar transitions. "We want to take this opportunity to really plan our next move."

Exactly where or when that next move will be, however, is anyone's guess.

"I have no clue," he said.

An 'indispensable' contributor

Some officials last week said they are determined to keep the colony as an ingredient of the city's cultural potpourri. They also credited the colony as playing a key role in the revitalization of downtown Encinitas.

Jim Gilliam, the city's arts administrator, said he has met with Salzhandler to brainstorm possibilities for the colony's next home.

He noted that the colony ---- and Salzhandler, in particular ---- are driving forces behind the Arts Alive banner program, which brings artists together to hand-paint banners that are hung from streetlights along the Coast Highway. Many cities have picked up the program.

The colony also provides space for the Full Moon Poets ---- a group of writers and others who get together to share their poetry and prose. About twice a year, the poets and the colony present lively Poetry Slam competitions at La Paloma Theatre.

"Here's Danny Salzhandler stepping forward to provide service to the community," Gilliam said. "It's Danny seeing the need and filling it."

In 2004, the city's downtown district won a prestigious Great American MainStreet Award, a top honor among 1,700 MainStreet organizations nationwide.

The Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association received the accolade in large part because of the colony, such as the roadside banners and colorful tile inlays in sidewalks and adorning trash cans, said Peder Norby, the association's executive director.

"The 101 Artists Colony is an indispensable part of civic culture in the city of Encinitas," Norby said. "You cannot downplay or do without the contributions the 101 Artists Colony has made."

"People are searching for the authentic and the original," he continued. "They are tired of consumer sameness. The two strongest elements that give us that unique identity are our historic buildings and our art. These are critical, critical factors in downtown Encinitas."

Art for all

Some artists last week said that with or without a building, they are determined to continue their civic contributions.

A small stage in the colony's main gallery has provided an outlet for teenage rock bands and celebrated jazz artists. Two jazz greats who performed recently are guitarist Peter Sprague and vibraphone player David Pike.

Jim Babwe, a colony member who creates digitally enhanced photos, said the loss of performance space would be especially unfortunate for young artists who have few other stages available.

He also lamented the loss of his own display space.

"This has given me at least a little venue where I can come out of my little cage," Babwe said.

In past years, the colony has operated summer art camps for children and has provided gallery space for painters from the Minsk School of Art in Belarus. Proceeds from the sale of those paintings benefited the nonprofit Children of Chernobyl Foundation, which aids children from the former Soviet republic, where ill health remains prevalent after a 1986 nuclear power plant explosion near the country's border with the Ukraine.

For the Encinitas Christmas Parade, the colony has created award-winning entries such as "Galloping Lights," an oversized, rocking mule festooned with sparkling lights.

To recognize the tragedies of Sept. 11, the colony hosted a Global Peace Mural project.

More recently, the colony helped bring a national reading tour to Encinitas, in which troops and their families recounted stories from the battlefields and home front during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And days after it becomes homeless this month, colony members will direct art activities during the Encinitas Street Fair on April 28 and 29.

From one place to the next

Based on past history, Babwe, Norby, Gilliam and Salzhandler said they are confident the colony will find a new home.

At first, the colony leased space in The Lumberyard. At the time, during the late 1990s, the center was nearly half-vacant, Norby said.

The center's manager offered incentives on a lease, and with the MainStreet Association's support, the colony took possession of a storefront to create its first gallery.

The artwork, and dozens of receptions, attracted an ever-increasing number of visitors.

"The 101 Artists Colony definitely played a role in the recovery of The Lumberyard," Norby said.

The colony in 2001 moved to an old sheet-metal building on E Street, where artists could rent small spaces to create and display their work. The colony leased the building for three years. A garden supply store is there now.

In its infancy, the colony received administrative and financial support from the MainStreet Association, but the arts organization now is self-supporting and has proven its ability to pay market-rate rent, Norby said.

"If there is a property owner out there that wants to drive traffic to their center," he said, "the artists' colony is a perfect tenant."

Contact staff writer Adam Kaye at (760) 943-2312 or akaye@nctimes.com.

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