DDBA Seeks to Establish Art District Downtown

In an end of the year roundup, it’s time to tie up a few loose ends.  Today, we bring you a story from this past fall about potential downtown Davis redevelopment.

When it comes to independent art in the City of Davis, many feel that our city has one foot in the grave and two feet on a banana peel. But all is not lost in the city of Trees and PhDs. On the afternoon of October 26th, art enthusiasts of all shapes and sizes came together in River Bank’s conference room to join the Davis Downtown Business Association (DDBA) to discuss why Davis is not attracting the attention it deserves, despite being a hub of artistic expression.

Pence Gallery in Downtown Davis

Looking around the room one couldn’t help but notice the inspiring diversity in age and occupation of the attendees – ranging from the director of Pence Gallery to the unanticipated attendance of the owner of Davis’ Fleet Feet Sports. The meeting began with a round-table discussion on possible reasons why Davis has not achieved the artistic prowess of bay area cities like San Francisco, despite having so much potential.

“In terms of the visual arts, we still need to both continually pull in people who live in Davis and the region to perceive of the town as a vibrant visual arts center,” said Natalie Nelson, director of Pence Gallery in Downtown Davis in an email interview. “We have the galleries, both on campus and off, but lack media convergence and funding to market ourselves effectively”

Davis technically already has a Council-created “innovation district,” but for the Davis Downtown Business Association and a host of other supporters, this isn’t enough. It has become clear that Davisites want a designated art district. In the end, it breaks down to cold, hard cash and how the city should collect and spend it.

“If we want to grow… the biggest challenge we face is funding and manpower,” said Melanie Glover, director of the DDBA. “Much more research about the benefits of an arts district is needed, and it sounds like there are some community members very interested in doing that research.”

After brainstorming, attendees proposed several major projects geared to promote a stronger downtown artistic experience:

• Expanding the sidewalks to improve the flow of foot traffic, outdoor dining and entertainment in the downtown area
• Charging for parking in the downtown area to raise revenue
• Creating a Greek theatre in the E-street plaza
• Hiring a coordinator to utilize the $20 million the City of Davis has put aside for downtown redevelopment

“I would like to see the City take an active stance in promoting the arts both as an economic tool, and as an essential part of our cultural life in Davis,” said Nelson. “The arts can be a powerful tool for economic and cultural change, and I don’t think that we have even begun to tap into that yet in Davis.”

Davis is an oasis of imagination and talent springing not only from the creative young minds streaming out of the university, but also from the city’s more permanent residents. The DDBA believes that it is about time for our city to artistically flourish.