Creative assistance

In the Berkshires, housing-starved artists may find aid in pursuit = of=20 space

Justin DelSignore and Jay = Elling, right,=20 renovate DelSignore's multifamily in Pittsfield. A new program, Assets = for=20 Artists, is proposed to help artists such as DelSignore afford places to = live=20 and work in the Berkshires. (STEPHEN ROSE FOR = THE BOSTON=20 GLOBE)

Em= ail|Print| Text size =96 + = By Joan Axelrod-Contrada

Globe Correspondent / December 23, 2007

Realtor Daniel Bellow once tried to help an artist friend find a = house in the=20 Berkshires.

The deal, however, fell through after the friend was unable to sell a = big=20 painting she was counting on for the down payment. Bellow, the = 43-year-old son=20 of author Saul Bellow, knows how hard it is to earn a living as an = artist. He=20 sells real estate to supplement his income as a potter.

"The big problem with finding housing for artists is that they tend = to not=20 have any money," he said. "They tend to live hand to mouth."

If a new program, Assets for Artists, gets the green light from the=20 Massachusetts Cultural Council in early 2008, artists such as Bellow's = friend=20 might have an easier time finding homes in the Berkshires. Three = organizations -=20 the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), the Berkshire = Cultural=20 Resource Center at the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and the = Office of=20 Cultural Development in Pittsfield - will team up to use the $90,000 = grant to=20 provide financial education and home ownership support to artists in the = region.

"Artists are a huge part of the creative economy of the Berkshires," = said=20 Blair Benjamin, project director for the new program as well as director = of real=20 estate and community development at MASS MoCA in North Adams. "We're = looking at=20 how to keep this an attractive place for artists to locate."

Benjamin and his collaborators began the project with a $4,320 = planning grant=20 to pinpoint the real estate needs of artists in the region. The results = shed new=20 light on the successes and failures of artists as home owners in the=20 Berkshires.

On the plus side, a higher percentage of respondents than expected - = 75=20 percent - already own their own homes. Many artists from the Baby Boom=20 generation bought real estate in the Berkshires when prices were = low.

But younger artists in their 30s are finding fewer such bargains. = Although=20 real estate is still less expensive than in Boston, prices in the region = have=20 been rising at a more rapid pace. Between 2000 and 2006, the average = price of a=20 single-family home in Berkshire County increased 85 percent (from = $164,000 to=20 $304,000), compared to a 54 percent increase (from $404,000 to $624,000) = in=20 Boston during the same time period, according to data Benjamin culled = from the=20 Massachusetts Association of Realtors.

"That set off some alarm bells of concern," said Benjamin, 36, a = former Peace=20 Corps volunteer who sometimes writes poetry and fiction. "Artists don't = want to=20 be suckered. They don't want to make a neighborhood more lively and = attractive=20 and then suddenly have someone turn their space into luxury condos."

To help low-income artists save for a down payment, Assets for = Artists has=20 earmarked $40,000 to be used for Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). = These=20 are essentially matching grants tied to restricted savings = accounts.

An artist would save $2,000 toward a down payment and complete the = program's=20 required financial education and home ownership classes. The matching = grant,=20 provided by state and private funding sources, would add an additional = $4,000 at=20 closing. Ten home ownership IDAs are slated for the first two years.

Because artists are not your "traditional white picket fence" type of = home=20 owners, Assets for Artists plans to gear home ownership classes = specifically to=20 their needs. Many artists are looking for big lofts where they can live = and=20 work.

"Everyone dreams of a big loft," said Bellow. "It has to do with New = York. It=20 has to do with SoHo. Everyone feels that's how artists' space ought to=20 look."

Bellow says such space is in short supply. "It takes real developer = chops and=20 financial muscle to make it happen," he said. Once raw space is fixed = up, it can=20 go for top dollar, making it unaffordable to artists.

A new 3-acre creative community anchored around the old Silk Mill = building in=20 Pittsfield will provide about 65 new live-work spaces, mostly priced in = the=20 $200,000 to $250,000 range.

Developer Roy Krantz, 59, of Jamaica Plain, got his group, Glue = Creative=20 Redevelopment, involved in the project because he wanted to create a = sense of=20 community. Slated to open in 2009, the new development will include a = caf=E9, bed=20 and breakfast units for guests, a yoga studio, theater, and rental as = well as=20 ownership options.

Meanwhile, some artists are buying multifamily houses because they = offer the=20 added benefit of possible rental income. By knocking down walls, these = new home=20 owners can create their own spacious lofts.

Justin and Huckleberry DelSignore bought a multifamily house in a = Pittsfield=20 with a small brick warehouse in back for $150,000. The two properties = form an L=20 shape configuration in a mixed-use neighborhood in the heart of downtown = Pittsfield.

The DelSignores got a zero-down mortgage and qualified for a bank = grant=20 program that covered approximately $6,000 in closing costs. To receive = the=20 grant, they needed to complete an online home ownership course.

"We were lucky, if you can say that about being low income," said = Justin=20 DelSignore, 26, who works part time at Dottie's Coffee Lounge in = downtown=20 Pittsfield. "If we made much more than we were making, we'd be out of = luck. Much=20 of the population is not eligible."

The parents of two small daughters with a third child on the way, the = DelSignores see their new purchase as a way to help build the creative = community=20 in the Berkshires. They now live in the three-unit wood-frame house = they're=20 fixing up for tenants. The rent will help them pay the bills so they = don't have=20 to work too many outside jobs.

Justin, a sculptor who views home renovation as a new artistic = challenge, is=20 working on a pegboard ceiling for his tenant, a screen-maker, to hang = his tools.=20 He turns the home renovation into a creative and social event, complete = with=20 beer and snacks.

"You can't be too much of a taskmaster," he said. "After a couple = hours,=20 we'll take a break, and I'll buy a round of drinks. It's not as = fast-moving as a=20 construction site but everyone has fun."

DelSignore also plans to have a big event similar to a barn-raising = in the=20 spring or summer to renovate the small two-story warehouse that once = housed the=20 Pittsfield Cornice Works, a maker of architectural tin and copper. He's = thinking=20 of turning the old brick building into a community gallery with = performance=20 space and studios.

North of Pittsfield in North Adams, artist Sean Reilly bought an old = saltbox=20 with his father with the intention of making it into a two-family.

Like many artists in the Berkshires, Reilly, 30, a painter, works = several=20 part-time jobs, including construction, gallery management, and = freelance arts=20 installation.

"I've never been a landlord before, but I have friends in town who = have=20 tenants, and it seems to work out great for them," he said. "I'm hoping = to get=20 young artistic people here."

Artist Rebecca Weinman, 27, is currently renting a one-bedroom = apartment in=20 Pittsfield but hopes to eventually buy her own home. Weinman, who also = works as=20 a waitress, museum fund-raiser, and nonprofit arts staffer, is just the = kind of=20 young artist Assets for Artists is hoping to help.

"As of right now, I have some savings, but nothing of substance," = said=20 Weinman. "Long-term financial planning is one of those things you can = let go=20 until it's too late or you're behind the curve."

Here's help

Low-income artists around the state have a number of resources to tap = for=20 housing information.

Listings ArtistLink, an organization working to = create and=20 preserve permanent places to live and work, lists space for artists = across the=20 state, http://www.artistlink.org/,=20 617-727-3668, ext. 330. For information about Glue Creative = Redevelopment's=20 projects in Lowell and Jamaica Plain, as well as Pittsfield, check out = http://www.glue.org/ or call = 866-348-9718.

Municipalities Most cities and towns in = Massachusetts have=20 down payment and closing cost assistance programs for low-income = first-time home=20 buyers. For more information, contact your local government or go to the = Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, www= .mass.gov/dhcd/components/housdev/want/first_t.HTM=20 or 617-573-1100.

Local banks Special programs include the Federal = Home Loan=20 Bank of Boston's down payment assistance for first-time home owners, = which is=20 available through member banks. Check out FHLB at http://www.fhlbboston.com/ or=20 617-292-9600.

For more extensive information, check out Blair Benjamin's "9 = Tips for=20 First-Time Home Buyers" posted June 21, 2007 on his Asset Almanac blog = assetalmanac.wordpress.com