The Pacific Avenue Arts Colony, or PacArts, opened in 2015 as a space specifically for artists, so that they can affordably live in San Pedro’s art, culture and entertainment district. At least, that’s how it was advertised.
The building is owned by Meta Housing Corporation. A representative of the corporation said that the building has residents of all backgrounds.
“Additionally, waitlisted applicants are processed the order received, with preference given to qualified artists,” the representative wrote via email. “In fact, approximately half of the Pacific Arts Colony residents are artists. While artists are given preference, they must still meet income requirements and other qualifications as part of the application process.”
Some of the artist residents are unhappy with the amount of artists in the building.
“The main issue that we were concerned with is the ratio of artists to Section 8 [residents],” said Louisa McHugh, an artist who has lived at the building since 2020. “Our understanding was that it was supposed to be a residence built for artists specifically, and low-income artists. It seems that they have turned more toward Section 8 and have cut off the artists and been just getting the government checks rather than catering toward what the taxpayer’s dollars were originally intended for.”
The building was developed by Meta Housing in partnership with General Partner Western Community Housing for $20 million. This includes $2.5 million in funds from the now defunct state program Community Redevelopment Agency, which was shut down in 2012. Other funding came from the California Community Reinvestment Corp. and Bank of America. The building has 48 units, which are considered affordable because the residents’ rent is based on a percentage of their income.
McHugh does not know what the ratio is of artists to non-artists in the building, but her and other artist residents are trying to find out.
“After COVID happened, I think a lot of the artists left,” McHugh said. “We’re just trying to get everyone back together again, people are not congregating like they used to. We’re not really sure how many artists actually live there.”
Two other artist residents, who asked not to be named, expressed a similar sentiment. One said that many of the artists who live there are only hobbyists.
“When I moved in here, there were more artists,” the artist said. “Or they were saying they were artists and moving in here. And within a few months, they were all getting full-time jobs.”
The artist said the community in the building is severely lacking.
“This is called Pacific Arts Colony,” the artist said. “A colony is a group of people that support each other, you work off of each other, you inspire each other, you exhibit shows to stuff together. So that is nonexistent.”
The artist said the building had great potential, but it was never realized. After the pandemic happened, the gallery at the building closed, and since then, art shows are scarce. The building’s manager does not go out of her way to put on shows. The building also has a third-party organization called Engage. The organization has been used by Meta Housing for its previous artist colonies, which were exclusively for seniors.
“Engage is to activate seniors to do art,” the artist said. “They don’t understand what artists are, what artists need, what artists mean.”
The artist said that to do an art show, the tenants have to go through Engage.
“Engage doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing,” the artist said.
The artist said only a few full-time artists live in the building. The building has six ground-floor live-work units for resident artists. The artist said the purpose of the studios was to participate in the First Thursday Artwalk, but that it doesn’t work unless everyone participates.
“No one is going to walk all the way down here for two studios,” the artist said.
The artist has tried to reach out to Meta Housing, as well as WSH Management, which manages the building, but has heard no response.
“I think management needs to be replaced with someone who really understands the arts, and really puts the time and effort into it,” the artist said.
The building is not easy to get into, at least not for new people. The artists who do not wish to be named have been there since shortly after the building opened in 2015. But it took McHugh about two years after her initial application to get in. An artist friend of hers is on the waiting list to get into the building, but he has not been successful. McHugh said that possible reasons include the manager of the building going out of town on vacation, but other than that, she doesn’t know why.
“We weren’t able to contact anyone within that management company to find out what’s going on with it while [the manager] was gone, because the company is out of state,” McHugh said. “The phone number they gave you is just for maintenance, you can’t really find anything out.”
Both artists who do not wish to be named expressed gratitude for the affordable rent. The representative from Meta Housing said the building is part of the low-income housing tax credit program, and that the rents range from $632 to $1,302 for one-bedroom units, $754 to $1,558 for two-bedrooms units and $869 to $1,798 for three-bedrooms units. The artist said he has no plans to move out any time soon.
“Me and my neighbor are really good friends,” the artist said. “I think if it wasn’t for her and the other people in the building I would [move out]. I really like it here, I love San Pedro, I love the location, I love my space.”