In our mission statement we proclaim that ‘Wa Na Wari creates space for Black ownership, possibility, and belonging through art, historic preservation, and connection’. Since we launched our project in April of 2019, we have been using the power of art and community stories to help reignite black cultural life and social connections in Seattle’s Central District. By renting a house from a Black homeowner and giving that space back to the Black community, in the form of Wa Na Wari, we are actively demonstrating how black art and culture can be effective tools for combating gentrification and displacement.
We are excited to announce that, in January of 2020, we launched another phase of our mission-driven initiative to anchor the Black community in the Central District, its historic Seattle neighborhood. The ‘Central Area Cultural EcoSystem, 21st Century (CACE 21)’ is a community organizing initiative that seeks to build community power and capacity amongst Black Central District homeowners and Black artists to advocate for land use policies that lower the barriers to creating more cultural spaces based on the Wa Na Wari model.
As we began to imagine what it could mean for art to support Black land ownership, the vision for a Central Area Cultural Ecosystem began to emerge. In this model, black homeowners would be able to convert all or portions of homes they own into ‘micro-cultural spaces’ where individual artists and small arts groups can administer, create and present their cultural works as a community activity and public benefit. These spaces would be scalable for neighborhood life, responsive to the needs and norms of Black communal life, and would provide economic relief for struggling Black homeowners and new opportunities for displaced cultural workers alike. Our vision is a response to the housing affordability crisis that is impacting residential, commercial and cultural opportunities for Seattleites at large and Black Seattleites in particular.
This vision can only become reality when community begins to meaningfully engage public policy around land use, specifically zoning, permitting, taxation and development financing. With this in mind we are starting by building community capacity to understand and engage the current policy environment. At the same time the growing grassroots expertise will fuel a process of imagining how policies can change to be responsive to the vision community has for itself.
Our internal organizing and capacity building has already begun. In the spring of 2020 we will launch our first community initiative, a survey of Black Central District homeowners and Black artists about their needs, desires, challenges, and vision for their properties and their cultural work. The goal of the survey is two-fold:
-Team Wa Na Wari
We are excited to announce that, in January of 2020, we launched another phase of our mission-driven initiative to anchor the Black community in the Central District, its historic Seattle neighborhood. The ‘Central Area Cultural EcoSystem, 21st Century (CACE 21)’ is a community organizing initiative that seeks to build community power and capacity amongst Black Central District homeowners and Black artists to advocate for land use policies that lower the barriers to creating more cultural spaces based on the Wa Na Wari model.
As we began to imagine what it could mean for art to support Black land ownership, the vision for a Central Area Cultural Ecosystem began to emerge. In this model, black homeowners would be able to convert all or portions of homes they own into ‘micro-cultural spaces’ where individual artists and small arts groups can administer, create and present their cultural works as a community activity and public benefit. These spaces would be scalable for neighborhood life, responsive to the needs and norms of Black communal life, and would provide economic relief for struggling Black homeowners and new opportunities for displaced cultural workers alike. Our vision is a response to the housing affordability crisis that is impacting residential, commercial and cultural opportunities for Seattleites at large and Black Seattleites in particular.
This vision can only become reality when community begins to meaningfully engage public policy around land use, specifically zoning, permitting, taxation and development financing. With this in mind we are starting by building community capacity to understand and engage the current policy environment. At the same time the growing grassroots expertise will fuel a process of imagining how policies can change to be responsive to the vision community has for itself.
Our internal organizing and capacity building has already begun. In the spring of 2020 we will launch our first community initiative, a survey of Black Central District homeowners and Black artists about their needs, desires, challenges, and vision for their properties and their cultural work. The goal of the survey is two-fold:
- Begin creating an active, organized constituency network
- Identify their priorities around these issues
- Kickstart a community driven land use policy education program and visioning process
-Team Wa Na Wari
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These organizing efforts supported in part by a Communities of Opportunity grant from Seattle Foundation.
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