Castleberry Hill is a Victim of Its Own Success
Walk around Castleberry Hill these days and you can see it’s a neighborhood in transition. Galleries are closing and Nightclubs are moving in.
The influx in restaurants is not a bad thing, but the squeeze on the galleries is. A thriving art scene helps the city and downtown in particular. That it was a 5 minute walk from MARTA was even better.
Some galleries moved. Some, such as Romo, are gone forever. The question is where the artists and galleries will go now? What’s the next recoverable neighborhood?
Moreover, is there a mechanism to assure that artists who are renting and help a neighborhood don’t then become the victims of their own success?
April 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
They should move to Murphy Avenue–immediately.
April 28th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I live in castleberry and am a member of the CNA. More galleries have moved in within the past 2 years then left. Don’t know where you’re getting your facts but I suggest you go to the castleberry site and take a look.
April 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
brad is right. And my information is that Romo was not squeezed out by higher rents, but rather suffered the fate of many galleries around the country. It’s a hard business (as is the restaurant business); it takes about 5 years to start making a profit on a gallery. It’s a shame, because Sam Romo has an excellent eye and was showing adventurous work.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I totally agree that CH went downhill. I have never seen a community fail like CH did. What happened to Monica Tookes gallery, looks like she booked it on over to East Atlanta Village I guess. Nozuko Gallery is gone. The art strolls are pretty pathetic now, there are way too many gunshots and homeless people that you have dodge on your way to get to the galleries. It’s too bad, could have been a really cool neighborhood. I hear rumors now that the new restaurants at Castleberry Point are going to back out now too because CH has changed for the worse. It’s too bad the residents didn’t come together and support their business’.
June 19th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
I agree with Bigdiggie that the next frontier for artists (starving artists at least) is going to be along Murphy Ave and the warehouse spaces around the West End Marta station. I just read an article this week about an old garage renovated by BLDGS Inc. on Murphy Ave called “Villa de Murph” (stunning A+ reno). The prices are right in the area, you’ve got a Marta station, I-20 & 75/85 all there and the area has personality.
As far as ending the cat and mouse game between the creative class and those that crash the party? Beats me…
June 29th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I think the obituary is a bit premature. Over the last couple months, Beshart Gallery has opened and a new gallery moved into the Romo space. Also, both Coffee Loft and Tilt have been putting art up on their walls.
As h20hoodie says, something definitely needs to be done about the undesirable element to keep the revitalization rolling.