by Mariah Blake
TAPE (tour guide):
Bell--Fade under
Hello, good evening welcome to the Bronx culture trolley. We got a packed house. I want to welcome everybody on board. <
NARRATION:
It's the first Wednesday of April. A little red trolley is rumbling down the southern end of Grand Concourse Boulevard. About 30 people crowd its oak benches. A couple dozen more stand in the isles. It's clear by the questions they ask that these folks don't visit the South Bronx every day.
TAPE (Heslowitz):
Heslowitz--How do you suggest we approach this trip? I mean should we get of at Pregones or should be go to the Blue Prayer bar? <
Tour Guide--No the Blue Ox usually doesn't get started until about 7:30.
NARRATION:
These people are here because they've heard the buzz about the South Bronx's burgeoning art scene. New galleries, theaters and clubs are springing up in the area, long dominated by tenements and warehouses. And seasoned venues are finding new audiences. The trolley takes visitors on a tasting tour of the neighborhood's cultural sites.
The first two stops on the trolley are Longwood Gallery and the Bronx Museum. Guests are surprised to find they feel much like high-end Manhattan showcases.
Most of those on the trolley tonight live in wealthier city neighborhoods. Some far away. Some right next door.
TAPE(Heslowitz):
My name is Sam Heslowitz. H-E-S-L-O-W-I-T-Z. I'm 64 and a half. I'm from the Riverdale section of the Bronx.
NARRATION:
For years, Heslowitz has called the Bronx home. But he's long been afraid of this section.
TAPE (Heslowitz):
I associate it with car thievery, muggings, burned out buildings and squatters, and this is something that's totally new. And I'm really excited about it. It's beyond my wildest expectations. It's like the new East Village.
<
NARRATION:
The next stop on the trolley is Teatro Pregones Theater Company. It's been in the South Bronx for nearly a quarter century. Like many of the neighborhoods more established venues, it serves up cutting-edge work with a dash of Latin flavor.
Inside 30 folding chairs are crowded into what looks like a cozy living room. Guest shuffle in and grab a seat.
TAPE:
<
One of the first performers tonight is artist Wanda Ortiz, a Bronx native and key player in the South Bronx art scene. She's performing her one-woman show called Chunk.
Ortiz struts out on stage toting a rickety blue chair and a giant red picture book, which she made herself.
TAPE:
<
NARRATION:
Then she sits down starts to read the story of her of her morning routine.
TAPE (Ortiz):
I make the bed, run the shower, check for zits, debate washing my hair, undress and check my chunks. Are they bigger today? CHEERING <
NARRATION:
Besides Ortiz, four other performers take Pregones stage. Most of their work touches on the Latino experience or incorporates Spanish.
TAPE (anonymous performer):
Tu no quieres ir para el escuela? You don't want to go to school? Pues, largate a trabajar Laughing. <
NARRATION:
After an hour, the show draws to a close, and performers fields questions from the audience. Heslowitz seems perplexed that this little gem hasn't gotten more publicity.
TAPE (Heslowitz):
Heslowitz--I haven't seen you advertised anywhere. Where can I find out about upcoming performances?
MC--Well, I have this great flyer (laughing)
Heslowitz--No, but in the newspaper, like the bronx times or the Riverdale Review <
NARRATION:
South Bronx venues might not be getting as much ink as their Manhattan counterparts. But word about them is spreading. Every month more people come to survey the scene.
This is in large part because over the last two years community leaders have poured tremendous resources into developing and promoting the arts.
Raffeal Salaberrios is president of the Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation. The agency advises Bronx Borough president Adolfo Carrion on economic policy and distributes federal Empowerment Zone dollars to the Bronx's poorest neighborhoods. He says that for local politicians, art is a means to an end:
TAPE (Salaberrios):
We strongly feel that developing the arts is one way to make the economy grow in the borough.
NARRATION:
Salaberrios' agency has given millions to the arts in the last year alone. So has Congressman Jose Serrano. Borough President Carrion has said again and again that developing arts and culture is one of his top priorities.
Bill Aguado is president of Bronx Council of the Arts, or BCA. He has been advocating the arts as a way of revitalizing the South Bronx for more than two decades. He says his vision is finally becoming a reality, thanks in large part to unprecidented support from elected officials.
TAPE:
Young people who were born in the South Bronx, were educated in the South Bronx, are now assuming mantles of political leadership, who appreciate the arts, who welcome the arts, welcome the arts as a quality of life issue, welcome the arts as an employer in the South Bronx, welcome the arts as a way of defining our community to a much broader community, a much broader world.
NARRATION:
South Bronx politicians are relying on an increasingly popular strategy. Communities across the country are racheting up their support for arts in the hopes of creating an economic boom.
TAPE:
<
NARRATION:
Back at Pregones theater, the question-and-answer session is over. The crowd is shuffling out onto the sidewalks and lining up to get back on the trolley. Soon they'll be getting an intimate look at one of lofts where many Bronx artists live and work.
TAPE:
< >>> TAPE (tour guide): < Our next stop is our conversions segment of the evening. It's a situation where artists in the area actually convert their studios into a performance space for the evening. TAPE: < NARRATION: The trolley travels travels about a dozen blocks to the neighborhood known as Mott Haven. It drops passengers off at a 2-story brick building. All around are dingy warehouse and tall fences topped with razor wire. Guests pass through a heavy steel door into a basement studio. TAPE: < < NARRATION: They filter in and take a seat on the ground. Some of them seem perplexed by what they see. A group of musicians are jamming on the far corner of the stage. Catycorner to them, a man in plaid pants and red suspenders flops around on the floor like a fish. Then there's the ballerina doing pirhouettes. In the center of it all, a woman perches on a plastic milk crate and snakes her hands through the air in slow motion. She owns the loft, and brought the performers together for this improvisational event. TAPE (Barrett): My name is Claire Elizabeth Barrett. I've lived here for two years. I think this is a history making event in a way for this area and for all of those performers to be doing that kind of work spontaneous work in the studio setting in this area with an audience, with a big, full audience, that's really groundbreaking. NARRATION: If Barrett is breaking new ground, she also helping lay the foundation from what promises to become a new South Bronx tradition. From now on, every month a different local artist will turn their loft into an exhibition space on trolley day. Like Barrett's, most of the new lofts are built into smaller warehouses. TAPE: < NARRATION: They've developed organically, as artists have started to discover the area. And they've got a raw, industrial feel that reflects the surrounding neighborhood. Mott Haven's streets are full of idling trucks and homeless people searching for cans and bottles. Tape: < NARRATION: Several less-organic loft developments are starting to sprout up though. Most notable is the Clocktower. It's expected to have 400-units when its done. The developer who's building it is trying to draw artists to the building. He's even hired a local gallery owner to move artists in. This strategy makes sense from a business perspective. Artists have long flocked to gritty industrial neighborhoods because they offer spaces big enough to work in and cheap enough to afford. But neighborhoods tend to become hip once artists are there, and this drives property value. Longtime residents and the artist themselves, often end up getting priced out. TAPE: < Ventura Sanchez sits on a bench and watches the children play outside the J.P. Mitchell Projects., just blocks from the clocktower. She has lived in the projects for more than 30 years. She says longtime residents don't know much about the burgeoning arts scene. But they do notice the neighborhood is changing, and they worry about what those changes mean for them. TAPE (Sanchez): There's rumors that the white people are coming back to the area. People are worried about the neighborhood. It's going to change in the way that people can't afford to live here. NARRATION: There are already signs that the neighborhood is becoming less affordable. Mott Haven residents say rents have tripled in the last few years. But there is some good news for Sanchez and her neighbors. A recent survey by the Center for an Urban Future found that South Bronx artists are more concerned about their impact on the surrounding community than those in most other areas. Bill Aguado from BCA says this is because they've seen the way gentrification strips communities of their distinctive character. TAPE(AGUADO): By and large people care about the Bronx. They don't want this to become another Soho. They don't want this to become another Dumbo. NARRATION: Unlike Soho and Dumbo, the South Bronx has a host of programs to help longtime residents tap the bounty arts and culture bring. For instance, BCA has what it calls the Art Handlers program. It trains the unemployed for well-paying jobs in galleries and museums. TAPE: < NARRATION: Its a Tuesday evening and 40 people are gathered at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture. They're here for one of the first meeting of the BCA's Artisan's Institute. It's one of the newest economic development initiatives in the South Bronx. The program will train participants in a craft that even the most talented artisans sometimes can't master: making money. Remember Wanda Ortiz, the woman who performed Chunk, runs the Institute. She says the program will focus its efforts on a group that often gets priced out by gentrification. TAPE (Ortiz): You have newly arrived immigrants that are in especially heavy concentrations in the poorer neighborhoods like the South Bronx. Folks that maybe in their native homeland, they made crafts and they have this gift and this ability to make works. NARRATION: Ortiz plans to create a network that artisans can tap into for advice. She also plans to help them find jobs with public schools, many of which bring in people from the community to teach art. And she will coordinate crafts fairs and arrange for Artisan's to get small business administration training. At tonight's event the artisans learn how to setting up an effective crafts-fair display. Then they swap marketing advice: TAPE: That is the heart of selling, is the story around an object. How do you think they make us believe we need $200 sneakers? There's a story connected to that. Its either myth magic or insanity. But we're buying it all the time < NARRATION: At the end of the evening, they show their work off to one another. TAPE: < My name's Sister Black, A.J. sister Black, I do hats for a living. I've got a locking stitch and my hands are worth a million dollars, I'm not going to lie. And I want to get to the cash-money millionaires because they need to have some real nice head gear. NARRATION: Right now, Sister Black sells her head gear from a cart she pushes through the street, but she doesn't have a license and the police often confiscate her wares. She's excited about the Artisan's Institute craftsfares because they'll provide her with an outlet for selling her goods legally. TAPE: People who are into crafts they need a place to show their work and be able to make a living. NARRATION: The first Artisan's institute crafts fair will be held May 5, and it will be a stop on the Bronx Culture Trolley. TAPE (Tour guide): Bell All right We're on our way. The blue ox It's the unofficial watering hole of the Bronx trolley... NARRATION: Back on the trolley, visitors are discussing the performance they've just seen in Mott Haven. Now they're on their way the Blue Ox bar, the final stop of the evening. At the Blue Ox, Guests clambor off the bus and filter in to hear some slam-style poetry. It seems like everyone's here. There's Heslowitz who was asking all they questions on the trolley. He's still at it. TAPE (Heslowitz): Is this a spin off of the New Yoricans Poety Cafe? NARRATION: Wanda Ortiz is flitting around talking to the artisan's she invited. Bill Aguado from BCA is slumped over the bar nursing a martini. More artists may be moving into the South Bronx. New venues are opening. But the arts community here is still a small, close-knit group. For Columbia Radio News, I'm Mariah Blake.