durham inc.
CREATIVE BUSINESSES OVERCOME CHALLENGES AND DRIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH I N N O VAT I V E A P P R O A C H E S A N D C O L L A B O R AT I V E E F F O R T S S U P P O R T T H E L O C A L A R T S A N D R E TA I L S C E N E WHILE FOSTERING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT BY A N N A- R H E S A V E R S O L A | P H O T O BY J O H N M I C H A E L S I M P S O N o ahead, book those tickets to hear your favorite band at Motorco Music Hall or see an experimental dance performance at The Fruit. Maybe decide to buy that special piece of art or treat a loved one to a nice meal before an exhibit at 5 Points Gallery or Horse & Buggy Press. Every dollar counts toward Durham’s creative economy. Analysis of business data shows an upward trend for arts and entertainment returning to pre-pandemic levels. Hotel occupancy rates last year were at 66.2% compared to 75.1% in 2019. In the same time frame, there were 9.3 million visits to the city compared to the pre-COVID 10.5 million visits. This year’s State of Downtown Durham report said: “We know that these small, independent businesses continue to struggle with challenges out of their control – higher labor and supply [and] operating and business costs, a reduction in weekday traffic and an uncertain market – yet these owners continue to show up and share their passion and craft with all of Durham and the entire region.”
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We spoke with four arts-based business owners about how they make things work in today’s local arts and culture landscape.
DEVELOP A CLEAR VISION A train rumbled along the tracks that cross South Dillard Street. Its whistle pierced the air before the gates lifted, allowing cars to pass in front of an industrial warehouse built in 1926 as a distribution center for fruit and produce. Today it’s known as The Fruit, and owner Tim Walter re-imagines how he can use the 22,000-square-foot space in ways that can sustain profitability while fulfilling its mission to support the local community. Walter said he balances large, revenue-generating events like reunions and large parties – a one-night booking could generate $10,000 in sales and fees, plus sales tax and tips – with The Fruit’s goal of supporting visual and performing artists with smaller budgets, like the venue did through its collaborations with Duke Performances. “They bring world-class musicians and ethnic diversity ...” Walter said. “DP told us that, with our support, they could do programs that wouldn’t otherwise be possible.” Walter, 60, was born and raised in Durham. He earned a bachelor’s degree in public
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policy and philosophy at Duke University, and a master’s in business administration from Yale University. His career began with direct services for farmworkers and refugees, then community economic development work through a think tank and a large group of charitable foundations. He returned to Durham to care for his parents, and saw an opportunity in 2014 to establish a place for the next generation of creatives to experiment, play and discover pathways to careers that offer more than just a paycheck. “I talked with a lot of visual artists, electronic music artists and other performance artists,” Walter said. “And it became clear that Durham did not have something that was like a Brooklyn-style or a Berlinstyle rough space that artists love. Anybody can renovate a building and make it look cool. The idea was to put the basic infrastructure in place, and not put a design aesthetic on it, but to let the artists come in to create that, so they always have a raw space to play with.” In Walter’s view, creative entrepreneurship and community-driven growth is an ideal pairing that is more successful using a bottom up approach rather than top down. “When you say community