I go back and forth about moving back to New York and if it really is “worth it”.
Currently I live in Wichita KS and had a call with a mentor in NYC this morning. This topic came up and she said to me “well no one is doing what you want to do there so there is no competition” I said “True but at the same time is there a need for what I want to do, will people get it?” As an artist your surroundings inspires you. I crave culture and need to go to shows and see people simulate my creativity this way. I can do that here in Wichita there is plenty and if I get bored Kansas City is two hours away.
I have traveled all over the world and to be honest was more depressed when I lived in NYC than here in Kansas, not because I prefer it here but because where I was mentally at the time. I believe living in a place where it may seem like there isn’t opportunity if you perceive things different you can attract and create it no matter where you live.
What are your thoughts?
Here is the article I read that inspired this post today.
Manhattan is still Harry’s home, but she says it has changed immeasurably since she first moved there in the late ’60s.
DH-“We all think it’s changed for the worst. It’s so very expensive. When I first came to New York you could get a great space for under $100 a month. Now you can’t find anything for under $2,000. There are no subsidies for music or art, and you really have to work hard to survive,” she says. “It eliminates a lot of young people coming there and charging the atmosphere with enthusiasm.”
By contrast, New York in the ’70s was a burned-out city on the brink of bankruptcy. Rents could be had dirt-cheap in the centre of Manhattan, so this attracted a new generation of musicians and artists, from the New York Dolls to The Ramones, Patti Smith and Television. While Andy Warhol was holding court at his downtown Factory (by the early ’70s it had moved from its original location to Union Square West, round the corner from Max’s Kansas City), bands were vying for attention at venues like Club 82, Max’s and then CBGB. To Harry, this vibrant collision of music and art was hugely inspiring.
DH-“We all think it’s changed for the worst. It’s so very expensive. When I first came to New York you could get a great space for under $100 a month. Now you can’t find anything for under $2,000. There are no subsidies for music or art, and you really have to work hard to survive,” she says. “It eliminates a lot of young people coming there and charging the atmosphere with enthusiasm.”
By contrast, New York in the ’70s was a burned-out city on the brink of bankruptcy. Rents could be had dirt-cheap in the centre of Manhattan, so this attracted a new generation of musicians and artists, from the New York Dolls to The Ramones, Patti Smith and Television. While Andy Warhol was holding court at his downtown Factory (by the early ’70s it had moved from its original location to Union Square West, round the corner from Max’s Kansas City), bands were vying for attention at venues like Club 82, Max’s and then CBGB. To Harry, this vibrant collision of music and art was hugely inspiring.
