To creatively minded Novocastrians, Marcus Westbury is something of a demi-god. He rose to this status as the founder of Renew Newcastle, an initiative that has been acknowledged as one of the driving forces behind the revitalisation of the Newcastle decaying city centre.
'Renew' as the locals call it, solves two major problems with one beautiful, simple, genius solution, and the result is more than the sum of its parts.
In a nutshell, the scheme makes it possible for creative folk to occupy vacant commercial space in a temporary tenant agreement on a month to month basis, until and if the space enters a proper commercial agreement.
There have been over 70 projects started this way in Newcastle alone and have included everything from Art Galleries, to studio spaces & office spaces. The only condition is that the projects must fall in the creative category and people must make what they sell. The definition of the latter has evolved over time but the former stays true six years later.
Some Renew schemes have been in the same space from the start, while others had to move out after the first month. Some have 'graduated' to becoming proper commercial tenants, others have moved on to other pastures.
Over the years, the blossoming activity in the city centre has encouraged a myriad other businesses to take up residence on Hunter Street, literally bringing a once nearly abandoned artery of the city, back to life.
These days, one hears of a new bar/restaurant/cafe/shop/deli opening almost every week. At a time when retail is dropping around the Western world, small businesses in Newcastle are blossoming. Far from having to exist in the shadows of the big shopping centres, these days, Hunter Street brings its own sunshine.
Creating Cities is Marcus Westbury's just published book and is a great read. For anyone who has met the man himself or seen him speak - I have done both - his sharp wit, quick mind and ability to see things from inside and outside the square are all translated perfectly into his writing.
Marcus tells the story of how Renew came to life. A walk down Hunter Street counting empty shopfront, a few fateful meetings, a lot of questions, a few failures along the way and ultimately, finding something while looking for something else.
And while serendipity might have had something to do with it, the dots took someone pretty switched on to get connected. Let's just say that if I had been the one taking that walk, I don't think that what followed would have made history.
At the core of the journey is Marcus' realised attempt to make it possible, even easy, for people with tiny budgets and big dreams to have a go, to do stuff in their city, to try things that haven't been done before.
Somehow, he managed to get around the apathy of a system that was asleep, the legalities of getting people into spaces they don't own or actually really rent, and even of setting up a wifi network that wouldn't require a year long plan.
Renew makes it easy to fail (without much consequence) but more importantly, possible to succeed.
How many artists have access to a free studio? How many curators are handed the keys to a street fronting gallery space? How many fledging graphic designers and clay animators can move out of their sun room into a proper office space? Renew does all of that for free and with no strings attached. You just have to rock up with a can of paint and a good dose of determination and can-do-ism.
In Newcastle, this has been the experience of a couple hundred people. That even included me for a short time.
Apart from the bricks and mortar, Renew has also brought together a solid, growing and supportive community of creatively minded people. They go to each other's events and openings, they recommend each other, they collaborate, they show each other the ropes, they contribute some elbow grease, time and the few resources they have. It's a family of people all doing different things together, simply because it matters to them and because they can.
Renew didn't create the artists. They were already there, they just didn't have anywhere visible to go. Renew built a framework that completely redefined the place of the artist in our cities. Rather than struggling alone in a kitchen/sunroom/garage, they can now bring it all in the open. Some will still struggle, that's what artists do, but some will thrive, and that should be what cities aspire to.
The fact that Renew is an amazing community above all else was never truer than when Marcus decided to actually write a book about it. The day it appeared on the crowdsourcing website Pozible, it smashed its target of $10,000 and within 24 hours, the project had pledges for almost $50,000. It became one of the biggest and fastest Pozible campaigns of all time.
If that's not family, I don't know what is.
And maybe Marcus isn't quite a demi-god. Maybe he's just a really clever guy who wanted to shake things up a little. And he just kept shaking and pushing and knocking. For that, the combination of determination and blind optimism, we're very thankful.
Long live Renew.
'Renew' as the locals call it, solves two major problems with one beautiful, simple, genius solution, and the result is more than the sum of its parts.
In a nutshell, the scheme makes it possible for creative folk to occupy vacant commercial space in a temporary tenant agreement on a month to month basis, until and if the space enters a proper commercial agreement.
There have been over 70 projects started this way in Newcastle alone and have included everything from Art Galleries, to studio spaces & office spaces. The only condition is that the projects must fall in the creative category and people must make what they sell. The definition of the latter has evolved over time but the former stays true six years later.
Some Renew schemes have been in the same space from the start, while others had to move out after the first month. Some have 'graduated' to becoming proper commercial tenants, others have moved on to other pastures.
Over the years, the blossoming activity in the city centre has encouraged a myriad other businesses to take up residence on Hunter Street, literally bringing a once nearly abandoned artery of the city, back to life.
These days, one hears of a new bar/restaurant/cafe/shop/deli opening almost every week. At a time when retail is dropping around the Western world, small businesses in Newcastle are blossoming. Far from having to exist in the shadows of the big shopping centres, these days, Hunter Street brings its own sunshine.
Creating Cities is Marcus Westbury's just published book and is a great read. For anyone who has met the man himself or seen him speak - I have done both - his sharp wit, quick mind and ability to see things from inside and outside the square are all translated perfectly into his writing.
Marcus tells the story of how Renew came to life. A walk down Hunter Street counting empty shopfront, a few fateful meetings, a lot of questions, a few failures along the way and ultimately, finding something while looking for something else.
And while serendipity might have had something to do with it, the dots took someone pretty switched on to get connected. Let's just say that if I had been the one taking that walk, I don't think that what followed would have made history.
At the core of the journey is Marcus' realised attempt to make it possible, even easy, for people with tiny budgets and big dreams to have a go, to do stuff in their city, to try things that haven't been done before.
Somehow, he managed to get around the apathy of a system that was asleep, the legalities of getting people into spaces they don't own or actually really rent, and even of setting up a wifi network that wouldn't require a year long plan.
Renew makes it easy to fail (without much consequence) but more importantly, possible to succeed.
How many artists have access to a free studio? How many curators are handed the keys to a street fronting gallery space? How many fledging graphic designers and clay animators can move out of their sun room into a proper office space? Renew does all of that for free and with no strings attached. You just have to rock up with a can of paint and a good dose of determination and can-do-ism.
In Newcastle, this has been the experience of a couple hundred people. That even included me for a short time.
Apart from the bricks and mortar, Renew has also brought together a solid, growing and supportive community of creatively minded people. They go to each other's events and openings, they recommend each other, they collaborate, they show each other the ropes, they contribute some elbow grease, time and the few resources they have. It's a family of people all doing different things together, simply because it matters to them and because they can.
Renew didn't create the artists. They were already there, they just didn't have anywhere visible to go. Renew built a framework that completely redefined the place of the artist in our cities. Rather than struggling alone in a kitchen/sunroom/garage, they can now bring it all in the open. Some will still struggle, that's what artists do, but some will thrive, and that should be what cities aspire to.
The fact that Renew is an amazing community above all else was never truer than when Marcus decided to actually write a book about it. The day it appeared on the crowdsourcing website Pozible, it smashed its target of $10,000 and within 24 hours, the project had pledges for almost $50,000. It became one of the biggest and fastest Pozible campaigns of all time.
If that's not family, I don't know what is.
And maybe Marcus isn't quite a demi-god. Maybe he's just a really clever guy who wanted to shake things up a little. And he just kept shaking and pushing and knocking. For that, the combination of determination and blind optimism, we're very thankful.
Long live Renew.
This article belongs in a "real" newspaper. Newcastle Herald, HuffPo Australia ...
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