COSE Update - September 2008 - (Page 37)

arts losing art is personal When a fire destroyed 40th Street Studio, artists realized that insurance claims would never cover the emotional loss. itting opposite a panel of insurance executives in a courtroom is the last scenario Lucette Johnson would have imagined following a catastrophic fire that destroyed the building where she and three other artists work and display their creations. The 40th Street Studio is housed in the Shovelworks Building at 1588 East 40th Street. The early 19th century structure was getting roof repairs on a Monday in June 2005 when the building caught fire. “It was a triple alarm,” describes Johnson, who shares a second-floor space with fellow Cleveland Institute of Art graduates Helen Libens, Johanna Paige and Susan Donavan Lowe. “By the time the fire department got there, the whole top floor in the front of the building was gone.” Firefighters punched holes into the 8-inch timber floors and, consequently, ash and water gushed from the charred top floor down to the 40th Street Studio space. The disaster followed an open-house weekend at the gallery, so Johnson and her partners had stocked their studio with works to show: a master’s exhibit depicted a mother who had passed away; Johnson lost two lithographs featuring the fishing lures of her deceased father, along with some treasured watercolor canvasses. All of their materials were destroyed. “Everyone’s work means something to them in one way or another, and not in terms of monetary value, but the expression of emotions and subject matter and what each piece speaks to personally,” Johnson says. “We felt like we were on trial when we met with the insurance companies because their questions were almost as though we had to prove our honesty and our quotes for what we felt our claim should be,” she adds, noting that they claimed about $10,000 and settled in court for $3,000. s Fortunately, they had lined up exhibits outside of their space for the following months. But to prepare, they essentially had to start from scratch, producing new works to display. Because their section of the building was condemned and renovating it would take one year, they worked separately from home. “In a way, the experience changed our work completely, which was interesting,” Johnson reflects. Their home studios could not accommodate 5-by-8-foot canvasses. “We had to scale down our work.” Johnson and her partners were grateful they committed to shows at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Cain Park and the Walden Inn Country Club in Aurora prior to the fire. “That motivated us to keep on going,” she says. Court battles over insurance claims were exhausting—and unexpected. “We weren’t trying to make money on our claims,” Johnson says. They actually estimated their supply costs based on discounted rates as opposed to retail prices. “I don’t think you’re ever prepared for [situations like this],” Johnson adds. Since then, they scaled up their insurance policy and the newly renovated building has a sprinkler system. The fire prevention aspects of the structure are far better, she says. “We now have thermal pane windows and there were lots of upgrades as a result [of the fire],” Johnson says, remarking that “this is not the way you want to redecorate.” Johnson and her three partners moved back into the studio space the following summer 2006 and have thrived there since, watching neighboring buildings renovate and fill with artists in the Superior Corridor. “The fire was a very emotional thing to go through,” Johnson says. She has saved newspaper clippings with photographs of the burning building. “I never want to go through that again.” —KH events september 10 COSE Arts Forum: How Do They Do It? A Best Practices Panel from Local Arts Professionals Time: 5-7 p.m. Place: beachland ballroom and tavern Price: $5 members, $15 non-members. 17 COSE Arts Network Roundtable Time: noon-1:30 p.m. Place: cose offices Price: free cose.org/events or (216) 592-2222 september 2008 • cose update • 37 http://cose.org/events

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of COSE Update - September 2008

COSE Update - September 2008 Contents Memo Upfront Vision Tech Business Interrupted The “Bigness” of Small Business What’s the Plan? People Telecom Advocacy Communications Health Pipeline Connect Arts My Cause Plugged In

COSE Update - September 2008

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