Help NIMBY // Plea Fatigue

NIMBY is an East Oakland DIY/art space that’s been around in one form or another for the last 5 years. It’s operated by Michael Snook, who to some is a hero, to others is an irresponsible businessman, to others is just a nice guy trying to help a good cause, to others is a schmuck, to others is a victim of endless bureaucracy in Oakland, to others is a do-gooder in over his head, etc. Think what you will of the folks behind the operation- but at the front of the operation, are dozens of artists who depend on this compound to house their large-scale sculptural pieces & the studios and equipment required to make them. To me Snook’s a goddamn hippie- I digress.

As an artist who spent 5+ years looking for a space to set-up her metal shop, I can definitely attest to the sad reality that finding a space in the Bay Area suitable for painting, is no problem whatsoever. A place that allows for high-voltage equipment or flame-involved manipulation methods, is a whole other ballpark. Add to the list of requirements a crane and/or a forklift, plus high ceilings… and the list of affordable/plausible spaces for any artist, finds itself reduced to about 5 places: The Crucible, NIMBY, American Steel, The Box Shop, and The Shipyard.

Each of the 5 spaces of course, has their own quirks: The Crucible, The Box Shop, and The Shipyard all prohibit flameworking/welding in private studio rental areas; The Crucible prohibits any non-studio staff from driving a forklift or operating a crane, plus has restrictive hours- but is also the only place with a Blacksmithing shop, and is tidy enough for mom; American Steel is notoriously filthy; The Box Shop and The Shipyard have some indoor “common areas,” but most are outside. All 5 places of course are freezing cold in the winters, but all are also amazing & warm micro-communities of their own.

For the sculptor (or team of collaborative artists) who needs a space to do large-scale work *and* needs a space that has a roof over most of the communal footage… but also has an abundant back-yard, has a crane, has a forklift, and has 24/7 access… NIMBY and American Steel remain the only 2 options. Of those two, only one has gone to great lengths to work with city officials to ensure no ‘crackdown’ closures or code-violation raids, which for the artist dependent on a cheap space in one of the most expensive places in the country to live… has almost always “come with the territory.” Conversely, said raids & studio closures in the past few years have cost many artists a great deal of personal expense in moving their studios, a great deal of frustration, and for the few in the transitional space of beginning to work as full-time artists, these instances have either fully crippled or near crippled their abilities to sustain. As well, only one has a safe forklift with a functional transmission vs. jimmy-rigged hydraulics, a roof that doesn’t leak, a kickass hot-dog stand open during events… I digress.

Yep: The Bay Area is home to more than a few retired tech engineers, businessmen, and GCs… none of whom “retired” wealthy, but chose to take a huge personal risk by leaving behind the safety of a regular job in order to try making it as a full time artist & builder of custom works. These folks especially, are dependent on their studios being housed in one of these transitional places to make their wares until they’re business & names are secure enough to merit the massive (MASSIVE!) overhead investment & liability of maintaining a full professional shop on their own. We’re so lucky to live in an area where so many places like this currently exist, and honestly- in the past 5-10 years that the 5 aforementioned spaces have blossomed- access to industrial arts in the Bay Area has grown to parallel no other place in the US.

Finally, consider: Both NIMBY and American Steel are almost at capacity, with tenants. The Bay Area is the proud hotspot in America for independent metal artists & large-scale/kinetic makers… and our numbers are only growing. This is one of the many reasons I’m so proud to call the area my new home, and one of the only things keeping me from attempting a move back to my native Detroit.

Get to the point: NIMBY is in danger of shutting down. Yeah, this is about the 3rd or 4th instance of the “ohshit” flag being flown by NIMBY’s struggling owner, Michael Snook. Frankly- I am personally a bit (ok, very) tired of the constant “ohshit” cries. I have spoken with Michael and asked him about this… and he has been very forthright about explaining in detail his escapades in working with the City Of Oakland to make his space code-compliant. He hasn’t wanted to over-charge tenants to cover for possible middle-of-the-road encountered expenses, made a major slight of judgement hosting an event in the space that he was not granted a permit to host (which cost him dearly), and a few other judgement errors & learning-curve blunders that put him in this hole. Likewise- Oakland is admittedly, a minefield of political BS… and a process that he was promised would only last a couple of months & cost only a few thousand dollars, was stretched-out to just over a year and several thousands of dollars.

I would certainly never hire him to run the space that my non-existent trust fund will purchase, though conversely he is the one guy doing it- and dozens of artists housed at NIMBY very much depend on his continued involvement, for their livelihood and continued art-making. There just isn’t somewhere else for them to go, and if we lose NIMBY they will suffer & our community at-large will suffer, tremendously.

When I visited LA the last time I was down there, I was curiously invigorated to consider moving down there for one reason: property values, thanks to the abhorrent urban-sprawl. It’s just a much cheaper place to live, and subsequently artist spaces down there are much easier to come by. There’s much less pressure by The Man to comply to codes written for businesses to adhere to, and it’s nebulously palatable how significantly eased the quality of life is for working artists, because their total overhead is significantly lower than it is for those of us who chose to live up here.

Losing NIMBY would put that much more pressure on the rest of us, and would be one step closer to putting the surreal estate circus in the firm grip of Condos, shopping malls, and affordable housing that starts in the low $400k range. While I’m personally not dependent on NIMBY for my own art, I am dependent on the Bay Area keeping what few art spaces we have like it, alive. The vitality of our community & the promise of an urban hub ticking in balance between culture and commerce, depend on these business-disasters surviving.

Do consider making a donation- please help- and know that this one time it’s ok to be annoyed by rampant mis-management, because it’s not at all about supporting the proprietors or a business vision, but is much more about supporting a community dependent on the success of the space. If you’ve read this far please click here and consider making a donation, now- THANKS!!!