On the Row

Not every resident zipping along the fast track of the rapidly changing Golden Triangle district lives in a luxury loft: Just witness the inhabitants of one modest relic that’s stood along 11th Avenue at Cherokee Street for eighty or ninety years. Heretofore nameless, Row House — so named in a quick effort to distinguish its mundane appearance — is currently home to a plucky bunch of urban pioneers who labor in the unassuming building’s collection of artist studios, galleries and design firms, right under the nose of the area’s rampant new high-rise developments. You’ll have a chance to get to know some of these residents better this Friday when they host a Row House Art and Design Party, in conjunction with the Golden Triangle Arts District’s monthly First Friday gallery event.

Interior designer Frank Lavin, whose West Design, at 301 West 11th, has shored up the row’s micro-community for nearly four years, is perhaps the building’s chief frontiersman. “When I came here, it was all low-income housing,” he recalls. “Now six of the locations are art studios. Look at all the new businesses on Cherokee — there’s not even one space to be had anymore. This neighborhood has come a long way in the last four years.”

Lavin’s corner spot now also houses West Home, a retail space showcasing home accessories and small furnishings geared toward the neighborhood’s new influx of upscale city-dwellers. “Most of the people who shop in these areas now are not the kind of shoppers who go to the mall,” Lavin notes. And he agrees with other row-house tenants that, for the moment, development is more friend than foe.

Angela Rios, whose Morph Gallery is a relative newcomer to the block, concurs. (Morph celebrates its first anniversary this month with an eclectic show of works by painter Ed Paciaroni, mask-maker Kathleen Sherman and photographer Chad Follmar.) “We’re excited about the development in the Golden Triangle,” Rios says, nodding toward the Prado high-rise under construction across the street on the former site of a decrepit apartment building. “It used to be a lot more run-down — that building across the street was like a little crackhouse. This is coming to be a safer place; walking to the galleries at night, you’ll be okay.” Rios also credits the neighborhood’s higher-profile art spaces, such as the nearby William Havu Gallery, with sending foot traffic her way.

Photographer Cynthia Boteler, a building tenant since 1998, agrees. “First Friday brings in a nice crowd of people every month,” she says. “The first time I was open for it, over 200 people showed up.”

Eclecticism, part of the row’s charm, is one feature that keeps art-walkers streaming in. Resident artist Chris Albert does his part by occasionally opening his studio to the public on First Fridays under the moniker of Kitchen Sink and inviting other artists or musicians to contribute: “I think it’s boring to go into someone’s place and always see the same work. I try to minimize my impact by showcasing work by [alternative] artists not usually shown in this neighborhood. For me, it seems to have more of a party atmosphere than some of the other openings. This building is a great opportunity for us to put together something fun in the neighborhood, but with all the fast changes going on here, who knows how much longer that will go on?”

In the meantime, the Row House coterie hangs in the balance, enjoying support from the very community that may one day bulldoze it over. How long can this little Valhalla of rental real estate hang on in the Golden Triangle? “We don’t know — we just go with the flow,” Rios says. But Albert is a little more clear on the concept: “I think we’re still here for a while. But I also think once the neighborhood does change, it’ll be exciting to see what that is.”