real estate as conceptual art

As both research into my interest in the city as art material and as a potential means to sustain my art practice, I have been studying to obtain a real estate license. I have struggled with what this means for my identity as an artist. Can I still call myself an artist if my income is generated from real estate? (Of course I can, but the voice of self-doubt can be quite loud and difficult to tune out sometimes. I mean, just ask any musician/bartender. Teacher/playwright. Etc.) Ultimately I believe so deeply that I simply AM an artist, that I cannot not be an artist, that I am forging ahead with this pursuit of financial sustainability. And occasionally, mired deep in the thickets of appraisal processes and valuation concepts I find gems like this,

"The principle of change holds that value estimates are valid only as of a specific point in time as neighborhoods and properties tend to go through a four-stage life cycle: 

1. Integration (development or growth)
2. Equilibrium (stability or maturity)
3. Disintegration (deterioration or old age)
4. Revitalization or rehabilitation"

Hard stop. With all of my willpower I finished this section of study first and then spent the rest of the evening thinking about this concept. I understand the utility, for the purpose of state licensing prep, of putting it in succinct, black and white terms like this, but I have so many questions. Is this still true? In Portland? In Pittsburgh? In Detroit? In SanFrancisco? How is it unique in each city? In each neighborhood? What would a step 5 look like? How can this cycle be interrupted? Can art be the interruption? 

idea #7

It's a new year and I have been spending a lot of time on some more robust ideas than the ones I started with. For several years I have been exploring work at the intersection between art and civic life. It has finally taken some shape in the form of a collaboration with two urban planners, whose work is heavily data driven, and another artist, with whom I regularly collaborate. We are making our way toward a long term vision in which we use population data, data visualizations, and mapping to inform a public engagement process. What does that mean? Well, organizations and governmental bodies often use data about their constituents to drive the way development is planned. We feel that this process is missing a component of humanity, that engages in a meaningful way with the public that stands to be affected by these decisions. We want to make the public process component of urban planning more exciting and attractive to participate in, and therefor more meaningful to planners. 

This one has been a long time coming and it is such a big idea that it needed time to crystalize. Now that we are more clear about what we are building I'm excited to say that I anticipate more and frequent news on this idea soon. Stay tuned.

idea #6

This afternoon I was talking with my brother about our career plans. Though I identify as an artist, I have lately wondered about becoming a firefighter, his girlfriend is a doctor, our dad is a teacher, my husband is a biologist. We have the sort of jobs that are easily called upon by kids when they are asked what they want to be when they grow up, like action figures. These tiny pieces of injection-molded plastic, formed into a set shape, that imply a life, an action. These are usually made in huge quantities to represent a widely known figure to a large population of fans. My brother is a city planner and I was thinking about how absurd it seemed to make an action figure of a city planner. I like absurd. So here it is...

IDEA #6 Make a series of action figures of your own family.

A small representation of each person, part of a set, that will then only be distributed back to your family.