AUSTIN — It's no secret that as Austin’s unaffordability grows, those who originally made Austin famous, like artists, struggle to continue living and working in the city.
That's the very reason Sun Radio is teaming up with the Austin Create Alliance and the Presidium Group to create a new arts district in the Live Music Capital of the World.
Mike Buck is a Musician who owns a record store and hosts Blue Monday on Sun Radio. He has lived in Austin since 1977.
"My rent when I moved to Austin was like $89.50,” said Buck.
But while the rent has obviously gone up, he said the pay for an artist playing in Austin, hasn't changed much.
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"It's getting really hard for people to live here and play,” said Buck.
"When the artists have to leave Austin we have a major problem,” said Daryl O'Neal, the Founder of the Sun Radio Foundation.
O’Neal said the new space will be an incubator for artists.
"It's going to be a great opportunity to highlight local artists and enable them to live in Austin, work in Austin and not have to leave,” said O’Neal.
Austin Creative Alliance and Presidium Group representatives said they don't want to wait for a development, but instead want to help artists now.
This year, they'll build a pop-up art district here on Pleasant Valley. It will include the Sun Radio Public Media studio, co-work space, a dance studio, even a 300-seat performance space all in tents.
Then, in 2020 , they plan to break ground on the Riverside Arts District, which they hope to include art galleries, a public art park, and affordable housing for artists.
"There's so much talent in this town and it’s getting harder and harder to survive,” said Sun Radio host Kevin Connor.
"The fact that local businesses and local artists have to leave Austin Texas because they can’t afford the rent is ridiculous. It means we're not paying attention to what we're all about,” said O’Neal.
They hope to complete the more permanent Riverside Arts District by 2022.
"Austin's the largest community in the country without a formal artists district, now imagine that, the live music capitol of the world where every day an artist have to pay for free," said O’Neal.