Adrianna Hinsey
Map Project: SoHo
Question: What do people come to SoHo for?

The term SoHo comes from the fact that the neighborhood is “South of Houston”, from that we shortened this and came to know SoHo. After abandonment of highways in the 1960s, large lofts were left unattended to and attracted artists to turn them into studio space. These artists turned this once abandoned and deserted town into a hip, avant-garde scene in the 1960’s. This is how SoHo is stereotyped, the most popular place to find artists, galleries and street art. The changes that these artists were making to SoHo started to have an even bigger effect, attracting a new crowd. Investors and new residents moved in, pushing up real estate values and rents, which in time lead most of the artists to be pushed out because of high expenses. These new residents turned this artist community into a high-end shopping district and residential hub for the wealthy. These findings are what led me to pose my question. SoHo is thought by everyone to be the most art-driven neighborhood in New York City, but do most people go here to actually see art or to shop?
I have been to SoHo many times in my life. It was always going for a walk, having a bite to eat or shopping with my family, never to visit a gallery. As I thought about this, I wondered how many others were guilty of the same. The path I chose to walk everyday that I went to SoHo was the path that I usually always walk when I visit. Starting at Prince and Mercer, I walked west toward Sullivan, observing the people and places around me. What I found on this street were many people of all ages holding shopping bags from big brand-name stores. The other thing I noticed on this street was retailer after retailer but only one art gallery, the Morrison Hotel Gallery. Next, I turned on to Sullivan and headed East on Spring, a street I have been on a hundred times, but this time I observed closely at the people I passed. Again, I saw tourists, joggers, and young people holding shopping bags, but none that appeared to be seeking the hidden art galleries here. I saw a Chanel store, smelled the fresh pastries from countless bakeries, even that stupid DASH store had a space on this street, but in a 6 block radius there was only one art gallery, Opera Gallery.
As I continued down Broadway, Broome, Grand, Canal and finally ending my path at the Soho Grand, I came to the conclusion that this once artist-run and gallery populated town was not the same as it used to be. The hot-spots are now trendy hotels or over-priced macaroon shops, not galleries and studios. Yes, SoHo is known to be a great place for young people to shop, but it is also known as a place filled with art, which I barely even found here. Street artists are the only ones left, displaying their hard-work and selling it for cheap just to make a living. I met one artist here, David Ortiz, who paints women’s faces on canvas bags, canvases, t-shirts and other things. He told me that having your own gallery these days is way too expensive and is only common for well-known artists who have been recognized, but it is his dream to have one someday.
Being in SoHo, I felt inspired by the graffiti on the walls of buildings and amazed by the talent of street artists, which was going to unrecognized. I think of SoHo as an artist’s environment. Unfortunately, I found that is not so true anymore. Most galleries have been taken over by retail shops and the studios that were once spaces for artists’ creativity are now resident apartments, but every time I leave SoHo I am hopeful that one day the artists here will be given a second chance to take over and return it to the amazing place for artists it once was.