The fight to be a Monterey Bay artist

Being disabled is absolutely not easy. But there are a few things that have made it a lot more enjoyable for me.

Community is the number one need for humans, but those of us with chronic illness or disability especially. We need help and we need to help others. 

A major stressor or source of stability is housing. Many in California are already familiar with the housing crisis, but if you are not, or are of a certain social class and not aware, I would like to inform you.

There is a low inventory of affordable housing because development and priority has been given to the landlord class and the ultra wealthy by city and county planning for a generation. Something like 20% of current housing sales are to people planning to live in that home — the rest is by investors and landlords. Meanwhile, apartments remodel, kick out families, and only accept tenants that make 3-4x the rent. Trying to attract tech corporate workers has contributed to massive homelessness, and the rise of homeless families during the pandemic.

Since 2018 my rent has risen 42.5%. I split a 5 bedroom home with multiple problems, slumlord special. 

Of course this contributes to my disability. I was working 6 jobs when the rent was 42% lower. Now I can “only” work 2 as a disabled artist and I still rely on crowdfunding for my survival.

If you are a landlord I really need you to look in the mirror. If you are an employer you need to look at payroll and then in the mirror.

Anyway, if you have a lead on affordable and accessible housing in Monterey County let me know before I too have to leave the area.

I can’t “work harder” and I don’t deserve to be told that, nobody who is low income does. I guarantee that everyone low income works 10,000x harder than those making 7+ figures. Full stop. I grew up here. I have met the gamut of incomes. I KNOW rich people. If it was about merit, we wouldn’t be here.

Why do I bring this up on my art blog? It’s extremely relevant to my art practice that I can’t spend my disabled time on my own body of work and instead am spending all my time on survival funds. Of course making art work is part of that, but I am unable to afford the kind of art making that would add to my Ouvre at what this point in my career is “supposed” to happen.

Let me know in the comments how you feel about our cost of living.