The Gateway Arts District
INNOVATE.CREATE.INSPIRE – The GATEWAY ARTS DISTRICT
Benefits to Businesses, Developers, Artists, and Arts-Based Organizations
It started as a conversation among four towns acting as one community to revitalize their neighborhoods and develop an artist district that is designed to support artist living and working in the municipalities of Hyattsville, North Brentwood, Brentwood, and Mt. Rainier. The Prince George’s County Gateway Arts District is a focal point for arts and entertainment activities of all types, as well as for socializing, entertainment, dining, shopping, living, and offering the richness in diversity of the DC metropolitan area, while retaining the charm of these four small towns. In 1997, the Gateway Community Development Corporation, whose membership numbers over 150 and includes representation from each of the four towns, began to explore ways to support the artists living and working in its community and to use artist-based development projects as a catalyst for arts-driven economic revitalization of the US Route 1 corridor and the surrounding communities in the Gateway Arts District. As a result of the interests expressed by the community in developing an arts district, in January 2002, the State of Maryland named the Gateway Arts District as one of four Arts and Entertainment Districts in the state.
The Gateway CDC envisions the Gateway Arts District as the heart of Prince George’s County’s arts beat. The CDC works to make that vision a reality and ensures that the Arts District is lively, walkable, and bike-able. The Arts District will be a place where people of all ages and background are shopping in local stores, eating in cafés and restaurants, and enjoying arts and entertainment venues. The Gateway CDC is determined to make sure the Arts District will be recognized as the national model of a successful creative economy.
The Prince George’s African American Museum & Cultural Center will become the crown jewel of the Gateway Arts District.