VIRGINIA BEACH — Kate Pittman runs one of the region’s most successful art districts, and yet doesn’t have an office.
“We’ve never had an office; we’ve never owned property,” said Pittman, executive director of the ViBe Creative District at the Oceanfront. “That was all very intentional.”
Virginia Beach real estate developer and community philanthropist Andrew Fine was instrumental in starting the district’s nonprofit organization 10 years ago. He wanted Pittman, the district’s sole strategic coordinator, to keep her boots on the ground, not tied to a desk.
“It’s been (about) building the neighborhood all around us the whole time,” Pittman said. “That street level approach has made a huge difference.”
What started as a grassroots effort to grow small businesses and bring a sense of community to an aging commercial district has exceeded expectations and set an example for others.
When Pittman’s not giving tours of the district, she can be found most days “pack muleing,” as she calls it. Pittman lugs around several bags filled with artists’ submissions, grant applications and other work as she moves from coffee shop to coffee shop for her favorite brews.
At Three Ships Coffee Roasters, it’s the Pungo Latte, sweetened with locally-grown fruit. At Commune restaurant, she orders a Brazilian roast. Over at Java Surf Cafe & Espresso Bar, the Toasted Coconut Latte is all the rage. And Bad Ass Coffee makes a mean orange and dark chocolate blend, Pittman said.
Growing a district
While coffee shops abound, the ViBe is also home to locally owned restaurants, art galleries, surf shops, leather smiths, sign painters and a distillery, among others. The district has roughly 70 businesses within its boundaries in the central part of the resort area, spanning roughly 15 city blocks. In 2017, it had about 35 storefronts.
The City Council voted to establish the ViBe Creative District in 2015. That coupled with the formation of the nonprofit has unlocked support and financial incentives, such as tax exemptions for rehabilitated structures. With Pittman’s help, along with a core group of grassroots art enthusiasts, business owners and residents, the district has come a long way over the last 10 years.
“This area was so riddled with crime and vacant lots, and it was really one of the worst eyesores in the entire city,” said Pittman. “It was an area where people did not want to come.”
The Old Beach Farmers Market, founded by Duff Kliewer and Laura Wood, preceded the ViBe and proved the neighborhood would respond positively to change. It began in 2008 with a couple of vendors in the parking lot of Croc’s 19th Street Bistro.
As the movement to foster a creative district took root, the farmer’s market grew. The market now has 50 vendors, and is held on 18th Street, which the city recently improved by removing deep drainage ditches and adding wide sidewalks.
Several original market vendors graduated to brick-and-mortar storefronts in the ViBe thanks to property owners who refurbished rundown buildings, many taking advantage of a city grant program that aimed to improve the neighborhood. The grants are now offered citywide.
“I’m proud that my family’s business and land has been able to support the cause of the ViBe,” said L.G. Shaw, who transformed warehouse buildings behind Wave Riding Vehicles into The Alley, a collection of small creative businesses, and the home of the outdoor VB Flea Market. “We were able to take a little bit of a risk on all the opportunity we saw with these guys and gals, and I would say it worked out pretty well.”
A testing ground
Several businesses that started in the ViBe have expanded to many locations, including Three Ships Coffee, The Stockpot restaurant and Jars of Dust pottery.
Architect Jeremy Maloney of Altruistic Design has worked with many business owners in The Alley, The Pink Dinghy restaurant and the newly-opened Yorkie’s Deli, among others.
“The common thread is all of these people are passionate in trying to accomplish their dreams and hopes and visions,” Maloney said. “They’re putting their hopes on the line and using the ViBe as their canvas or their testing ground.”
In the past 10 years, the number of business licenses in the ViBe doubled, and the annual tax revenue from gross sales increased by nearly $1 million, according to Pittman, who obtained data from the city’s Commissioner of the Revenue.
Artist Tessa Hall Duquette was a first-time muralist when she was tapped to paint a wall in the district two years ago.
“The ViBe really was the only one that gave me that launching point,” she said.
Soon after, Duquette opened The Garage VB, an art gallery on Mediterranean Avenue that hosts events. She credits other ViBe artists and small business owners who have been supporting her business.
“Everyone shows up for each other,” Duquette said.
Paint the town
To support public art and other creative programs in the ViBe, the nonprofit accepts donations and receives city support. It has provided more than $600,000 in artist stipends over ten years, and it shows. The district is filled with colorful art painted on building walls, parking meters, utility boxes and fences.
An annual mural fest in which artists paint 10 murals in 10 days is one of the ViBe’s most popular public events. Other Hampton Roads’ cities have been inspired by the murals and the ViBe’s success, including Williamsburg’s Edge District.
This year, the ViBe will welcome new neighbors at Atlantic Park, a mixed-use development project that includes The Dome entertainment venue, a surf lagoon, retail, apartments and offices. The Dome will open in early May, and the surf park will open in July, according to the city.
Pittman expects Atlantic Park will provide more public art opportunities and boost businesses in the ViBe.
“I think we’ll see a ton of foot traffic,” she said.
Fine, the ViBe cofounder, believes the district stands to grow in the future, particularly if there are more options for people to live in it.
“There’s still a lot a huge amount of potential development there,” Fine said. “The next 10 years, we’re going to see all of those kind of things happen which will give it a much higher sense of vitality, even higher than now.”
Stacy Parker, 757-222-5125, stacy.parker@pilotonline.com