Aaron Pedersen

Where are we right now?
This used to be the original City Market. Forty years ago, this was a big farmers’ market where you’d get fish vendors and chicken vendors and, you know, vegetables. Now, this is City Market Apartments. It’s a Gene Dub building that he’s filled up with artists, writers, and musicians. He wants major artist content in this building, and of course it’s low-income so it supports the lifestyle of poor artist types. I’ve been here for about a year and a half. I moved from ArtsHab, so we sort of moved in here to try and bring this community together in a similar way.

How did you hear about this place?
There was a call for artists to come live in the building, and then I managed to work my way to become the building manager here. So I get paid to run this small city. It’s a bit bizarre.

How many artists live here?
I’d say there are about 100 tenants and I would say 75 per cent of them are in arts-related fields — photographers, painters, and lots of musicians, some writers and some fashion people. The average age of the tenants is about 30, so it’s got this real sort of college dorm feel to it, not like a regular apartment building, so that’s a really nice aspect.

Has your studio always been in your home?
Yes.

Is that by choice?
Economically speaking, it makes sense. It’s nice to be able to go away to a different studio so I do some work out at the lake or out at the farm. I’m not chained to a lot of equipment. Everything can be transported so it’s easy to draw or paint wherever I am.

How much studio space do you have here?
This apartment is 1,300 square feet, and I’d say half of it is my studio. I use the loft, and there’s another adjoining office.

Is there anything difficult about working here?
If I’m working late at night, I shouldn’t be working in my office because it’s above the bedroom of the people underneath me, so that sort of restricts me as to what I can do. I try not to walk around at three in the morning, because they can hear me, and then I’d get a noise complaint.

But you’re the manager of the building!
Well, that’s the problem. I’m the building manager; I have to report myself, I guess. I tried to evict myself once, but that didn’t really work out.

Each week for 10 weeks, SEE Magazine and Aaron Pedersen and Eugene Uhuad will be profiling a different artist in their studio space.