Historic Spanish Village Arts Center in Balboa Park (By Frank Sabatini Jr.)
Artists, Craftspeople, Balboa Park

Did You Know…

By Frank Sabatini Jr.

…that back in the 1940s groups of artists lived rent-free in the small structures found within Balboa Park’s Spanish Village Arts Center? Their contracts required they only pay for the upkeep of the lots.

The area remains a popular enclave for painters and craftspeople, who only sell from their spaces and must nowadays pay rent for them. That policy came into effect shortly after World War II, when it was ruled that artists pay rental fees in exchange for property upkeep provided by the city. The new rule was met with fierce opposition and vandalism at the time, but the park’s board of directors and the city soon got their way.

Fast forward to the 1980s when the village’s artistic tenants collaborated to enhance the area by painting the ground tiles that stretch across the center. Some of the tiles are reportedly made from materials that were salvaged from buildings the city had demolished in the 1930s.