DTPHX Spotlight: Artlink President & CEO Catrina Kahler’s Creative Visions for Downtown Phoenix

“This [Artlink] is by and for artists. And the ‘for’ is actually broader. Artists have to create—that’s who they are, but the benefit of what they do goes way beyond them as individuals. The community as a whole benefits,” says Catrina Kahler, President and CEO of Artlink.

Kahler is a proud Arizona native who was born in Tucson and has lived in  Phoenix since 1989. Her passion, hard work, and advocacy for the arts and culture community in Downtown Phoenix has changed the shape of our city, and made it a more vibrant creative place.

When she first moved to the Valley, Kahler was a sports and event marketing professional. She says, “I loved the work, however, most of that work took place in the suburbs of the Greater Phoenix area. It was suburban developments and chain restaurants. I got bored. I wanted to love where I live. I set out to discover what I could love in Phoenix. I got off the freeway, I took Central Avenue, and I found Downtown Phoenix and specifically, the historic Roosevelt district.”

“At the time, Roosevelt Row (CDC) was not a thing,” says Kahler. “The historic neighborhood had engaged residents advocating for growth that wasn’t just for growth’s sake, it was for people. They wanted a good pedestrian experience—murals, textures on walls, preservation of historic properties, these were top of mind for people who lived in the area.”

“There was this beautiful understanding that it was an urban stew. There were creative people who made the neighborhood what it was;those were the artists.  And then this mix of commercial, residential, recreational, history, vegetation, shade and comfort.”

A group of engaged artists had founded Artlink as a non-profit in 1989, following the first Art Detour event, which is currently celebrating its 38th successful year. Artlink was pivotal in starting the First Fridays art walk, which has grown into one of the largest monthly art walks in the United States. In the intervening decades, Artlink and First Fridays have been instrumental in drawing people to Downtown Phoenix, with 14,000-20,000 monthly visitors at the event, engaging  local artists and businesses. 

Kahler initially came into contact with Artlink in 2004. She recalls, “They were passionate volunteers, and they helped me tune into a frequency about the identity of Downtown Phoenix. When you think about the landscape, it is about how artists help us open our minds, hearts and souls to our environment. I’m not an artist, but I’m Italian. I have this deep cultural appreciation for this. What is life without creative culture?”

Indeed, Kahler’s vision and leadership through the years, and as President and CEO of Artlink since 2017, has contributed vastly to the growth of Downtown Phoenix. “I’m literally the person who did the First Friday maps for years,” says Kahler. “Those became heat maps for investment. First Fridays was a regular pulse, a beating heart that pumped a lot of blood into Downtown Phoenix, and telegraphed that we had a Downtown that was full of promise.”

“Over time, there has been a growing recognition that it is not about how the traditional corporate community can help artists, it is about how the business sector benefits from having artists and art. Artlink serves the full arts and culture community, not just artists. The ecosystem includes artists, organizations, businesses and patrons.”

Yet growth in infrastructure, services, and visibility for a neighborhood can also often mean rising real estate costs and displacement of long-term residents, and the creative people who made and continue to make Downtown desirable and exciting. 

Kahler remains a steadfast supporter of keeping Downtown Phoenix an inspired and accessible area. She shares, “We want our Downtown to be strong and grow, but we also want our city to be balanced. People talk about gentrification now like it happens everywhere, in every city. That’s just like giving up to me. No, we as a community know what drove interest here, and we can protect that.”

“We know that people have been displaced from Downtown because of rising rents. From Artlink’s perspective, we can’t control rents, but we feel artists need to be able to earn. If they can’t afford to live in a particular area, they should sure as heck be able to earn off of it, and still share that space.”

Kahler asks, “Now that Downtown is thriving, what is the responsibility we have to understand why that is and how we can support that moving forward? Our focus is how to develop opportunity, and promote the arts and culture community. Reminding people that arts and culture will always relate to the conversation.”

“An artist is asked to wear all of the hats to be successful. An artist has to be deeply creative, producing something very personal and putting it out into the community for all to view, whether it is visual or performing arts. It has to come from deep inside to be truly effective and beautiful. They also have to be their own CEO, their own marketing director, accountant, and social media manager. And not only do we ask them to do so much, but they are also some of the bravest people on the planet. These souls, these talented people are in our city and in our Downtown, they helped us get to where we are today, and we need to talk about how we support this community as we go forward,” Kahler says. 

Kahler’s innovative and inclusive goals are rooted in deep care for her community. She says, “For most of our recent Downtown history, artists have been bootstrapped, and through sheer will have made so much happen. Now you see both artists and organizations large and small being tested by the lack of financial support. We have to think about what we are going to do to make this creative community more of a focus when it comes to building a sustainable city. I see a future for Downtown that is undeniably and unapologetically beautiful.”

Royal Young (@theroyalyoung on Instagram) is a non-binary poet and author from downtown New York City, who now lives and creates in the desert. Their work has appeared in Interview Magazine, New York Times, The Rumpus, Phoenix Magazine, Phoenix New Times, LOOKOUT, and DTPHX, among others.