Here in Seattle there is at least one group [0] trying to match up artists and empty storefronts. The goal is to turn vacant storefronts into temporary pop-up studios for artists. Neighborhoods with lots of working artists are ones where lots of businesses and stores want to be associated with, but that success drives up prices and drives out the artists whose presence made the neighborhoods desirable. This way you get to keep neighborhoods vital and artistic using only the normal churn of idle storefront spaces.
[0] https://storefrontsseattle.com
