Valuing Brick and Mortar: Alternative Ways to Gain Access to Artist Spaces
Awards, space rentals, residencies, and more
Being a successful artist is often about finding ways to rethink obstacles — and ultimately triumph over some of the day-to-day challenges that can complicate your ability to fully express your creative practice.
This article provides insight into addressing a common issue for artists: acquiring a workspace.
As a program associate at New York Foundation for the Arts, I field many inquiries from artists looking to secure funding for creative projects. While I direct them to information about various grants and cash awards housed in our free online directory, NYFA Source, I also emphasize the importance of thinking beyond funding and applying creative approaches to the project-development process itself.
There are many ways that artists can circumvent the process of acquiring funds to purchase components necessary to realizing a project. In this article, I will focus on one resource commonly needed by artists across disciplines: space. Whether an artist is in need of access to a rehearsal and performance studio, a quiet environment for writing, or a post-production suite, there are many approaches for gaining access to free or affordable workspaces and exhibition spaces, including those outlined below:
SPACE AWARDS
Source Search—Award(s): Space Awards (Live and/or Work)
These are spaces awarded to individuals based on a competitive application process, and can include spaces for the production and/or exhibition of creative works. Usually, they range from being fully or partially subsidized by a foundation or local/state agency, and are offered through nonprofit arts organizations. They may have a hard deadline and be restricted to artists meeting specific criteria, e.g. working in a specific discipline, living in a certain geographic area, or being of a particular ethnicity. Depending on the priorities and resources of the host organization, these spaces may come with equipment, technical support, and/or a stipend.
On occasion, artists may be required to participate in a public program of some kind, such as an open studio or lecture.
Examples:
SMACK MELLON STUDIOS (Brooklyn, NY)
- Programs open to applicants living in any US State, Territory, or Indian Nation
ATLANTA CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER (Atlanta, GA)
Studio Program (Award)
- Programs open to applicants worldwide
- The Contemporary has annually awarded studio workspace to approximately twelve artists
COMMUNITY EDUCATION CENTER (Philadelphia, PA)
- Open to artists living in Philadelphia, PA
HOUSTON CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY CRAFT (HCCC) (Houston, TX)
- Programs open to applicants worldwide
ARTSOUTH (Homestead, FL)
- Programs Open to Applicants Worldwide
ANNEX THEATRE (Seattle, WA)
- Programs open to applicants in Seattle, Washington
RESIDENCIES
Source Search— Award(s): Artist Communities/Artist-in-Residence Programs
Residency programs, such as artist colonies or artists-in-schools programs, award individuals with free or subsidized time and space away from their usual environments. These spaces are offered on a competitive basis, have deadlines, may include materials and resources, and may be restricted to artists meeting certain eligibility criteria. Residencies also include arrangements for fully or partially subsidized housing.
On occasion, artists may be required to participate in a public program of some kind, such as an open studio or lecture.
Examples:
DANCENOW/NYC (New York, NY)
- Programs open to applicants in New York and Pennsylvania
NORTHERN CLAY CENTER (Minneapolis, MN)
Programs open to applicants worldwide
WOMEN’S STUDIO WORKSHOP, INC. (Rosendale, NY)
- Programs open to applicants worldwide
A STUDIO IN THE WOODS
- Programs open to applicants worldwide
SANTA FE ART INSTITUTE (Santa Fe, NM)
Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency
- Programs open to applicants worldwide
BROOKLYN ARTS EXCHANGE (Brooklyn, NY)
SPACE SERVICES
Source Search—Service: Space/Equipment/Materials (Access & Information)
Space Services (not to be confused with space awards) are provided by organizations that facilitate artists’ access to spaces either provided by a subsidiary of the organization or that direct artists to a bank of spaces provided by another organization or entity.
STUDIO/REHEARSAL/ AUDIO/WORKSPACE RENTALS
Source Search— Service: Space/Equipment/Materials (Access & Information)
Studio/Rehearsal/Audio/Workspace rentals are non-competitive long or short-term private or shared space rental opportunities that are often housed within an organization or a property owned by one. These rentals typically function as income generators for the organization and sometimes require membership to access.
Rental prices are often available under market rate.
Examples:
Fractured Atlas (United States / Canada)
- Free online space directories for artists working in all disciplines
AS220 (Providence, RI)
- AS220 provides 60 live and work studios, of which 80 percent are designated affordable housing in Providence, RI.
Artspace (United States)
- Artspace runs a network of 35 affordable arts live/work facilities in 13 states.
CO-WORKING SPACES
Co-working spaces are non-competitive opportunities to share the cost of a space through a membership-based rental program. Run by a wide range of entities, from for-profit companies to artist collectives, these spaces provide generally affordable access to an open space divided up into smaller areas (such as cubicles) for short or long-term individual use or left open for a shared experience.
Examples:
The Writer’s Room of Boston, Inc. (Boston, MA)
An urban writers’ retreat committed to providing a quiet, affordable, and secure workspace for emerging and established writers.
WriterHouse (Charlottesville, VA)
Promotes the creation and appreciation of literature by providing affordable, secure workspace and meeting space, high quality writing instruction, and literary events to the public.
Firehouse Art Collaborative (San Francisco, CA)
Firehouse Art Collective (FAC) runs several co-working spaces for artists of all disciplines throughout the Bay Area, including shared and private studios and live/work spaces.
Anchorage Community Works (Anchorage, AK)
Provides shared workspace for individuals and businesses working in art, design, music, computer programming and more.
EQUIPMENT/MATERIALS ACCESS & RENTALS
Source Search— Service: Space/Equipment/Materials (Access & Information)
Like some residencies, specialized equipment and materials can sometimes be offered with a space rental. Examples of space/equipment rentals can include sound recording studios, video editing suites, and printshops.
Examples:
Bay Area Video Coalition (San Francisco, CA)
- BAVC offers state-of-the-art video and new media solutions at substantially low rates to students, independent producers, artists and mediamakers creating non-commercial projects. This includes video production equipment and editing suites rental, expert video preservation, open and closed captioning, tape duplication services, and executive productions.
Chicago Filmmakers
- The Co-op offers equipment access, information/resource, education and membership services project of Chicago Filmmakers.
Lower East Side Printshop, Inc. (New York, NY)
- The Lower East Side Printshop offers artists full access to professional printmaking facilities for independently produced projects. Studio rental is available on the hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis from $20 an hour, to $250 per month.
Center For Contemporary Printmaking (Norwalk, CT)
- Artists may use the fully archival air-conditioned darkroom. It includes two Simon-Omega variable condenser head enlargers that can print up to a 4×5 negative, sink, print washer, dry mount press, light table and paper cutter. Artists bring their own supplies, chemicals, paper, etc.
EXHIBITION & PERFORMANCE SPACES (RENTALS)
Artists ready to show their work to the public can consider renting exhibition and performance spaces from organizations.
Examples:
The Community Education Center (Philadelphia, PA)
Renting CEC Meeting House Theatre, Studio, & Tap Room
- The Community Education Center offers space rental opportunities for artists to rehearse, teach and self-produce. There are three spaces available. Production rates are subject to change on a per project basis and should be confirmed with the CEC.
African American Art & Culture Complex (San Francisco, CA )
- The AAACC has a number of facility spaces available to rent including: the Buriel Clay Theater, Conference Room, two dance studios, Hall of Culture, NIA Room, and Sargent Johnson Gallery.
Fractured Atlas (United States / Canada)
Space Finder for rehearsal and exhibition/performance spaces
- Free online space directories for artists working in all disciplines
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS (NYFA)
In addition to all of the above, NYFA itself features several resources for researching space availability:
NYFA SOURCE
SOURCE is a free online database of 12,000 opportunities and services available to individual artists, including: grants, residencies, fellowship programs, apprenticeship opportunities, classes, legal and financial services, and more.
- Awards: Information about Space Awards can be found by running the following query: AWARDS > Space Awards (Live and/or Work) OR AWARDS> Space Awards (Live and/or Work), DISCIPLINE > [INSERT DISCIPLINE]
- Residencies: Information about residencies can be found by running the following query: AWARDS > Artist Communities/Artist-in-Residence Programs OR AWARDS> Artist Communities/Artist-in-Residence Programs, DISCIPLINE > [INSERT DISCIPLINE]
- Services: In addition to general space rental Information, spaces that are fully or partially subsidized can be found by running the following query: SERVICES > Space/Equipment/Materials (Access & Information) > Studio/Rehearsal/Audition/Work Space Rentals & Information, or SERVICES > Space/Equipment/Materials (Access & Information) > Studio/Rehearsal/Audition/Work Space Rentals & Information, DISCIPLINE > [INSERT DISCIPLINE]
NYFA CLASSIFIEDS
NYFA Classifieds is the largest national online resource for jobs and internships, opportunities and services, event listings and studio spaces for artists, arts administrators and museum professionals.
Space Directory
- The space directory features a nationwide list of ads for shared and private artists spaces, including: classrooms, gallery/exhibition space, live/work media suites/recording, meeting space, office space, performance space/rehearsal space, shared live/work, shared studio/work, and special event spaces.
As evidenced by the list above, there are many resources available to artists who in need of space to produce or exhibit their work. Finding a proper fit is often a matter of understanding the unique opportunities each space and arrangement offers, and weighing those against factors like project type, budget, location, and timeline — as well as rate and frequency of use for a space. Once these criteria are identified, it will be easier to determine the most cost-effective and efficient option for obtaining a space for artistic practice.
