As Artspace enters its 38th year of operation, we're proud of what we've accomplished. This year has been one of continued growth, sustained affordability and new opportunities for artists and their families.
On busy days, trombonist Marc Francis, 26, goes from gig to gig, playing his horn with different bands at a series of different venues—the convention center, a street parade, a nightclub. Sometimes Francis would like to be able to make a quick stop at his apartment to change clothes between gigs. And at 3 a.m., when his New Breed Brass Band finishes its Wednesday-night gig on the Frenchmen Street strip a few blocks from the French Quarter, he’d love to be a short drive, or better yet, a short walk, from his bed.
SANTA CRUZ >> Some 75 miles south of Oakland, Santa Cruz’s artist community is not far removed from its San Francisco Bay Area cousins and reverberations from December’s Ghost Ship fire.As the poignant stories of each of the 36 lives lost in the converted East Oakland warehouse blaze emerged in the weeks after the tragedy, legislators, municipal officials and other arts groups began taking stock of similar situations, examining where improvements might come.
Artspace is pleased to announce a major grant from the Ford Foundation that will provide $3.75 million for the organization to build internal capacity; restructure a number of aging properties to ensure their long-term affordability for low-income artists; and launch a new fellowship program to support emerging leaders of color working at the intersection of arts and community development.
EL PASO, Texas - The new Artspace lofts located on the corner of Oregon and Missouri are expected to attract creative artists to the Borderland.Eric Pearson, CEO of the El Paso Community Foundation, said the lofts are a great and much needed addition to the city."The best way to sustain downtown in the arts was to support the artists and build not only an arts scene," Pearson said, "But make downtown an actual community, a bonafide neighborhood."
Artspace continues to experience extraordinary growth both in our new projects in development and projects in operation. We ended the year with 46 projects in operation, representing nearly a $600 million investment in America’s arts infrastructure that spans 30 cities and 19 states. We are pleased to be called “home” to thousands of artists and their families and more than 300 creative enterprises from coast to coast.
Get a glimpse at our 2016 year in review, supporter spotlights on Terrance Dolan and PS109 artist Osh Ghanimah, updates from Ford Foundation and impact investors, as well as a calendar of events for the upcoming months.
Artists and their families thrive amid community and creativity in artspace housing
Artspace is known around the world for creating affordable artist live/work housing in communities across the United States. But the nonprofit developer’s concerns and principles go far beyond the rigorous processes involved in renovating underutilized warehouses and schools or constructing new buildings to house artists.
Upstart Co-Lab is a nonprofit that has partnered with the Calvert Foundation and Artspace Projects to facilitate impact investments that support artists. Upstart Co-Lab is a startup itself, launching earlier this year. The Calvert Foundation is a leader in impact investing, making such investments accessible to ordinary investors--not just the wealthy. Artspace, also a nonprofit, develops live/work projects for artists around the country.
The development team of the Pullman Artspace Lofts (Artspace Projects, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives and PullmanArts) has received the city, state and federal approvals needed to proceed with the project, and is in the process of raising the remaining funding needed to close on the project by mid-2017 and begin the 12-month construction phase.Pullman Artspace Lofts will be an affordable mixed-use art space with live/work artist housing and ample community space suitable for classes, exhibitions and workshops located in the Pullman National Monument / Pullman Historic District.
