ARTIST HOUSING AND WORKSPACE ISSUES :: LIVE/WORK SPACES

For many artists, the most logical way to survive economically and carry on their work is to work in the same place they live. Large spaces, big windows, and adequate power supply are often prerequisites for the creation of visual art, dance, or musical performance. These characteristics are not often accommodated within normal residential spaces.

Finding a space

The most promising ways to locate artist live/work space in your home community is to look in art supply stores and cafes, space available postings in weekly newspapers, arts councils and artist-run organizations, and specialized Web sites. The following are typical types of links:

Seattle area art space bulletin boards include   Art Dish ,   Artist Trust and  Art Space Seattle.

Non Profit Developers

There are also a number of non-profit developers creating specific artist live/work spaces. In the Seattle area, these include:

In West Seattle, the  Delridge Neighborhood Development Corporation has developed the Historic Cooper Artist Studios artist live/work spaces at the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center.

In Wallingford, Historic Seattle has created six artist live/work spaces at the Good Shepherd Center. Historic Seattle is also developing performance space in that building and investigating the renovation of the historic Cadillac Hotel for arts uses.

In Pioneer Square, Artspace Projects Inc. has developed the  Tashiro Kaplan Building, 50 affordable rental units for artists and their families as well as 30,000 square feet of space for non-profit arts organizations.

In Seattle's Jackson Place Neighborhood, Artspace Projects Inc., in partnership with HomeSight, a Seattle-based affordable housing developer, is developing Hiawatha Village. The development will consist of 61 one and two bedroom rental units of affordable live/work space for artists and their families plus five commercial storefronts will be available for artist related businesses.

Another Pioneer Square project, Harbor Lofts, at 2nd & Yesler, provides 11 unique live/work spaces for artists: painters, photographers, sculptors and choreographers. Further information is available by e-mail at benjamin@pioneersquare.org or by phoning (206) 667-0687.

The Artsbrewery is the site of artist live/work spaces in the old Rainier Brewery located in the Duwamish Manufacturing District south of Downtown.

Outside Seattle, non-profit arts development is also taking place:

 ArtHouse, developed by California Lawyers for the Arts and San Francisco Arts Commission, includes California Bay Area listings, artist workshops, etc. This site is particularly useful because it also includes an array of legal and advocacy issues.

 Artspace, a Minneapolis, Minnesota based non-profit developer of artists live and work space, has a listing of all of their properties in St. Paul, Minnesota and a handful of other cities throughout the U.S. This organization also provides consulting and development services to cities and organizations nationwide.

In Salt Lake City,Utah,  Artspace Utah has become involved in a variety of community revitalization efforts, focused on artist housing issues.

In Toronto, Canada,  Artscape is a non-profit organization which creates space for the arts while building communities and revitalizing neighborhoods.

 Curley School Artisan Lofts
Spacious apartments for artists at affordable rates are taking shape in the magnificent Sonoran Desert of Ajo, Arizona. The Curley School, on the national register of historic places, is being converted for 30 artisans and their families. This is a project of the nonprofit International Sonoran Desert Alliance (ISDA).

Developing or Building Your Own Space

In addition, there are a number issues that artists should consider when thinking about live/work space: whether to join with artists to purchase a building or lease it; how to manage a space; financial matters, etc.

An interesting source of information about the adventure of building a studio space is in the article Hand Made, by Joel Lee, in  ArtSpace Seattle.