Americans for the Arts

This report and its predecessor, How Artist Space Matters (2010), explore how and why art spaces benefit in-house artists, arts organizations, and surrounding neighborhoods and regions. Artspace Projects developed the two case studies detailed in this report, the Riverside Artist Lofts (Reno, NV) and Tashiro Kaplan Artist Lofts and Tashiro Arts Building (Seattle, WA), as well as the three Twin Cities projects explored in our first report. The report provides both an in-depth exploration of how the Riverside and

This report offers a detailed answer to a relatively straightforward question: Do artist spaces matter, and if so how? More specifically, do they make it possible for artists to increase the amount of time they devote to art making, share equipment, engage in collaborations, and/or increase income? Do they help arts organizations financially stabilize or grow? Do they bolster neighborhood businesses? Are they linked to physical upgrades in the surrounding area? Do they help increase or stabilize property values without displacement? Are they associated with increased civic involvement,

In May 2015, the Housing and Community Development Department of the city of Oakland, California, submitted a request through the National Resource Network’s 311 for Cities asking for information on the main barriers facing the preserving and development of affordable artist housing and workplaces in cities. The city also requested that the network research ways to fund the development of artist housing. The request resulted in a “heavy” 311 response from the Network. The following report was researched, developed and shared with the city by

The development of affordable spaces for artists to live and/or work is certainly an important matter for artists, but it can also be an important issue for people concerned with a range of social issues, including economic development, civic engagement, community collective action and community quality of life. This report considers how artist space developments have been positioned and the arguments made to garner support for them, the advocacy strategies used, and the impacts claimed or anticipated.