Leasing Studio Space

Once you have a space established I would work up a very firm “Code of Conduct” for any artist or performer who is be become a regular participant. I’ll ask at The Crucible, NIMBY, and The Shipyard what their code of conduct looks like and how it is enforced. We, as artists, tend to have Utopian dreams, but we must also realize that in a shared space conflict will arise (painters and musicians may like it quiet, welders and fire artist make a lot of noise, etc). Knowing what is expected as an artist goes in and agreeing to certain forms of resolution BEFORE conflict arises will go a long way to smooth sailing. Something like Burning Man’s “10 Principles” for artists and participants/audiences in general:

http://www.burningman.com/whatisburningman/about_burningman/principles.html

And then very specific items in the lease for the artists renting actual space.

For 3+ years I shared a studio with several artists. One ongoing issue was commitment. Artists would love the idea of a shared studio but the reality of paying for a space that wasn’t always used regularly caused some to move on and we frequently had to hunt for new artists to take their place to keep the rent at a reasonable cost. Eventually people came aboard who were like minded and we became strong and committed. We had an annual show that was well attended, held a couple of workshops, had a model come in, and held weekly study sessions.

As time went by we became increasingly busier with classes, various projects and other commitments and we finally closed the studio. We’ve maintained close ties and continue our studies via private blog and meet once a month at least. We paint together in the summer, travel together and continue to support and share our art experiences. We remain a close knit group of friends.

I did find that the social aspect caused me to paint less when I was at the studio. There was so much wonderful art talk that I frequently got very little painting done. As sad as we were to close our studio sveral of us found that we painted much more on our own. The solitude in my own studio at home has become very important to me but having these artist friends to share art experiences with is invaluable too.

Sometimes you just have to try things out to find out if it’s right for you. The studio was right for me then while solitude and contemplation in front of my easel is right for me now. It had to be experienced.

Best of luck.

Dear Lisa,i have a bit of experience about this type of things, The way you plan it is going to be a real fiasco, i agree with NovySan. My advice is that you rent a place, where you show your art,
you have a room where you teach, have at least 4 different courses a week, night and day so you can get as many students as you can, also you can sell the art supplies that they are going to need in your course, and have a few corners of frames where you can frame all the works of your students, plus your own, You should have some consignments of sculptors or other artist that you like. but basically you sell your own art. In any business must be one boss the rest are employees or clients. You are a good artist and also a good teacher, that is what you must sell . I am sure you can do very well if you dont partner ship wit any body. Best wishes in your new proyect.