Artists turn to temporary workspaces in tight market

Shared spaces operated by nonprofits offer rents at roughly half the market rate

From left: Spaceworks Gowanus space, Gowanus workspace and Long Island City rental studios
From left: Spaceworks Gowanus space, Gowanus workspace and Long Island City rental studios

Priced out of real estate in neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Red Hook, New York City artists are turning to programs that place them in affordable – if temporary – studios.

The lack of affordable space is forcing many artists to move from studio to studio, Paul Parkhill, executive director of Spaceworks, told the Brooklyn Eagle. Creatives are even finding it difficult to rent in neighborhoods like Mott Haven and Ridgewood.

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The Department of Cultural Affairs started Spaceworks in 2011 to establish workspaces in underutilized public and private buildings. The organization rents two 200-square-foot visual art spaces in Gowanus at 540 President Street between Third and Fourth avenues. Each rents for $350 per month, 50 to 60 percent of the market rate. Spaceworks’ theater, dance and music spaces in Long Island City rent for $12 to $16 per hour.

Artists are also finding room to work through programs such as New York Performing Arts Spaces, which lists more than 1,700 spaces. About 124,000 New Yorkers identified as artists, writers and photographers in the 2010 census, reports the Brooklyn Eagle. [Brooklyn Eagle]Tom DiChristopher