Are you or others you know in committie run, community run or city owned studio
space? My artist group, the Greenbelt Studio Artists Cooperative signed a licensing
agreement several years ago with our city and were given 6000 square feet in a
community building for a reasonable lease payment. We are now in the process of
developing an Arts Policy at the request of the City. Our goal is to encourage the City to
take steps so that more can be done for other Artists in our area by making the Arts a
mandated part of the community's business. This project has been sucsesfull in focusing
more money and public attention on creative endeavors but has had an additional effect.
Now we are asked by the city council to consider policies for the use of and access to
new studio space that include mandatory hours, required public service time, restrictions
on sales and jurying by non artist. These things may all be normal in the larger view of
"Artist meets World", but we are concerned that they are not representative of the way
other artist operate in leased studio space. We would appreciate your feedback and
would like to find out more about the diverse approaches to shared studio
buildings/spaces. Please pass this on to others who could contribute.
Thank you
Rick McMullin
Greenbelt Studio Artists Cooperative
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