Lots of space, but not in Manhattan. (See those frosted glass overheads? They're the only thing I have in common with Larry Gagosian)
A recent article in Crain’s New York Business noted that the high cost of living coupled with a dearth of part-time jobs has driven many artists from New York City . Don’t I know it.
While I retain a place to live in Manhattan , my home of 28 years, I relocated my studio a few years ago to Massachusetts . Facing $2000 a month for 500 square feet in Union Square, I looked across the Hudson in New Jersey. I didn't like the 20-minute walk up Eighth Avenue to the Port Authority, the trip through the Lincoln Tunnel, and then the 20-minute walk to the building that would be my studio, so when the purchase fell through (twice), I allowed the universe to be my real estate agent. I ended up buying a small building north of Boston , near the ocean. A former auto-repair shop, it's not unlike the small commercial properties you see in Chelsea (before the gallery build-outs), but at about one-tenth the cost. While property taxes do rise, the increase is nothing like the biennial gouging my former landlord used to inflict (because in New York City there's no cap on lease-renewing increases to commercial property tenants as there is for residential).
It’s a crazy “commute,” which I make in chunks: my familiar New York life, which includes gallery-going, openings, museum and studio visits, interspersed with intensive studio time (my own personal residency) in Massachusetts.
Some of my contemporaries have done the same thing, but up theHudson in places like Woodstock , Hudson , Kingston and Castleton. Others have taken a more southerly tack to Philadelphia. Look at what two friends got when they purchased a row house for $60,000 in a working class Philly neighborhood: two floors, basement, front porch, and front and back yard. They use the entire property as their studio. Mortgage, taxes and building insurance cost less each month than their Manhattan rent, and now they have equity. And did I mention the on-street parking in front of their building? It's not a space they pay for; it's just there at the curb.
Some of my contemporaries have done the same thing, but up the
Of course some artists have simply moved from downtown to uptown, like Washington Heights, Harlem or the Bronx; or from Manhattan to Brooklyn, or farther out in Brooklyn or Queens. Some artists sublet their studios temporarily to make a bit of a profit while they head out of town for residencies. Some live illegally in their studios; others work illegally in a studio apartment that used to be their home before they moved in with a partner. Others share a space, one working during the day, the other in the evening after a 9-5, so that while they see one another's work, they rarely see one another. Oh, the stories.
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So this week, I’m wondering what you do for studio space.
. Do you rent or own?
. Have you moved from New York City recently? Or to here?
. How big (anything over 1000 square feet) or small (anything under.500 square feet) is your studio?
. Live/ work or work only?
. In and around other artists or on your own?
. Do you share a space?
. Do you share a space?
. What do you pay for rent? (This is important, so post anonymously if you’re uncomfortable.)
Who knows? You may end up with some new neighbors.