The Art Worker 025
CAL and the need for short term studio space
By Corrina Peipon, founder of Continuous Project and Co-founder of Contemporary Art League
Contemporary Art League has a long term vision to establish a cooperatively owned community center that serves as a hub for CAL and the art world in Los Angeles. CAL’s home will house all of the organization’s operations providing professional support, community services, and advocacy opportunities.
Professional support includes services like grant writing; creative services and website development; career navigation; artwork documentation; co-working spaces, and short term studio rentals.
In the initial listening sessions we undertook in 2020 and 2021, we heard over and over again that health insurance and childcare were top needs, so the community services offered at CAL will include these crucial offerings that make space and time for artists to thrive. Right alongside those needs, the need for studio space rose to the top. Hearing this need expressed again and again as we met artists during our residency at ICA LA in 2023 and the first half of 2024, our vision became ever stronger that a community center with short term studio availability will be a welcome addition to our city’s artmaking landscape.
The idea of the archetypal artist’s studio—a space with expanses of walls for hanging or projecting, a table or two, some shelving, good light, and maybe a place to sit down now and then—is foundational to many folks’ conception of an artist’s life, and it’s still the ideal formation for many artists. But in an era of post-studio art and expanded artistic practices (not to mention a real estate market that has sent prices into the stratosphere), many artists develop their work and visibility for their work without studios. We heard in our early listening sessions and continue to hear as we grow CAL that access to short term studio space is a top need for artists who either don’t need, don’t want, or can’t afford a long term studio lease.
STUDIO LOAN meets this need for affordable, short-term studio space in Los Angeles and sets the groundwork for CAL’s central long term goal: a cooperatively-owned community center that houses support and services for art workers, including short term studio rentals. STUDIO LOAN consists of an online bulletin board hosted by CAL and a free, adaptable license agreement template hosted by The Artist’s Contract.
This evolution of the collaboration between CAL and The Artist’s Contract is an artist-led, community-based initiative to help pair artists with studios to lend with artists who need to borrow space for a short term. Arrangements may be formulated as studio loans, exchanges, or short term, low cost agreements that are facilitated via the bulletin board and license agreement template, all dependent on the participants’ needs.
I’m grateful to announce that we’ve reached our $5000 goal ✨✨✨
Thank you to everyone who’s contributed so far to help us launch the STUDIO LOAN bulletin board and license agreement in collaboration with The Artist’s Contract.
Let’s keep this momentum going! Help us EXCEED our goal by donating before our campaign closes at the end of the day on May 22 ✨✨✨
To learn more about this meaningful project, take a read through personal essays by Virginia Broersma, MonaLisa Whitaker, and Cara Miller.
We look forward to sending out news of the STUDIO LOAN launch next month. Thank you for your support!
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