About
We are building a community to unite voices, and create housing and workspace for older professional, working artists.
Our Mission
The mission of Art Republic Space is to build community, and in the future, create housing with workspace for older professional artists in the United States at a time when housing insecurity disproportionately impacts this high-contributing sector of the American population. There’s a critical shortage of housing, and affordable housing.
The lack of resources, professional opportunities, and scarcity of available, accessible, affordable housing and work space for artists as they age is astonishing. The most recent housing for artists of any age, in New York City - PS 109 - opened in East Harlem, in 2014. 53,000 artists applied for 88 subsidized living spaces.
A look at the landscape for aging Americans reveals how few inspiring, productive options there are for anyone, let alone artists, who want to keep working.
Artists rarely retire, often have unconventional financial, employment and family situations, and may not be eligible for mortgages, Social Security, or to apply for affordable housing. Maintaining living and studio space; archiving and storing their work become more difficult as health issues increase; and job, income, and professional opportunities decrease.
Unlike other professions - writing, acting, music, dance, firefighters, longshoremen, others - there are no artist unions, and no professional organizations that offer housing, studios, or coordinated support services, (like archiving, storage, estate planning), to aging professional artists - a large, and rapidly increasing population. For example, for actors, there is the The Entertainment Fund, established in 1882, with a large complex in Englewood, NJ offering housing, senior care, healthcare counseling, career training, and emergency financial grants.
Art Republic Space was created to address the critical need for live, work, and storage space for artists as they age - to provide an innovative, positive response to the challenges of maintaining quality of life, engagement with the community, and continuing to work, while aging.
At present, the only artist housing designated for older artists in New York City is Westbeth, in the West Village. When it opened in 1970, it was intended as housing for emerging artists, for 5 years. Many early tenants stayed on. By default, it has become a naturally occurring retirement community. The wait list has been closed for years; Westbeth accepts up to a high of 14 new tenants a year.
Our Goals
Build community
Create housing with workspace for older artists
Provide information on resources for artists 60 and older
Create an artist archive
Our Plans
PHASE ONE - HAPPENING NOW
Art Republic Space exists to provide resources to, and create housing and workspace for artists 60 and older - the dedicated, longstanding contributors to and bedrock of arts and culture in this country. We are a new, interdisciplinary group, building our organization, concentrating on planning and fundraising for programming, and future housing and workspace. Our initial goal is to raise money to:
build our organization
continue the planning process
conduct a capital campaign
look for sites; work on architectural schematics studies, launch housing
Donate now to Art Republic Space through our fiscal sponsor, Fractured Atlas.
