Artspace San Juan Survey

In 2019 Artspace, a nonprofit organization was invited by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to explore bringing its model of permanently affordable artist housing and creative working space to San Juan. This invitation grew out of relationships formed with members of the N.Y. Puerto Rican community familiar with the El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 project in East Harlem, a project that is home to 90 artists and their families.  Those relationships led to a series of visits and conversations with San Juan community members beginning in 2014. Over the course of several years, Artspace conducted listening and information gathering sessions to learn more about local creative space needs and opportunities and worked to build a coalition of partners and stakeholders that could help move a project in San Juan forward.

That successful community input process culminated in series of conversations with the artist community in early 2020 and set the stage for this next big step, An Arts Market Space Needs Study.  Input from individual artists, makers and creatives about their space needs, preferences and ideas, will help Artspace and its partners determine if there is enough interest to warrant further investment in the concept. It will also reveal what types and how many spaces should be planned, design features to incorporate, preferred locations, and what “affordable” really means to local artists, creatives and makers.

If you are engaged in creative efforts and consider your work, product or practice to be a form of art, craft, a cultural or creative expression or heritage preservation, then we probably will too. Many creatives and makers don’t even think of themselves as artists. A member of the creative sector:

• Has a sincere commitment to their creative-based work
• May make things that are artistic, creative or functional or all of the above! (woodturners, milliners, potters, writers, leather workers, artisanal foods/craft beverages, painters, designers, performers, photographers, jewelers, floral arrangers, stylists)
• May be engaged in any creative/artistic/cultural pursuits including visual/performing, culinary, literary, musical, administrative, educational work or practices
• May keep alive a cultural practice
• May or may not make any income form their creative-based work (or may or may not aspire to)
• May or may not create or practice full time (or may or may not aspire to)
• Has or is developing a body of work or is actively training, practicing, and/or making
• Comes from any and all walk of life

The Artspace Market Survey Initiative in Puerto Rico is made possible through a generous grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

Local artists and community leader are critical partners and have formed a volunteer project “Core Group” to help guide and inform this effort to bring affordable creative space to San Juan. This project would not be possible without their dedication.

Artspace is a national nonprofit real estate developer and consultant dedicated to creating and sustaining long-term affordable and equitable space for the creative sector. It has 54 artist live/work and creative space facilities across the nation and is the lead consultant and developer working hand-in-hand with the community on this project.

The survey is developed and owned by Artspace

If you experience any technical difficulty while taking the survey or you have any concerns or questions about survey items, please contact Teri at Artspace