As Artspace enters its 37th year of operation, we're proud of what we've accomplished. This year has been one of continued growth, sustained affordability and new opportunities for artists and their families.
December was a busy month for South Main Artspace Lofts in Memphis. There are a multitude of gifts that came way before the end of the year the project. Key Memphis companies including: Fortune 500 Company, AutoZone, Memphis investment firm SouthernSun Asset Management, and Memphis urban development and real estate company, Loeb Properties Inc. all made financial contributions to South Main Artspace Lofts. Diane and Myron Mall also made significant contributions to the project.
A new dual-language preschool has opened its doors next to the Mount Baker light rail station, the first in the city to offer instruction in both English and Vietnamese.
The Hoa Mai Vietnamese Bilingual Preschool is part of a program approved by voters last year aimed at making high-quality preschool available to all Seattle children, regardless of income. It also fulfills a dream of Vietnamese-American parents who wanted to maintain their children’s ties to their language and culture.
Dance Place has been awarded a prestigious $500,000 grant from the Kresge Foundation to support the creation of an Arts Park in the now vacant Kearny Street NE Alley between Dance Place and the adjacent Brookland Artspace Lofts. Funding will also support interactive programming for all ages as well as wayfinding efforts in our Brookland/Edgewood neighborhood.
No matter how talented you are on your toes, you can’t dance away leaky gutters, creaky elevators and rusty masonry. So dance fan and philanthropist Caroline Amplatz has donated $3 million to help the Cowles Center for Dance & the Performing Arts rehab its Arts & Education Wing.
The eight-story sandstone building, on the corner of Hennepin Avenue and 6th Street in downtown Minneapolis, is home to 28 nonprofit arts groups, including James Sewell Ballet, Zenon Dance Company, Illusion Theater and two dance schools.
“It is surprisingly funny,” says Dark & Stormy’s Sara Marsh, who plays the title character in Sunshine. “I really loved the script, and the role is great. It is a real challenge for me. I really love all of the characters, and it has an ambiguous ending, which I like. It’s something you will think about afterward. It’s not what you would think based on the description.”
Downtown Memphis is changing every day and it is for the very best. One of the new developments is the Artspace South Main Lofts thanks to AutoZone, SouthernSun Asset Management, and Loeb Properties, Inc. Keeping creatives and artists in the Mid-South is the goal so this new space will serve as affordable housing for these professionals to continue to better their craft.
In cities across the U.S., one of the most potent forces for urban renewal is the intrepid, resourceful, indefatigable artist. A building full of them, in fact. But for the artists, there isn’t always a happy ending. In case you’re unfamiliar with the story, it goes like this. In search of inexpensive spaces in which work, artists seek out underutilized buildings—often, old warehouses or other industrial structures in sketchy neighborhoods—with low rents, zero amenities, and lots of room to make messes and masterpieces.