It makes one wonder if theirs is a model that can be applied to the performing arts? New models that transform the theater/concert hall/gallery into a dynamic hub of artistic creation, presentation, and dialog have the potential to alleviate several problems of economics and accessibility. And along the way, the intersection of people, ideas, and practice, a.k.a. when ideas have sex, could provide a more organic way to stimulate emergent innovation and diversity.
From an interview with founder and executive director Peter Wallace on the Fractured Atlas website:
Opened in 2005, Brooklyn Artists Gym strives to offer affordable, accessible work space and a supportive community to artists in the New York City area. With a diverse member base, BAG offers everything from figure drawing drop-in sessions to classes on exploring new artistic mediums to artist programs for single parents and teenagers. Founder and executive director Peter Wallace tells us about the many space options and instructional offerings available at his Gowanus facility, and answers the question, “why ‘gym’?”
What is the mission of Brooklyn Artists Gym? What was your impetus for starting it?
It’s so difficult to be able to fit art into a New York work schedule, a New York budget, a New York life! We want to provide a space in which artists can do it, and can work outside the vacuum that can be created when you’re working from home. We have members who even have a studio space at home, but find that without other artists around them, it’s hard to feed their creativity.
That vacuum and budget problem was exactly what led to the idea for BAG. I worked in theatre for years as a freelance director and chair of the theater program at Lang College of the New School. I had a very strong impulse to begin making a large-scale sculpture I had envisioned. I looked for a space in which to create it, and found out how incredibly difficult visual artists have it in New York — as difficult as theatre artists. I thought that there had to be a better way. The seed was planted.
Why “gym”?
The “gym” part of our name is because of the structure of the membership: our contracts are month-to-month (but we do allow people to quit, unlike a typical gym!), and the space is used communally, like a weight room. The equipment for your work is all here: tables, easels, large stretches of walls, windows, daylight and color-corrected lights for working at night. But because you’re sharing it with a community, you have to clean up after yourself when you leave. It’s the same space-sharing as a gym, but the community is full of artists instead of body builders. Although we have gotten questions before about whether we have a pool and a sauna…
Check out their website to learn more at http://www.brooklynartistsgym.com.
Have other tips about new models for arts institutions that we should know about? Send them to us at npac.artists@gmail.com
