The new walls.
I'm interested to see how my work and working habits will change in the new space.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Transition
Sprawling in the Onramp studio. 36 contiguous feet of working wall, and room to make a mess.
The new walls.
I'm interested to see how my work and working habits will change in the new space.
The new walls.
I'm interested to see how my work and working habits will change in the new space.
End of OnRamp Studios
All good things come to an end. We heard the warnings- the owner of the building had died, and left no will and had no direct heirs. His real estate friends are in charge of the estate, and as they are in real estate, they have no use for a building that is in a strange location and renting under market. To sell the building, they had to bring the tenants up to market rate ($1/foot), which is great (don't forget the 15% 'building load fee'). For us, we had too much space- about 1000 square feet of hallways, and then another 800 of under rented space that would need walls built (and people found and manged). And we would be put on a 1 year lease (with the implication of a rent increase or eviction with a new owner). Regardless, there was/is no way we could afford $3000. The new manager whose job it is to sell the building was quite friendly and willing to cut the space down for us, but by the time this became an option we had already mentally moved out.
So the short story- we had move on to another smaller studio space, for more money. Dana, Tina (my studiomates) and i found a reasonable space in the 'dogpatch' area of the city. I promised myself i wouldn't compare it to the previous space, which was a dream. I like to think of it as 'back to reality'. Now when people walk into my studio, they won't be in awe of the space and ignore the paintings.
The final twist is that during this time, the economy tanked and the new executor realizes that the building isn't going to be sold anytime soon for the 15m that they are hoping for. The exeuctor also now sees the benefit of artists in the building renting out smaller spaces, and is working with two studio profiteers (who we actually introduced into the building a couple of years ago) that feel comfortabel charging artists $600 for a 275 sq ft room.
And that's enough of that.
So the short story- we had move on to another smaller studio space, for more money. Dana, Tina (my studiomates) and i found a reasonable space in the 'dogpatch' area of the city. I promised myself i wouldn't compare it to the previous space, which was a dream. I like to think of it as 'back to reality'. Now when people walk into my studio, they won't be in awe of the space and ignore the paintings.
The final twist is that during this time, the economy tanked and the new executor realizes that the building isn't going to be sold anytime soon for the 15m that they are hoping for. The exeuctor also now sees the benefit of artists in the building renting out smaller spaces, and is working with two studio profiteers (who we actually introduced into the building a couple of years ago) that feel comfortabel charging artists $600 for a 275 sq ft room.
And that's enough of that.
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