Lower Manhattan Cultural Council will begin accepting online applications for the next session of its Swing Space program on December 10, 2008. In partnership with area landlords, LMCC makes vacant storefront, commercial and office space downtown available to artists, curators, and cultural organizations for periods of two to four months. The program is designed to address short-term space needs for a range of projects, and to encourage creative, experimental and collaborative approaches to artistic practice in unconventional spaces. Applications will be accepted for Presentation Space, Development Space, and Office Space in the Performing Arts and the Visual Arts. Past space grants have included theater and dance rehearsal space, studio space for visual artists, unconventional venues for self-produced performance, and groundfloor storefront spaces for installation projects and exhibitions. Artists, directors, choreographers, theater and dance companies, music ensembles, collaborative artist groups, curators and arts organizations are eligible to apply. Stipends ranging from $300 to $3,000 are provided to support project costs. Swing Space was created with lead support from The September 11th Fund.

Application guidelines and forms are available online:

www.lmcc.net/swingspace/apply

Deadline: January 21, 2009

Information Sessions:
RSVP required: www.lmcc.net/swingspace/apply
Thursday, November 20, 4pm at 100 Church Street
Wednesday, December 10, 7pm at 14 Wall Street
Thursday, January 8, 4pm at 14 Wall Street

Contact:Ben Kerrick
Program Manager, Artist Residencies
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
125 Maiden Lane, 2nd Floor
Tel: 212.219.9401 x104
Fax: 212.219.2058
E-mail: bkerrick@lmcc.net

Check out this two session seminar on Monday, November 17th, 6-8:30pm and Monday, December 1st, 6-8:30pm at NYFA.

Inside the Grant Process:
From Applications to the Panel

Grants provide much needed funding, yet the process can be overwhelming. Join NYFA for a two part workshop on grant seeking, including an inside look at how a grant panel is run and decisions are made. Session one will focus on the nuts and bolts of finding grants and creating a strong application. Session two will walk through the panel process using real life examples from visual arts workshop participants. Come and see what matters when a panel sits down to vote.

Location :
New York Foundation for the Arts
155 Avenue of the Americas, 6th Floor
New York, NY 10013

Price :
$40 - covers both sessions.
Please note this workshop is geared to individual visual artists and participants are expected to come to both sessions.

RSVP :
To purchase tickets on-line please visit NYFA’s events page at events.nyfa.org.

Questions :
Contact Christa Blatchford at cblatchford@nyfa.org

A one-day workshop for non-conformist performers determined to take their vision from the page to the stage. The workshop will feature a panel discussion with notable actors and writers who have seen their work produced On or Off-Broadway, and break-out groups that will provide instrumental tools to seeing one´s work produced: development, budgeting, fundraising, marketing, and more.

Presented by TeatroStageFest, HOLA, and CUNY Grad Center in association with CUNY and Instituto Cervantes.  An official event of the 2008 NYC Latin American Cultural Week.

When:  Saturday, November 8, 2008; 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

Where:  Martin E. Segal Theatre Center; CUNY Graduate Center; 365 Fifth Avenue at 34th Street

Free admission

Prior reservation required.  Reservation and Information: info@teatrostagefest.org or 212.695.4010

Schedule:

10:00 am -12:00 noon: Produce-Yourself, Introduction to Artist Driven Projects

12:00 noon - 1:30 pm: Networking Lunch.

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm:  Group discussions led by industry professionals focusing on development, identifying producers and partners, budgeting and fundraising, and public relations and marketing.

Fractured Atlas is proud to announce our partnership with The Tank for next week’s symposium - if you are in NYC, please attend!

Saving Our Cultural Capital: The Challenges Facing Independent Venues and Artists in Manhattan

A symposium hosted by The Tank, Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy, and Fractured Atlas, in cooperation with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. Co-hosted by Collective Unconscious, chashama, The Field and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

New York City is a world-renowned cultural destination: from big-budget Broadways shows to dance performances in small Brooklyn lofts to Chelsea gallery openings. The performing arts drive the city’s economy and tourism and give New York the cultural texture that makes it a uniquely dynamic environment.

As cost-of-living and real estate prices continue to rise, can young artists and small venues still call Manhattan home? New York – and Manhattan, in particular – cannot lose the energy brought by these individuals and organizations, and the higher-market entertainment industry in the city relies on their innovations…but can we still make New York work for the emerging arts? This event will bring together city officials, arts professionals, business representatives, advocates and freelancers for an afternoon of conversation about solutions to the challenges facing independent venues and emerging artists in Manhattan.

This event is FREE and open to artists, advocates, policy-makers, foundation representatives & everyone committed to keeping Manhattan the cultural capital of the world.

Saturday, June 7th, 2:00pm – 5:30pm
Wolman Hall, The New School, 64 West 11th Street

More information: http://www.thetanknyc.org/culturalcapital

This is quite parochial for our members in NYC, but it’s great news nonetheless.

Regular readers know that we’ve been tracking the 475 Kent saga. Well the light at the end of the tunnel is here! Congratulations to our friends and colleagues who are back in their homes after a months-long nightmare.

Here in NYC the arts community has been closely following the 475 Kent story. A couple of weeks ago I posted a copy of the letter I sent to several city agencies in support of the evicted artists.

This afternoon I was contacted by one of the newly homeless artists. Apparently they’re mounting a coordinated effort to get international attention for their situation. (It also sounds like there are some possible indications that a positive resolution may be on the horizon, but it’s far too early to say for sure.)

Anyway, I’m going to dutifully post the information she provided here. Use it as you see fit. At this point, people are being encouraged to contact Mayor Bloomberg’s office by email or fax:

The FAX #s:
212 788 2460
212 341 3810
212 788 7745

**If your fax does not go through, please email your letter to the Mayor at:
mike@cityhall.nyc.gov
mbloomberg@cityhall.nyc.gov

___________________

Here is a sample letter:

To:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
USA

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

My attention has recently been drawn to the problem of the artist’s building at 475 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn, New York.

You are certainly aware by now that over 200 artists are in danger of losing their homes and workplaces permanently - which usually spells financial ruin in a community already subjected to considerable risk.

In the spirit of the cultural tradition that has long prevailed in this great city, I urge you to do everything you can to help the artists return to their professions immediately and to foster our common creative capital.

Sincerely,
************

A few days ago I reported on the unfolding situation in Brooklyn whereby some 200 artists have been forced out of their live/work spaces with little notice and no recourse.

It appears that an organizing strategy is starting to take shape. The key issue appears to be under what specific conditions the residents will be allowed to return to their homes. The City is saying that can’t happen until there’s a permanent Residential Certificate of Occupancy, which could take as long as a year and is totally impractical. The newly homeless artists are saying they should be allowed back as soon as the immediate safety hazards have been fixed (which has arguably already happened).

Below is a copy of a letter I’m sending to the Fire Department and the Department of Buildings. If you’re concerned about the situation at 475 Kent Avenue - especially if you’re a NYC resident and really especially if you live in Williamsburg - then I’d urge you to take a minute to send your own. Feel free to use mine as a model (which is in turn based on one that was written by NYC Council Member David Yassky).

* * * * *

January 28, 2008

Patricia Lancaster,
Commissioner, DOB
280 Broadway
New York, NY 10007

Nicholas Scoppetta
Commissioner, FDNY
9 Metrotech Center
Brooklyn, NY 11201

Dear Commissioners Lancaster and Scoppetta,

I am writing to you regarding recent events pertaining to 475 Kent Ave in Williamsburg. As I’m sure you know, the residents of that building were evacuated on the night of January 19^th due to hazardous conditions and remain homeless today. I ask that you issue a temporary Residential Certificate of Occupancy for the building as soon as the immediate hazards are mitigated.

As the largest arts service organization in the City, Fractured Atlas represents nearly 3,000 individual artists and small arts organizations within the five boroughs, including 600 in the Williamsburg neighborhood alone. We’ve seen first hand the terrible hardship this evacuation has caused for the 200 New Yorkers who lost their both their homes and work spaces with barely a moment’s notice. The public outcry – from artists and non-artists alike – has been passionate and intense. I urge you to address this situation as quickly and humanely as possible.

Please also consider that the City’s actions in this incident represent a troubling policy reversal. During the 2000 holiday season, the City forced tenants in DUMBO out of their homes because they lived in non-residential loft spaces. When the public protested, the Administration pledged not to evict residents of illegal lofts in the future. It is vital that this policy remain in effect.

I appreciate that there are legitimate safety concerns regarding 475 Kent Ave. However, the explosive grain in question has been removed and there is no further justification for keeping people homeless in the dead of winter. The City has stated that the building will not house tenants until there is a full Residential Certificate of Occupancy. This is an unreasonable and excessive hurdle that will take months to complete. As soon as the most immediate safety hazards are corrected, the residents of 475 Kent Ave. must be allowed to return to their homes.

Thank you for your time and consideration,

Adam Forest Huttler
Executive Director
Fractured Atlas

Cc: Magdi A Mossad, Brooklyn Borough Commissioner, DOB
Edward Kilduff, Brooklyn Borough Commander, FDNY

The NYC arts community has been stunned by the mass eviction of 200+ artists from their live-work spaces in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In a clumsy and chaotic process that began last Sunday, January 20th, a host of city agencies including the Department of Buildings, the Office of Emergency Management, the Fire Department, and the Policy Department have forced an “emergency evacuation” of 475 Kent Street.

There are conflicting stories about what’s going on and what’s motivating it, but it ostensibly hinges on an illegal silo of flammable matzo meal in the basement. Yes, really.

Hi Low & In Between has a good chronology as told by the artists themselves.

Our good friends at NYC Performing Arts Spaces have put out a much needed new study entitled Where Can We Work? about the challenge the city’s musicians face in finding affordable space to rehearse, record, and perform. As James Barron wrote in this morning’s NY Times:

Steadily rising real estate prices are taking a toll on all but the best-financed music groups and institutions…. In other cities, some groups in the hunt for affordable rehearsal space might begin as “garage bands.” But few people in New York City have their own garages, and musicians say that finding an affordable place to practice is as much of a challenge for performers who make a living in music as it is for part-timers and amateurs.

For as long as I’ve been in this industry, the theatre, dance, and visual art communities have been screaming out in desperation about the dearth of affordable, appropriate space. But this is the first time I’ve seen anyone shine a light specifically on the space needs of musicians, and it’s a welcome development.

You can download the full report here.

Today’s AM New York (a free daily here in NYC) features a prominent article by David Freedlander on the mass exodus of emerging artists from the city. It’s great to see such a mainstream, populist publication drawing attention to this issue, which many of us have been ranting about for years. Perhaps this is some indication that folks are finally waking up to the notion that young, creative experimenters are central to the city’s identity and ultimately to its economy as well.

My good friend Robert Elmes, the founder and director of Galapagos Art Space, is eloquent on this issue and quoted extensively in the article:

New York could easily become a museum city like Paris or Rome that doesn’t produce much in the way of relevant culture. If you take emerging and cutting-edge arts away, the city becomes dramatically less interesting. That was always what New York was about but we are not protecting our brand.

The article ends with a quote from me, which I’m just vain enough to cite here:

Artists are crafty and resourceful; there are probably one or two more neighborhoods left, but not much more than that. I just don’t see a lot of young, creative people settling out by JFK Airport. I think we are at the red alert level.