“I think of my studio as a vegetable garden, where things follow their natural course. They grow; they ripen. You have to graft. You have to water. “ — Joan Miró
Artists, whether in the visual, theatrical or musical arts, need a place to create; be it an office, basement, garage, dining room table or living room corner. And, as Coleen West, executive director of the Howard County Arts Council, noted, “Artists need marketing, finance, time and people management skills.”
Some artists have found a more fertile home to meet these needs in art centers that “incubate” those involved in creative endeavors. These are structured communities of working artists, including writers, some with theaters and performance spaces, others focused only on visual arts. They nurture, cross-fertilize and build on the audiences each unique art attracts. It’s an environment where the artists can grow, not only artistically, but professionally.
Art incubators are thriving in Maryland. Artists can be found at the Gateway Arts Center and its sister studios at the EZ Storage Building in Brentwood, and at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. They also can be found at the Howard County Center for the Arts in Ellicott City, Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel and Rockville’s VisArts. Baltimore has several: Bromo Seltzer Tower, School 33 Art Center, Creative Alliance at the Patterson, and Baltimore Clayworks.
Each has a distinctive character, admission requirements, facilities, exhibition opportunities, mentoring structure and community spirit.
Artists are expected to participate in the center’s activities at varying levels. Some sites require set hours on-site, and others ask only that artists attend select meetings and open their studio to the public on specific days. Some are in Maryland Arts and Entertainment Districts or under the wing of government departments that see them as key players in development and tourism dollars.
Competitive, Affordable, Energizing
Maya Freelon Asante noted that being a resident artist at places like the Bromo Seltzer Tower “helps enhance your creative energies.” For Creative Alliance (CA) resident Lauren Boilinini, “The most important part … is the constant validation you feel. … Everybody that enters the building acknowledges you as a working artist.”
Artist Maya Freelon Asante is the current recipient of two years of free studio space at the Bromo Seltzer Tower in Baltimore. Her work is currently part of the “Material Girls” exhibit at the Reginald F. Lewis Maryland African American Museum of History and Culture. Photo credit: Ryan Joseph
But they are not for everyone. Deborah Bedwell, artist and a co-founder of Baltimore Clayworks, noted [art centers like BC] are “not the place for an artist who wants solitude.”
Individual artists’ spaces are highly subsidized and designed to be very affordable, which is why centers are not only full, but desirable. Prices range from $650–$850 for CA’s live-in loft/studios, to $100-per-month three-artist studios, and are generally in the range of $7.50–$11 per square foot per year. Some are term-limited to three- or five-year tenures; others let artists stay indefinitely. Some require individual insurance. Most (CA excepted) include utilities and other equipment such as the welding tools that Melissa Burley, a sculptor at Montpelier, uses for her artwork.
Being selected for a resident studio in itself adds to an artist’s professional stature. Artists need to demonstrate they are serious about their art to successfully apply for space.
Jed Dodd, artistic director at Creative Alliance, noted the facility is looking “for artists with significant career potential.” Most jury their artist selections with outside artists and/or those already in residence evaluating the art and the artist. Talent is not the only consideration. Baltimore Clayworks also looks for artists’ willingness to engage in the community, and their overall “fit” with those already in residence.
Promotional Advantage
One of the major benefits of being an artist at a center is the opportunity to exhibit or perform and see it promoted to a broad audience. Some sites open studios at regular hours. Others have specific studio tours, and open studio days and other events where artists can interact with the public.
Most resident programs guarantee their artists a solo or at most two-person show or performance; some annually, some biannually. Work is also often displayed for sale in communal galleries. The centers organize the exhibits and open days and promote the artists, events and exhibits, tapping into their often extensive contact lists for e-mails, newsletters, web sites and postcards. In exchange, in addition to rent, they take a percentage of gallery sales.
For Phil Gurlick, an established artist who’s leaving the Maryland Hall at the end of his time-limited tenure, the promotional assistance was more than worth the trade-off.
Montpelier, CA, Howard County Art Center and Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts also have popular performance spaces that attract those interested in theater, music and other cultural events, both from outside artists and also, in the case of the latter two, from resident companies. This cultural cross-fertilization not only expands artists’ opportunities to interact with other artistic disciplines, but brings culturally inclined foot traffic to the site.
Sculptor Melissa Burley in her studio at Montpelier Arts Center. Photo credit: Karen Lubieniecki
More Than Creative Skills
Randy Vega, director of cultural affairs at Baltimore Promotion & the Arts, which runs both the Bromo Seltzer Tower and School 33, said, “All artists need help with promoting themselves, with information on how to run a small business, with dividing their time between making and marketing their work.”
Both artists themselves and the centers have resources artists can tap. It may be informal assistance with a web site from a colleague or help from the facility staff on how to get business cards or where to find an accountant. It can be meetings with groups such as Maryland Lawyers for the Arts, marketing and even grantwriting or fundraising.
VisArts at Rockville holds formal programs for artists. This past year, “Foot in the Door: How to Represent Yourself to a Gallery” drew more than 25 artists. The Howard County Arts Center and VisArts have even held classes on how to set up classes.
Teaching and arts-related classes are a vital, and in difficult times, sustaining, source of income for several of the incubators. Since most of the artists don’t make their full-time living selling art, they also offer artists access to additional, non-creative but at least art-related, income. Policies vary, with some centers handling all classes and registrations. Also, some permit private lessons; others do not.
Art incubators offer much for the creative arts — and for those who take advantage of their resources and assistance, they can be a career- and company-advancing opportunity. Do they work? Ask Maya Freelon Asante, whose work can be seen in “Material Girls” at the Reginald Lewis Museum of African Art through October. Or check out the Howard County Art Center’s resident Chesapeake Shakespeare Company. It has outgrown its incubator and is actively looking for a larger space.
Other Gathering Places
There are many other locations in Maryland where artists congregate to work, and where the art-interested can access everything from jewelry to artwork ranging from classical to cutting edge. Baltimore is particularly rich: with the Load of Fun Studios and H and H Warehouse, and Studio 405.
Savage Mill has some nine artists’ studios. While not a formal artists’ community, Mill artists get promoted through the monthly marketing fee paid to the mill. Studio costs are competitive, though slightly higher than some of the art centers.
Cathy Harville, who’s been in residence since 2006, noted that the number of artists at the Mill is down from past years. However, she still loves the historic ambiance, the foot traffic and the camaraderie. “I like having other artists around, to talk to and ask questions,” she said.
