CAFC has long been interested in moving forward the discussion about finding, providing and transforming spaces for use by individual artists and arts and cultural groups. Some of the space issues we have been concerned with have included:
Below are some resources the Cultural Alliance has directly or indirectly developed to either directly assist in finding space (as in participation in the SpaceFinder database, created by Fractured Atlas and made possible by a grant from the CT Office of the Arts) or to keep the conversation moving forward in search of solutions and new partnering arrangement.
SpaceFinder Connecticut is a free matchmaking tool for artists looking for creative space, and spaces looking to promote their rentals. Venues can market unbooked rental space by creating a listing and uploading a digital calendar, while creatives can discover space based on location, price, amenities, up-to-date availability and more.
A one-day conference with panel presentations on ideas and experiences in transforming space for artistic use, creating a sense of place through the arts, sharing spaces and services, and DEVELOPING policies and incentives to release commercial space for cultural use.
AGENDA WITH LINKS TO SLIDES & VIDEOS
Jackie Lightfield and Margaret Bodell, both celebrated placemakers who have led successful long-term operations to bring the arts, and consequently vitality and enterprise, to vacant stores and storefronts shared the history of their successes and guided a group of artists in Westport, on June 25, 2019, in planning strategies for doing the same.