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:

  • an awareness of un-used or under-used space unavailable to cultural groups; 
  • an interest in sharing space (and educating owners/tenants of the productive benefits of sharing); 
  • an interest in encouraging landlords and developers to be more flexible in renting/donating empty space to artists and cultural groups; 
  • the need for tax and other municipal incentives for cultural use of empty commercial space; 
  • the need for bigger, better and better-equipped venues;
  • the shortage of required funding for renovations;
  • the need for a directory of available, usable, rentable, shareable and free spaces.

 

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

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.

CREATIVE SPACES FOR THE CREATIVE ECONOMY
Nov 12, 2016

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

 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY REPORT

 

 

 

 

CREATING POP-UPS in VACANT STORES
June 25, 2019

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.

PRESENTATION SUMMARY

EDITED TRANSCRIPT

VIDEO