Our Mission:
To establish permanent, affordable work/live spaces and support facilities for artists in San Diego.
Our Values:
We believe in synergy — Artists from disparate backgrounds working together in close proximity make better art.
We believe in the artistic dividend — Arts are an essential element of the cultural economy that attract creative thinkers from other fields to our city.
We believe in the transformative power of Art — Art can lead to healthy growth in marginalized communities
We believe in community outreach — Arts can fortify existing communities and traditional cultures
We believe in empowerment — Community design/build projects give artists control and connect them to their creations
We believe artists imagine our future
Our Space:
Space 4 Art currently provides 30 affordable work studios and 5 affordable work/live studios for 40 of San Diego’s finest artists, designers, and craftspeople.
The centrally located facility has an abundance of natural light, a spacious gallery, multiple shared community spaces, including an outdoor patio, a performance space, and a classroom.
Space 4 Art also offers support facilities for artists working in a variety of creative media — from painting and printmaking to welding and woodworking.
In addition to their work as volunteer builders, the tenant/artists of Space 4 Art participate in a collective and perform eight hours of service every month to keep costs down and their rent affordable. Tenant/artists are also contributing members of one of five highly specialized and productive committees focusing on areas such as education and resource development.
Our Goals:
To grow our idea through the eventual acquisition of a permanent facility.
To dramatically increase the number of work/live units available, thereby attracting more emerging artists to San Diego.
Our History:
In December of 2008, over 150 concerned citizens participated in a series of community meetings focused on difficulties faced by San Diego’s working artists. The group identified a pressing need — affordable work/live studios.
In the months following these meetings, an online survey of 300 local artists helped to define the types of spaces and locations required. The survey results inspired two intensive, multi-day design sessions in which professionals and community members met to conceive ideas for a potential space.
These intense periods of design activity, or charrettes as they are called, generated the fundamental guiding principles of Space 4 Art: to encourage an exchange of creative ideas by establishing a gathering place for artists and a destination for the public; also to reach out to the community by providing educational opportunities and fostering cultural diversity.
In December of 2009, Space 4 Art signed the lease for our interim Arts Center in three adjacent warehouses located in San Diego’s East Village. Work began on New Years Day of 2010. Since then, professionals have worked with volunteers in a series of “Community builds,” fabricating modular panels and outfitting each studio to match the artistic needs of the tenant.
