SPACE is proud to announce the opening of the fifth annual Rent-Free Studio Program for the 2024-2025 year!
Applications are open today through September 25th, 2024, and will be juried by previous years’ recipients. This 2024-2025 application cycle will award two (2) artist studios and four (4) residencies. The notification date for awardees is October 10th, 2024, with a projected move-in of either October 15th or November 1st, 2024.
In September of 2020, SPACE launched the Rent-Free Studio Program at 536 Congress Street. This program offers 12 months of free studio space to Black, Brown, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, and/or other artists of color living in Maine. All studio artists have 24-hour access to their private studios, with wifi, updated electrical, access to single-stall bathrooms, and a small shared kitchen. In addition to the studio, awardees will have a listing on SPACE’s website with links to projects, and opportunities to participate in open studio events. SPACE’s studio building is non-smoking, and communal spaces are cleaned regularly. All studio tenants are given contact information for SPACE staff for any issues that arise regarding studio access, maintenance, or safety concerns. Our studios are accessed via a staircase at the 536 Congress Street entrance at this time. SPACE is working on a multi-year accessibility plan for our facilities.
Past artists-in-residence are encouraged to reapply for a full-year studio opportunity. Those artists who have received rent-free studios in the past are not eligible to reapply. They have been offered an opportunity to keep their studio without being put on the waitlist.
We strongly encourage you to nominate someone who you think would be a good fit for SPACE’s Rent-Free program! To nominate an artist, email jocelyn@space538.org with your nominee’s contact information.
If you are interested in contributing to the Rent-Free Studio Program, please contact Executive Director Kelsey Halliday Johnson at director@space538.org or Managing Director Jocelyn Leighton at jocelyn@space538.org, or visit our website’s donation page at https://space538.org/support. Thank you!
Cover image: Window installation and exhibition by Martha Rich, 2024
