Artspace facts for kids

Artspace is a cool art gallery and non-profit group in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. It shows off amazing art exhibits, outdoor art pieces, and hosts a big yearly "Open Studios" event. Artspace also has a special art program just for teens!

This organization has been praised for its awesome art by groups like the National Endowment for the Arts and the Warhol Foundation. The Artspace gallery is located at 50 Orange Street in New Haven. It has about 5,000 square feet (465 square meters) of space for art shows, workshops, and offices.

Artspace's Story

Artspace started way back in 1984. A group of artists in New Haven wanted a special place to show their work. They were disappointed when a promised art space at the Shubert Theatre was cancelled. So, they decided to create their own "art space"!

At first, Artspace didn't have a permanent home. Instead, they used all sorts of interesting places for art shows and performances. Imagine art in old factories (where they used to make tires or even Erector Sets!), public libraries, schools, city buses, and empty stores.

In 1987, Artspace officially opened its own exhibition and performance space at 70 Audubon Street. They held over 120 big art shows, often about important topics in New Haven. They also had a small theater festival, music shows, and a jazz series. This jazz series later became its own non-profit group called JazzHaven.

Artspace also had a "Summer Arts for Youth" (SAY!) program. This program let high school students work with local artists for a summer. In 1998, Artspace decided to sell its building to save money. For a few years, it was without a home again. But by 2002, it found a new gallery space with help from the city!

In 2001, Artspace worked with the City of New Haven to fix up an old furniture factory. This building, which opened in April 2002, became Artspace's new Center for Contemporary Art. It has flexible spaces for group shows, solo exhibits, and even art in the windows. In 2004, Artspace also started using "The Lot," an outdoor space, for temporary public sculptures.

Today, Artspace shows different kinds of art, including themed group shows and solo exhibits. They also have a collection of 300 artworks on paper by local artists. The art at The Lot changes twice a year. Artspace also runs fun education programs for public school students in New Haven. These programs include tours, summer art workshops, and printmaking and photography classes. All these programs are free for students! Every year, Artspace also hosts "City-Wide Open Studios," a month-long art festival.

Cool Art Shows at Artspace

Art and Justice: Arresting Patterns

This important art show featured artists whose work looked at how unfair patterns can happen in the American justice system. The art showed how repeating actions and ideas can lead to many people being held in prison. It highlighted the need for changes in how sentences are given out.

Artspace worked with New Haven painter Titus Kaphar on this show. The idea for "Arresting Patterns" came from Kaphar's "The Jerome Project." He searched for his father's name in the prison system and found 99 other African American men with the same name. Kaphar then recreated their mugshots in the style of old religious paintings.

The "Arresting Patterns" show included art by Jamal Cyrus, Maria Gaspar, Lauri Jo Reynolds, Dread Scott, Iyaba Ibo Mandingo, Adrian Piper, and Andy Warhol. High school students from New Haven also worked with Kaphar to create their own version of "The Jerome Project."

In September 2015, Artspace and the Yale University Art Gallery held a conference about "Arresting Patterns." It brought together artists, lawmakers, and activists to talk about art, justice, and community. The show later traveled to the African American Museum in Philadelphia from April 2015 to September 2016.

Forced Collaboration II

This unique show (May 10 - June 28, 2014) brought together 12 artists who had very different styles. The artists didn't know each other. The curator, Jacob Rhodes, chose them to trade a finished artwork. Then, each artist had to change or "re-create" the other artist's work in any way they wanted! This led to some surprising and creative results.

Artists featured included Chris Bors, Daniel Bozhkov, Oliver Herring, and Mariah Robertson.

50,000 Beds

In 2007, artist Chris Doyle challenged 45 artists to explore 45 hotel rooms across Connecticut. The result was a three-part art show at Artspace, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, and Real Art Ways.

The number 50,000 is about how many beds are in hotels and motels in Connecticut. Artists made short videos about these rooms, seeing them as places full of stories. A hotel room can feel both familiar and strange, private and anonymous. The videos showed many different artistic ideas, from funny stories to documentaries.

101 Dresses

In 2007, Artspace celebrated local children's author Eleanor Estes. This show featured over 101 art pieces about fashion, using painting, sculpture, photography, and digital art. Local and national artists, fashion designers, and collectors contributed.

The show opened on what would have been Estes's 101st birthday. Estes wrote famous children's books like Ginger Pye and The Moffats. The idea for the show came from her bestselling book, The Hundred Dresses. This book is a great example of how fashion can inspire art. The artists in the show explored how clothes can tell their own stories.

Sixty artists contributed, including Mimi Smith, Zac Posen, Yoko Ono, Laurie Simmons, and Andy Warhol. You could also see one of Louis Slobodkin’s original drawings from Estes's book and a copy of a dress worn by poet Emily Dickinson.

Factory Direct

In 2004, Artspace wanted to explore how art and industry connect. Curator Denise Markonish worked with local artists, businesses, and factories in the New Haven area. Artists spent 1-3 months working inside these factories. During this time, artists and factory workers teamed up to see how they both use creativity and problem-solving.

The show, called "Factory Direct: New Haven," featured artwork that showed the history, community, materials, and processes of the factories. It included sounds, images, videos, and interactive art.

City-Wide Open Studios (CWOS)

New Haven's City-Wide Open Studios is a yearly event that celebrates modern art. It was started by Marianne Bernstein, Helen Kauder, and Linn Meyers.

CWOS aims to:

• Help artists connect with the public and each other.
• Give all artists a chance to show and sell their work.
• Make the community proud of its artists.
• Bring thousands of visitors from other states to New Haven.
• Show off empty historic buildings by using them as art spaces, helping them get new life.

This festival lasts for three weekends. It includes a main show at Artspace's gallery, featuring one piece from every artist. One weekend is dedicated to studios at Erector Square, an old factory site. There's also a weekend for private galleries with bike and bus tours.

What makes CWOS special is the "Alternative Space" weekend. Artists who don't have their own studios, or artists from other parts of Connecticut, can show their work in empty historic buildings. Artspace turns these buildings into temporary art galleries, helping with their future use. Past Alternative Space locations include old research labs, the Pirelli Building, and the former Hamden Middle School. In October 2018, the Alternative Space weekend was held at Yale West Campus.

As The New Haven Advocate newspaper said, "No other cultural event... brings the city so close together and involves the city so intensely."

Teen Program

Artspace has had a special education program since 2001. It includes:

• A summer program where a master artist works with 12-15 high school students. They create new art together about a specific topic.
• Artists working with high school students in their schools.
• An after-school photography program called "Literacy Through Photography" (LTP). Artspace started this program in 2002 with the help of LTP founder Wendy Ewald.
• An after-school "teen docent" program. Students learn to give tours of art shows and even help choose art for exhibits.

Each program ends with a public art show. Students also get special portfolios of their work to use for school or job applications.

The Summer Apprenticeship Program (SAP) is a big part of Artspace's work with young people. It's a special chance for a small group of New Haven high school students to work closely with a master artist for three weeks each summer.

In 2001, the first year of the program, Artspace worked with famous Connecticut artist Sol LeWitt. Teens helped create a series of wall drawings that were shown at Artspace. In 2017, acclaimed photographer Nona Faustine worked with students on self-portraits. In 2018, potter Roberto Lugo taught students to make ceramic art with strong social messages.

Here are some past SAP projects:

• 2001: Wall Drawings with Sol LeWitt
• 2002: On the Day I Was Born with David Pease
• 2003: View From Here with Lee Boronson
• 2004: The Ball Project with Danny O
• 2005: Organic Bending with Shih-Chieh Huang
• 2006: Ensemble with Jean Shin
• 2007: Victim with Larissa Hall
• 2008: Hawaii with William Downs
• 2009: Babel Collections with Carolyn Salas
• 2010: Tag and Repeat x 2 with Cat Balco
• 2011: Trellised Bench with Boris Chesakov and Ryan Wolfe
• 2012: Occupy Main Street with Felandus Thames
• 2012: (Art)iculate alumni show
• 2013: Pop & Op with Erika Van Natta
• 2014: Mobile Museum of American Artifacts with Laurelin Kruse
• 2015: Arresting Patterns with Titus Kaphar, Aaron Jafferis, and Dexter Singleton
• 2016: Stages of Kingdom and Exile with Wardell Milan
• 2017: Masturbartory Delusions with lead artist Nona Faustine
• 2018: Paying Homage: Soil and Site with Roberto Lugo
• 2019: The Sound We See: A New Haven City Symphony with Paolo Davanzo and Lisa Marr of the Echo Park Film Center

The Lot: An Outdoor Art Space

The Lot is Artspace's special outdoor park and public art area. It's located near Artspace at 812 Chapel Street, right by a busy bus stop. Artspace has been showing temporary art here since 1999. In 2005, they fixed it up to be a dedicated art space with help from local and federal groups.

The Lot is a square space, about 90 by 90 feet (27 by 27 meters). It faces Chapel Street and has a small path to Orange Street. The sides of nearby buildings border the space. Around the edges, seven 25-foot (7.6-meter) poles hold lights and hardware for hanging artwork. The Lot is always open to the public, 24 hours a day!

The Lot's Early Days

The Lot used to be an empty space where the Phoenix Building once stood. This building was designed by Henry Austin, who also designed the Grove Street Cemetery gates. The building was torn down in the late 1990s because it wasn't safe, leaving a lot full of rubble.

In 1999, Marianne Bernstein, who helped start Artspace's untitled(space) gallery, saw the potential of this empty lot for public art. She asked Mayor DeStefano for permission. The first project there was "New Haven Labyrinth." Local artists, led by Sharon Kurland, created a maze using local river rocks painted by over 2,500 local people.

For the next two years, Artspace continued to have shows at The Lot. This included "Line," a big sculpture show, and "365 Bales" by Stephen Grossman. This last art piece, made of 365 fresh bales of hay, was moved to a field in Bethany, CT, because the Fire Marshall thought it was too risky.

Making The Lot Better

In 2001, Artspace, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, and Project for Public Spaces held a community meeting about The Lot. Artists and local residents shared ideas for fixing up the space. They suggested adding plants, paths, benches, and a new bus shelter.

To make this happen, Artspace worked with design firms and city groups. They even used stones recycled from the old Phoenix Building to make benches. The design for The Lot won an award from the American Society of Landscape Architects.

Art Shows at The Lot

When the renovations were finished in 2005, Artspace asked artists to send in ideas for temporary public art projects. These projects needed to fit well with The Lot's new purpose as a welcoming space for people walking by or waiting for the bus. A special committee chose the projects.

Some of the art shows at The Lot include:

• Christopher Fennell: Tree Dome (2005–2006), a quiet space made from collected wood.
• DeWitt Godfrey: Pamplona (2006), giant rusty loops of metal filling the entrance to The Lot.
• Micah Silver and Colby Brown: The Phoenix (2006), an art piece made of sounds found in New Haven.
• June Bisantz Evans: Directions for Use (2006–2007), fun signs that encouraged people to interact.
• Colin McMullan: A Lot in Our Lives (2007), interactive sculptures including outdoor libraries for books and objects.
• William Lamson: Long Shot (2009–2010), a huge basketball court.
• Siebren Versteeg and Paul Theriault, Particular Heights (2010–2011), a swing designed to measure joy.
• Leeza Meksin: Flossing the Lot (2012), an art piece with recycled printed fabric hanging vertically against the walls.
• The Play House: Beyond What Was (2012) with Marianne Bernstein. Artists worked inside a clear cube during the day, talking with the public. At night, the cube became a screen for projections.
• Polychromasia (2013), a show of paintings by Ficre Ghebreyesus.

The Lot has also hosted two projects where famous artists worked with local high school students as part of Artspace's teen programs:

• Babel Collections with Carolyn Salas (2009)
• Tag & Repeat x 2 with Cat Balco (2010–2011)

Many groups have helped support The Lot, including United Illuminating and CT Transit.