Artspace in Richmond, Virginia facts for kids
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| Formation | 1988 |
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| Location |
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Artspace in Richmond, Virginia, is a special place where artists can show their work. It's a gallery and performance space that started in 1988. Artspace is a non-profit group, which means it doesn't try to make money for owners. Instead, any money it earns goes back into running the gallery and helping artists. It's also run by artists themselves!
Today, Artspace is located in the Manchester area of Richmond. You can find it at Zero East 4th Street inside a cool art complex called Plant Zero.
Artspace started out as "Artspace 1306" in 1988. It was in a free space at 1306 Cary Street in an old part of Richmond called Shockoe Slip. When they lost that free space, the gallery moved to North 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom. It kept the name Artspace 1306.
Later, Artspace 1306 moved again to a much bigger building. This new spot was at 6 East Broad Street in Jackson Ward. At this point, the U.S. Postal Service asked them to change their name. To avoid confusion with the old address, they dropped "1306" and simply became "Artspace."
Artspace was one of the first non-profit art galleries to open on Broad Street. It quickly became a very important gallery for Richmond's popular First Friday Art Walk. It also became a long-lasting and well-loved spot in the Arts and Cultural District of Downtown Richmond.
How Artspace Began
The idea for Artspace came from many talented artists in Richmond. These artists were part of groups like the Richmond Artists Association and the Richmond Printmaking Workshop. Some were also connected to the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts or Virginia Commonwealth University.
The very first meeting to plan Artspace happened at the home of artist Henrietta Near. Her husband, Pinkney L. Near, was a curator at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Soon after this meeting, the gallery opened in 1988. It was called Artspace 1306 because it was located at 1306 East Cary Street in Shockoe Slip.
Artspace 1306 kept its name even when it moved to North 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom. At this time, it officially became a non-profit organization. However, the gallery faced some challenges. Their rental space was small, and galleries in Shockoe Bottom sometimes flooded before the Richmond flood wall was built. There also wasn't enough parking for big crowds.
Because of these issues, Artspace 1306 moved to a larger building at 6 East Broad Street. This new location was in Jackson Ward. As mentioned before, the U.S. Postal Service asked them to remove the old street number from their name. This is how "Artspace" got its current name.
Around the year 2000, some members of Artspace had different ideas about the gallery's future. Most members voted to move Artspace to Plant Zero in the Manchester area. This new location was south of the James River.
However, six of the original founding members and supporters of Artspace decided to stay at the Broad Street location. They started a new non-profit gallery there. They named this new gallery art6. The name eventually became known as Art6 or Art 6.
