‘Artists forced out of cities by upturn’

Artists are facing a ‘crisis’ in securing spaces within cities in which they can work, according to the Arts Council.

The Council’s 2015 report has warned that while last year “saw a stabilisation of funding after many years.. the ecosystem supporting the arts is significantly weakened.”

“Amidst an emerging national housing crisis, artists faced those same problems personally as low income workers and as practitioners,” the report read.

“The Visual Artists’ Workspace Scheme supported 16 artist-led studio spaces throughout the country. This is a critical scheme, providing a small level of assistance towards artists accessing studio space on a day-to-day basis. Although this scheme is of some assistance, 2015 marked a year where the challenge of running artists’ workspaces emerged as an acute crisis due to multiple factors, key amongst these the impact of the improving economy has had on the property market and development in the major cities. As a result of these factors, 2015 saw a number of artist-led studio spaces closing,” the report warned.

Claire Doyle, Head of Visual Arts and Architecture, said the Arts Council is aware of a number of artists’ spaces closing, particularly in Dublin and Cork.

“As soon as commercial opportunities escalate, the opportunities for artists to work with in the city decline, they can’t compete,” she told the Irish Examiner.

“Given the current state of play, the majority of workspaces are within private landlords’ buildings, and the fluctuations in the economy means that the opportunities presented to landlords leave artists vulnerable when the market picks up,” she said.

The issue was raised in 2009, when the Arts Council published a paper on ‘Visual Artists’ Workspaces in Ireland’. It found that “an advocate is required to devise a policy and promote solutions to key stakeholders.”.

Ms Doyle said the Arts Council can and will act as a partner and advocate for artists in devising ways of accessing workspace, and help highlight the bigger issue of the diminishing in urban areas.

Sample Studios in Cork is one example of artists’ losing their city creative base. Hosting 85 artists across a variety of disciplines, the former tax office on Sullivan’s Quay is set for redevlopment and its owners BAM has requested the artists vacate the building in the coming months.

With the upturn in the economy driving demand for city centre retail spaces, Sample Studio’s tenants are not alone in wondering where they turn to next to continue their work.