In an exploration of coworking relationships between artists, Artsy spoke with East London’s Francis Upritchard, a sculptor who works collaboratively with designer Martino Gamper.
couple people, my parents included. They said they’d love to support me, but that this didn’t sound like a viable money-making scheme. I said I would do some research and get back to them on that because I think it is.”
“I don’t have to double up on tools,” Upritchard told Artsy. “Martino has a saw bench, welding setup, [and] tonnes of screws and fittings, which I pilfer from freely—along with the scrap wood piles.” Their arrangement saves money, and also means extra sets of hands for lifting heavy art pieces or materials.
And after considerable research and in-person interviews with fellow artists and organizations, he returned to prove that a shared artist studio had real potential not just to cover its expenses, but to turn a profit.
But there are reasons this kind of studio environment, among other small arts venues, isn’t readily available in Abbotsford. For one, there’s an assumption that because the arts aren’t viewed as lucrative, arts organizations are destined to be non-profit charities that struggle to grow with limited funding and hopefully, donors. The myth of the starving artist is pervasive. After looking for a studio space for about six months, having graduated and moved out of the senior studio with nowhere to store his materials, Klassen was continually stymied by too-high rents and spaces that don’t make sense as an art studio: there’s too little lighting, inadequate ventilation, and low ceilings that prevent contemporary arts practices. “Artists are told, the only restriction to your practice is the size of the space you work in,” Klassen says. So, he started to dream up what an affordable, open, bright, and wellventilated art space could look like in Abbotsford, drawing on his experience as a construction worker. “I kind of grew up in [construction],” he explains. “My dad owns a 30 construction company. So I presented the idea of building a space to a
“I put together a plan, with a space for 10 artists renting at $250 per person.” With that in mind, Klassen calculated it would take about 10 years to recuperate the costs of building, with the costs of renting the space factored in. “That’s a really good investment. As far as investments go, you don’t recover your costs in 10 years—more like 20 or 30 years.” Shortly after re-presenting his pitch, Klassen had the buy-in he needed to get started. Then came the work of City approval, which Klassen says didn’t come easily. One of the challenges to this kind of project is that the City of Abbotsford does not have a zoning definition that accommodates an art studio or collaborative workspace. This, Klassen suggests, is an area where the City could do better as it develops a strategy for arts and culture (a process currently underway at time of writing). “It’s one thing to say, ‘arts and culture’ and another to have an entrepreneur with a plan. If there’s no definition, we can’t integrate it [with the City’s plans]. Even if what we’re doing here is a huge step in the right direction,” says Klassen. There are examples to follow if Abbotsford did seek to define
