Advertising an Artist's Studio Space
December 12, 2018 10:39 AM Subscribe
Where do I advertise an artist's studio space in NYC? I've advertised in several places already, but I worry I'm not connecting. How do I find my audience or how can I help them find me?
The space has some drawbacks: You have to go through the apartment to get to it and it doesn't have a slop sink. But it has several benefits too: It's nearly 1000 square feet. It's newly repainted. It's priced at a little more than $1/sf, and it would be excellent for "dry media."
I've advertised repeatedly on Craigslist, Listings Project and, for a time, at the New York Foundation for the Arts. I've also put up a few flyers at local art schools. But it's not connecting, and I need a commitment before Christmas, if at all possible. This isn't my forte, and I have no experience in this sort of thing.
Any ideas!?!
The space has some drawbacks: You have to go through the apartment to get to it and it doesn't have a slop sink. But it has several benefits too: It's nearly 1000 square feet. It's newly repainted. It's priced at a little more than $1/sf, and it would be excellent for "dry media."
I've advertised repeatedly on Craigslist, Listings Project and, for a time, at the New York Foundation for the Arts. I've also put up a few flyers at local art schools. But it's not connecting, and I need a commitment before Christmas, if at all possible. This isn't my forte, and I have no experience in this sort of thing.
Any ideas!?!
I know nothing about the NYC retail market. But even if Craigslist is not the end-all-be-all it once was (I assume you've tried Facebook too?), it is still pretty popular. If you're not getting bites, and the ad is reasonably decent, likely the price is simply too high.
posted by crazy with stars at 10:58 AM on December 12, 2018
posted by crazy with stars at 10:58 AM on December 12, 2018
Best answer: Craigslist and do you know ANY NYC artists who could share it in Facebook? They'll be connected to other artists. (If you post it as public on Facebook, send me a link via MeMail and I'll share it and ask my NYC artist friends to do the same.)
posted by DarlingBri at 11:01 AM on December 12, 2018
posted by DarlingBri at 11:01 AM on December 12, 2018
What neighborhood is it in? If it's not smack in the middle of prime artist territory, with high ceilings and great windows, the price is likely too high.
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:16 AM on December 12, 2018
posted by thegreatfleecircus at 11:16 AM on December 12, 2018
Yeah, it might help if you tell us what part of the city it's in.
posted by mareli at 11:56 AM on December 12, 2018
posted by mareli at 11:56 AM on December 12, 2018
As an artist in NYC who would potentially be on the market for a space like this, my thoughts are:
- Who's your target tenant here? $1000+ a month is a lot of money for the working artists I know who are already being squeezed by rent and health insurance, and it's WAY too much money for most students.
- How long of a commitment are you looking for? How formal? Would they be signing a lease or is this more of an informal sublet? Do you own the apartment? If you're renting, is this above board with the landlord?
- What would their access to the space be like? Could they use it during weird hours? Is this basically an extra bedroom at the back of your apartment, such that they'd be going through your living space to use it? Would they have their own key? What's the bathroom situation? Would they be able to use your kitchen? How about outlets? Does the door have its own lock? Could they leave a computer there?
- What furniture is already there? What floor is it on, and is there an elevator? If there's no elevator, are the stairs very narrow/difficult to navigate while carrying large objects? If someone wanted to bring in a drawing table, say, how hard would that be to do?
- Would you be willing to let this space to multiple artists? 1000 square feet is enough room for a small collective to all have their own desks.
- Are you also an artist? What kind of a relationship are you looking to have with a potential tenant?
- Is the space well-lit? Well heated? Is there AC in the summer?
- How close is this to the subway? What borough? What neighborhood?
.....honestly I could go on, but this was all what leapt to mind immediately!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:00 PM on December 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
- Who's your target tenant here? $1000+ a month is a lot of money for the working artists I know who are already being squeezed by rent and health insurance, and it's WAY too much money for most students.
- How long of a commitment are you looking for? How formal? Would they be signing a lease or is this more of an informal sublet? Do you own the apartment? If you're renting, is this above board with the landlord?
- What would their access to the space be like? Could they use it during weird hours? Is this basically an extra bedroom at the back of your apartment, such that they'd be going through your living space to use it? Would they have their own key? What's the bathroom situation? Would they be able to use your kitchen? How about outlets? Does the door have its own lock? Could they leave a computer there?
- What furniture is already there? What floor is it on, and is there an elevator? If there's no elevator, are the stairs very narrow/difficult to navigate while carrying large objects? If someone wanted to bring in a drawing table, say, how hard would that be to do?
- Would you be willing to let this space to multiple artists? 1000 square feet is enough room for a small collective to all have their own desks.
- Are you also an artist? What kind of a relationship are you looking to have with a potential tenant?
- Is the space well-lit? Well heated? Is there AC in the summer?
- How close is this to the subway? What borough? What neighborhood?
.....honestly I could go on, but this was all what leapt to mind immediately!
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:00 PM on December 12, 2018 [7 favorites]
Also: is it the same space you're talking about in this question? If so, a big question for me as a potential tenant would be why you're trying to rent it as a studio space instead of a bedroom. I would be asking myself if you're hoping to get help with your rent without having to deal with a full-on roommate, which would in turn make me nervous that you'll be weird about my wanting to spend a lot of time in the space, or use your bathroom, or keep my lunch in your fridge, or just generally be able to use this as studio space in a way that's compatible with my own needs and schedule. The point of a studio is to reduce stress by having a workspace separate from one's home, where one can focus on art without the distractions of roommates or family or other responsibilities, and without having to clean up your works in progress. I would be worried about this kind of setup not being compatible with those needs, and would want to be specifically reassured that those worries were unfounded.
All of which is to say, I wonder if something about your listing is setting off alarm bells with people for any of the above reasons, such that they then aren't contacting you.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:10 PM on December 12, 2018 [9 favorites]
All of which is to say, I wonder if something about your listing is setting off alarm bells with people for any of the above reasons, such that they then aren't contacting you.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:10 PM on December 12, 2018 [9 favorites]
Ditto to everything Narrative Priorities said.
If it's the same space, and if you can live there, advertising it as a live/work space on Craigslist or Listings Project will be incredibly attractive to many people.
Do you have windows / adequate light? If you don't, or if it's a basement, you might have to go under $1/sqft.
If you posted the listings you currently have out there, it might help us give feedback on your posting.
posted by suedehead at 12:47 PM on December 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
If it's the same space, and if you can live there, advertising it as a live/work space on Craigslist or Listings Project will be incredibly attractive to many people.
Do you have windows / adequate light? If you don't, or if it's a basement, you might have to go under $1/sqft.
If you posted the listings you currently have out there, it might help us give feedback on your posting.
posted by suedehead at 12:47 PM on December 12, 2018 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: A few quick answers:
The space is in Brooklyn near an art school. It's historically been rented as an artist's space, and it's done up as such -- long, uninterrupted white space with a few columns -- and was long before my time here. Artist friends I know who've seen it (who, like me, are not connected to any art groups on social media/Facebook) all admired the size and scope of the space with no prodding from me. I also should have added above, it has no windows.
I think the price is about right. Typically, it's been used by people making all/most of their living on their craft who are looking for cheap space, including a small group of podcasters and videomakers, someone who ran a weekly meditation class there, a painter. (Note that the average artist's studio in NYC is $5/square foot, and this is only 1/5th of that.)
One of my other unconnected artist friends noted it would likely work best for "dry media," but there have been painters in there in the past. It's basically a flexible space, and I'm fairly flexible about how it's used. In the time I've lived here, it's sometimes been used for meetings, but not superlate nights; it's never been used every single day.
Anyway, it took me a long time to get decent pictures of the space because the former renters had stuff in there until recently, and once I did, I started getting about 1 response/day. But thus far they've tended to be from semi-industrial (someone with a semi-large-scale video or printing team) types rather than individual (or paired) creators of varying sorts. The latter is my target.
At this point, I'm posting on Craigslist 2-3x/day because I'm competing against so many developers the ad gets lost if I don't. I've gotten very little response from Listings Project (though the pics were worse when I advertised there). I got no response from the NY Foundation for the Arts. I've also gotten no response from fliers at art schools and such. I posted an ad on Facebook just now as @DarlingBri and others suggested, but I have very few local friends on there, as I don't use it, and I don't know the ins and outs of posting there.
Thus: Any other ideas? Any tips on how to get the most out of Facebook?
Note to @NarrativePriorities: A lot of what you mention in your first post is either addressed in the ad or comes up in person when I talk to folks about the space. In answer to your second post: no; I also don't think alarm bells are going off, I just don't think enough of the right eyes are seeing it.
posted by Violet Blue at 12:53 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
The space is in Brooklyn near an art school. It's historically been rented as an artist's space, and it's done up as such -- long, uninterrupted white space with a few columns -- and was long before my time here. Artist friends I know who've seen it (who, like me, are not connected to any art groups on social media/Facebook) all admired the size and scope of the space with no prodding from me. I also should have added above, it has no windows.
I think the price is about right. Typically, it's been used by people making all/most of their living on their craft who are looking for cheap space, including a small group of podcasters and videomakers, someone who ran a weekly meditation class there, a painter. (Note that the average artist's studio in NYC is $5/square foot, and this is only 1/5th of that.)
One of my other unconnected artist friends noted it would likely work best for "dry media," but there have been painters in there in the past. It's basically a flexible space, and I'm fairly flexible about how it's used. In the time I've lived here, it's sometimes been used for meetings, but not superlate nights; it's never been used every single day.
Anyway, it took me a long time to get decent pictures of the space because the former renters had stuff in there until recently, and once I did, I started getting about 1 response/day. But thus far they've tended to be from semi-industrial (someone with a semi-large-scale video or printing team) types rather than individual (or paired) creators of varying sorts. The latter is my target.
At this point, I'm posting on Craigslist 2-3x/day because I'm competing against so many developers the ad gets lost if I don't. I've gotten very little response from Listings Project (though the pics were worse when I advertised there). I got no response from the NY Foundation for the Arts. I've also gotten no response from fliers at art schools and such. I posted an ad on Facebook just now as @DarlingBri and others suggested, but I have very few local friends on there, as I don't use it, and I don't know the ins and outs of posting there.
Thus: Any other ideas? Any tips on how to get the most out of Facebook?
Note to @NarrativePriorities: A lot of what you mention in your first post is either addressed in the ad or comes up in person when I talk to folks about the space. In answer to your second post: no; I also don't think alarm bells are going off, I just don't think enough of the right eyes are seeing it.
posted by Violet Blue at 12:53 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: p.s. It's absolutely not a live-work space.
posted by Violet Blue at 12:53 PM on December 12, 2018
posted by Violet Blue at 12:53 PM on December 12, 2018
Best answer: Signs at Pratt, Blick, SVA, Cooper Union, New School, Davinci, Jerry’s, and other art stores. Also ads at frame shops if they have bulletin boards. Try to contact instructors at art students league, and other smaller art schools.
Also reach out to anyone in your network who might know artists who might know interested parties.
posted by bilabial at 1:04 PM on December 12, 2018
Also reach out to anyone in your network who might know artists who might know interested parties.
posted by bilabial at 1:04 PM on December 12, 2018
With Facebook, you want to post in the relevant housing groups. Others might have more useful suggestions: this group looks promising, for example.
I agree with others that posting your particular ad might give you more useful specific advice. You could post the link in your Metafilter use profile and then remove it later if you're worried about privacy.
posted by crazy with stars at 1:15 PM on December 12, 2018
I agree with others that posting your particular ad might give you more useful specific advice. You could post the link in your Metafilter use profile and then remove it later if you're worried about privacy.
posted by crazy with stars at 1:15 PM on December 12, 2018
I actually found your post on craigslist, so here's some feedback based on that:
- Name the square footage & cost in the title, instead of the $/sqft.
- Your space looks really small in the photos. Get a camera with a wide-angle lens and take a photo, because the photos make it look a little cramped, and much smaller than it probably is. This is probably thanks to the low ceilings. Get rid of the tile floor photo
- Note the overall dimensions of the room (e.g. 40' x 20'), etc, which will help people actually get a sense of how large it is
- If you have photos of it being used in the past as a meditation space, I think that would actually be helpful, because it might let people envision how it could feel like, rather than as an empty basement
- 2 months deposit is a lot.
- To be brutally honest, for $1000/mo, I could find better spaces out there. I have a studio myself, and have looked at a lot of different spaces (like 30+), and would rather pay the same but have a smaller space with windows, etc. I would maybe pay $700/mo for the space.
- If you want to get really scrappy -- you might be able to install a slop sink in the basement, using a slop sink, a utility pump, and some pex or heavy-duty hose. If you can do it yourself, or find a handyman who's willing to, then this might raise the value of the space.
Hope that helps!
posted by suedehead at 1:16 PM on December 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
- Name the square footage & cost in the title, instead of the $/sqft.
- Your space looks really small in the photos. Get a camera with a wide-angle lens and take a photo, because the photos make it look a little cramped, and much smaller than it probably is. This is probably thanks to the low ceilings. Get rid of the tile floor photo
- Note the overall dimensions of the room (e.g. 40' x 20'), etc, which will help people actually get a sense of how large it is
- If you have photos of it being used in the past as a meditation space, I think that would actually be helpful, because it might let people envision how it could feel like, rather than as an empty basement
- 2 months deposit is a lot.
- To be brutally honest, for $1000/mo, I could find better spaces out there. I have a studio myself, and have looked at a lot of different spaces (like 30+), and would rather pay the same but have a smaller space with windows, etc. I would maybe pay $700/mo for the space.
- If you want to get really scrappy -- you might be able to install a slop sink in the basement, using a slop sink, a utility pump, and some pex or heavy-duty hose. If you can do it yourself, or find a handyman who's willing to, then this might raise the value of the space.
Hope that helps!
posted by suedehead at 1:16 PM on December 12, 2018 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks for your thoughts, @suedehead. You're right about the pics. For the record, though, it's only 1 month security deposit, not 2. Also, the space has rented for just about the current rate for the last few years, but not everything is for everyone :>
posted by Violet Blue at 2:00 PM on December 12, 2018
posted by Violet Blue at 2:00 PM on December 12, 2018
Best answer: You could try listing it in this Facebook group.
posted by xo at 3:39 PM on December 12, 2018
posted by xo at 3:39 PM on December 12, 2018
Is it possible that there are just fewer artists nearby of the right demographic to match your space? I’m not suuuper familiar with that part of town, but...If you’re near Pratt, that area has gotten a lot more expensive of late. Maybe the working artists have moved on?
In any case, I’m probably about your target audience, and I wouldn’t pay $1000 for a basement, especially with access through an apartment. I would be unlikely to pay $500 for half a basement. I’ve always managed to find apartments with an extra windowed room, where the cost comes to about $300/month for the extra space. I would only be interested in a space like yours if I really needed a large space or if it were exceptionally cheap or convenient.
posted by the_blizz at 5:08 PM on December 12, 2018
In any case, I’m probably about your target audience, and I wouldn’t pay $1000 for a basement, especially with access through an apartment. I would be unlikely to pay $500 for half a basement. I’ve always managed to find apartments with an extra windowed room, where the cost comes to about $300/month for the extra space. I would only be interested in a space like yours if I really needed a large space or if it were exceptionally cheap or convenient.
posted by the_blizz at 5:08 PM on December 12, 2018
Oh, also—at least for residential places, this is the slow time in the rental market. Rents tend to get discounted this time of your. When did your other subtenants start?
posted by the_blizz at 5:13 PM on December 12, 2018
posted by the_blizz at 5:13 PM on December 12, 2018
Response by poster: In any case, I’m probably about your target audience, and I wouldn’t pay $1000 for a basement, especially with access through an apartment. I would be unlikely to pay $500 for half a basement. I’ve always managed to find apartments with an extra windowed room, where the cost comes to about $300/month for the extra space.
No, actually, I don't think you're my target audience, as you need windows, and fair enough.
I would only be interested in a space like yours if I really needed a large space or if it were exceptionally cheap or convenient.
This is my target audience, and the last rental, which lasted two years was in December, too. Thanks for all your ideas, everyone. If anyone can think of anything else, I'm still listening.
posted by Violet Blue at 5:28 PM on December 12, 2018
No, actually, I don't think you're my target audience, as you need windows, and fair enough.
I would only be interested in a space like yours if I really needed a large space or if it were exceptionally cheap or convenient.
This is my target audience, and the last rental, which lasted two years was in December, too. Thanks for all your ideas, everyone. If anyone can think of anything else, I'm still listening.
posted by Violet Blue at 5:28 PM on December 12, 2018
Soooo, a couple years back, I used to have a finished basement of my garden apartment. No windows. No slop sink. Entrance through apartment only. Huge, white columns, a couple blocks from Pratt. Hey maybe you live in my old apartment, I don't know. But I rented it to my "artist in residence" for $200/mo bc of its limitations (no deposits or anything even). And I had no problem at all doing so. So I would again reconsider you lowering the rent if you really want it occupied.
But for what it's worth I think I listed it on CL and Listings Project mostly.
posted by greta simone at 7:34 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
But for what it's worth I think I listed it on CL and Listings Project mostly.
posted by greta simone at 7:34 PM on December 12, 2018 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
Art Students League? Facebook groups? Any related subreddits?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:57 AM on December 12, 2018