Box 13, a new nonprofit artists studio/exhibition space signed a three-year lease yesterday for a 13,000 square foot building at 6700 Harrisburg at Cesar Chavez in Houston. The building, built in 1948, as a sewing machine shop will house 13 artist studios, two exhibition spaces, and a window installation space that will be accepting artist proposals. The core of the new tenants is composed of victims of the recent CSAW debacle: Kathy Kelley , Elaine Bradford, Michael Henderson, Whitney Riley, Teresa O’Connor and Young-Min Kang, with the addition of Mat Wolff and the Buffalo Bayou Art Park‘s offices. Six additional candidates will be interviewing for the still-vacant spaces tomorrow, at the end of a group sponsored workday to prepare the space for occupancy.
Spaces vary from 200-1000 sf. The group hopes to raise enough money to keep the artist’s cost at 70 cents per square foot as they take over the building’s operating costs. The owners are cooperating: this year the group will pay only rent, shouldering the insurance and property taxes over time.
"We’re focusing on unreasonable artists", said Kathy Kelley, one of the group’s organizers. "We jumped off the ledge, and we’re swimming. There’s no going back."
