D.C. GlassWorks, an open glassblowing and sculpture facility in Edmonston, will be shutting down this month.
The facility was much-loved among local artists for giving them access to serious glassblowing equipment without requiring staff supervision or expensive classes.
But it was also popular for cheap and fun classes in which anybody could show up without prior experience and leave with a glass ornament or paperweight they had made.
“DC GlassWorks was founded on the idea that glassblowing should be accessible to all persons and became a place where a person could start off with no glass experience and, through training, hard work, and perseverance, could make the work they wanted,” the owners wrote in a farewell note.
The studio first came to Edmonston 15 years ago because it was cheap real estate off the beaten path, but it ended up falling victim to the area’s recent redevelopment.
“Our neighboring businesses have changed and, unfortunately, the business models of these new neighbors have forced us to reduce our events and offerings,” the owners wrote. “In the end, location matters.”
Some of D.C. GlassWorks resident artists are attempting to keep their studios in the building open and are seeking other artists to rent the remaining spaces. Studios are individually wired and walled, with 200 to 300 square feet, with rents starting at $300 a month. Rent comes with use of a shared gallery and exhibit space.
For more information, contact Kevin Mitchell at kempaint@hotmail.com.
Classic…the Arts District becomes too expensive for artists.
It’s a real loss to see David D’Orio and DC GlassWorks go. Many places in the Gateway Arts District were and have been too expensive for artists for as long as I have been here (that’s 27 yrs). That’s a situation we continue to deal with in a number of ways. But in this instance DC GlassWorks is not in the Gateway Arts District, it’s in an adjoining industrial area whose market mechanisms are governed by very different dynamics.
And the owners didn’t say this was gentrification-based displacement. Perhaps the article’s authors concluded that. But DC GlassWorks state in a note on their website that “location” and “good neighbors matter”. “… neighboring businesses have changed and, unfortunately, the business models of these new neighbors have forced us to reduce our events and offerings,” the owners wrote. “In the end, location matters.” That could mean many things. Parking issues, code compliance, and a host of other factors are also likely at play.
The gentrification dog just doesn’t hunt in this tale. Some larger building spaces in that 46th Avenue corridor lease at $7.95/SF/year for the facility. Enterprising collectives can organize to take advantage of that. The rents quoted at the end of the piece for the remaining studio spaces (200-300 SF @) range anywhere from $13–$18/SF/ year. That is not nearly at the top end of studio space costs for facilities here in the Gateway Arts District. It’s low-to-mid-range. Twenty-five years ago I used to sublet out half my studio space for $8/SF/year. That’s not a considerable price inflation. My home value within the same time period in the Arts District has tripled.
Some gentrification takes place with displacement, as in DC. Some gentrification does not generate much displacement. But it does engender profit taking on the part of departing property owners. that has been more the phenomenon in our neck of the woods.
Well considered and interesting— thanks for posting, Stuart.