After grad school, a group of artists couldn’t find an affordable studio, so they decided to start their own. In addition to helping artists, this Fort Worth nonprofit also addresses another need: food insecurity.
Located in a former dry-cleaning factory on East Lancaster Avenue, Easyside offers studio space, a workshop equipped with tools and a community pantry every other Friday.
The organization is set to be founded in 2022, open in 2023 and start a food pantry in early 2024.
“We didn’t have time to wait for someone else to come along,” says Corey Thompson, one of the four co-founders. “We need this resource now, and we need to put it to good use, so we’re really focused on building it as a long-term resource.”
If you go
What: Opening reception for Lauren Walker’s “Seven Minutes in Heaven”
Date and Time: June 29th, 6pm-8pm
Where: Easyside, 3715 E. Lancaster Ave.
free entrance
Easyside will offer two tiers of membership: the first will provide access to all the tools in the common areas, a woodworking shop and mini kilns for pottery and ceramics, while the second will provide the above amenities plus a dedicated studio space.
The workshops are available to artists currently affiliated with the studio, and the nonprofit hopes to expand access more broadly soon.
Members also contribute to the space by volunteering to distribute food, creating educational programs and helping with facility maintenance.
By providing affordable space and amenities, Easyside’s founders hope to provide a good starting point for artists looking to start their own practice.
“When I was a grad student, we never really talked about starting a nonprofit. I just looked at the models that exist currently in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and there really aren’t that many artist-run spaces,” Thompson said. “Dallas has really good art museums, and a lot of commercial galleries, and we have a few here in Fort Worth, but there aren’t that many artist-run nonprofit spaces.”
While distributing food may seem an obvious odd pairing with a gallery and studio space, it was important to the co-founders to contribute to bringing resources to the community, rather than taking resources away from it.
There are few grocery stores in the area, so working with organizations like Opal’s Farm to bring in and distribute healthy food felt like one tangible way the friends could contribute.
“We’re excited about trying to put the community first in terms of our mission,” said Adriana Touch, one of the co-founders. “We can’t fix every political or other problem that’s out there, but we hope we can at least repair it and bring the community together during what feels like a time of division.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for Fort Worth Report. She can be reached at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independent of the board of directors. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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