The Artist-Run Initiatives map is the largest online overview of the global alternative artist-run field. This is your place to search, discover and connect with independent art spaces. The interactive map is continually updated with new artist-run initiatives, opportunities and events. Keep track of all the initiatives located in your city and get to know new spaces worldwide!
Trbovlje is a small post-industrial town of 16,000 people. It used to be a very important coal mining center from which a rich culture has emerged (most notably Laibach group). After the collapse of Yugoslavia and the industry, the closure of the mine, the town fell into economic decline and a kind of depression. Trbovlje new media setting (TNM) initiative took place in Delavski dom Trbovlje (a public cultural institution) with the idea of changing the identity of the town inhabitants from the ‘we used to be miners’ into a new, more prosperous ‘we are a town, where robots help children cross the street’. Humanisation of technology. Speculum Artium, an annual new media culture festival was born in 2009 and it grew into one of the most prominent festivals in the Central Europe. During these years we have hosted many prominent and aspiring artists like Stelarc, Hiroshi Ishiguro, Victoria Vesna, Laibach, Milica Zec, and many others. Every year we also cooperate with art academies and schools from around Europe. Last year Delavski dom also opened an art research lab and is a leader of Network of Art and Culture Research Centers (MCRUK) which further enables the festival and wider community
Trg svobode 11a, 1420 Trbovlje, Slovenia
The Border Art Residency, a non-profit organization affiliated with the El Paso Community Foundation, offers a selected artist a period of retreat for creative work in a living/studio space in the heart of El Paso, Texas. Resident artists are provided with a fully furnished living/working space, a monthly stipend of $600, and all utilities paid (except phone and Internet). The living space is a fully furnished 11 x 16’(Approximately) studio apartment.
801 N Piedras St, El Paso, TX 79903, USA
The Curatorial Collective for Public Art (CCPA) develops curatorial formats for the production, mediation and representation of art in public space, public art and urban interventions. As an agency for site-specific, transdisciplinary, critical and transitory public art, it approaches curatorial practice as a collective endeavor on the intersection of concept, organization and design. Through long-term collaborations and in reciprocal processes with artists, CCPA experiments with innovative curatorial frameworks for artworks in public space – be it a festival for urban interventions, an artistic funfair or an exhibition of ephemeral public art. CCPA was established in 2020 and consists of Yael Sherill, Lianne Mol, Julia Kawka and José Délano. The collective combines the members’ collective interests and expertise in curatorial practice, exhibition and stage design, cultural mediation, research, dramaturgy and project management in the field of site-specific theater, transdisciplinary art in public space and socially engaged practices. CCPA is an independent, nomadic collective without a fixed space, working across a variety of localities and collaborating with institutional partners and project spaces. Although based in Berlin, the collective works translocally, combining the international networks of its members. The team first worked together in 2019 in the frame of the project “Tracks in […]
Berlin, Germany
CSW Wiewiórka (en. Center for Contemporary Art Squirrel) is an artist-run space located in a 18th century salt storage in Kraków. CCA Squirrel is a base for local artists and NGOs focusing on culture and education. Additionally, the tenants organize exhibitions, workshops and residency programs. CCA Squirrel also provides art-support for activists, initiatives and environmental campaigns.
Na Zjeździe 8, 33-332 Kraków, Poland
Our Festival A cultural meeting of solidarity artists! Our Festival was created by the collectivistic art group “WE”, which grew out of a lively and dynamic community of artists with aim to support other artists to present their artworks, as well as theirs. The group’s vision is to bring together a variety of artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, interact between themselves and greek audience, exchange ideas while discovering a new artistic network. Furthermore, Our Festival cooperates with Liminal organization in order to make all events accessible to everyone, and collaborates with disabled artists in order to promote inclusion, and ensure the equal participation of all in the cultural life of the community. Since 2015, the festival has hosted 592 artists performing in 118 events and has welcomed more than 10,000 attendees. Events have included theatre and dance performances, music concerts, children’s shows, cinema and video art, circus shows and workshops for adults and children. Our Festival is an artist-run organisation and each year grows bigger as it tries to include artwork from voices all over the world and collaborate with artists and institutions both in Greece and abroad. “Two pairs of hands are always […]
Chalandri, Greece
DUPLEX | Artists in Residence is an independent artist-run-space, composed of studios, a residency program and a gallery. DUPLEX occupies an area of 1000m2 distributed by 3 main floors. The first floor is occupied by our gallery. In the second floor 10 long-term studios receive artists living in Lisbon, as well as our office. On the third floor additional 8 studios and a curator’s office are dedicated to our residency program. Seeking to stimulate creative processes, experimentation and plastic production as well as the discourse that these dynamics originate, DUPLEX presents itself as a privileged territory for the coexistence of different artists, different productions and different ways of thinking about the work of art and its context. Valuing advances and setbacks, valuing error, failure, and disruption as participants in contemporary praxis, the entire structure and functioning of DUPLEX seeks, in addition to celebrate the final results, to recognize the conceptual and procedural richness of artistic creation, and bring the public closer to it. For resident artists, DUPLEX’s artistic residency program allows a quick insertion in the artistic community of Lisbon, offering the possibility, time and space to develop and show their work. With guest visits, conversations, organized visits to studios […]
R. Angelina Vidal 31, 1170-017 Lisboa, Portugal
The REAKTOR is a privately run transdisciplinary art institution based in Vienna that opened in February 2018 on the premises of what was once the Grand Etablissement Gschwandner. Here, on a total surface area of 1,200 m2, various forms of artistic expression are brought together and made accessible to the public. The focus is on film, space-defining art and music theatre, new music, jazz and experimental interpretations of contemporary music. The defining themes of the programming are situated on the event horizon of the existence of the individual and society, expressed through art in ways that are as unusual as they are transnational. As a result, audiences are treated to a modern-day arts salon of a highly entertaining kind. The REAKTOR is a showcase, workshop, initiator, principal, and producer, all rolled into one. The highest of artistic aspirations and, consequently, critical scrutiny, exploration, enjoyment and aesthetics complement one another at the REAKTOR. Audiences are invited to consider a change of perspective through an entertaining mix of autonomous positions, sensory experiences, and surprising crossovers. Both the programming and the presentation are designed to enable audiences to gain their own personal and individual insights into the featured works.
Geblergasse 40, 1170 Vienna, Austria
Studio Next is an upcoming Artist-run art space in North Kolkata, the cultural capital of India, Surrounded by the Ganges River, the East Kolkata Wetlands, the countryside, nearby colonial remains of Dum Dum and Barrackpore Cantonment , the Kolkata Airport, Old Kolkata and the New Town. Kolkata is known as the cultural capital of India. Studio Next is a non-profit art organization founded by artists and connoisseurs to promote alternative contemporary art practice and a platform of alternative art education and cross cultural understanding. It is an artist run organization with Studio, exhibition space, projection room, local artisan accesses that supports the open exchange of ideas. This multi-dimensional cultural space is a newest addition to the location it is situated. We believe that when peoples from different parts of the world works together, they gain insights that bridge cultural divides and the sharing of ideas, skills and experiences inspires actions and enables collaboration for good. Studio Next seeks to contribute to positive social change through collaborations between artists, as well as galvanise greater community involvement in sustainable change…… Studio Next offer a creative dialogical space. A portal to rethink perceptions of culture, nature and socio-political implication of art. Faced with […]
Basunagar High School Rd, Basunagar, Madhyamgram, Kolkata, West Bengal 700129, India
SOCA was founded in 2015, an art project as an alternative art learning movement and independently support to local art students who want to learning in contemporary art that explore tactical approaches. We aim to get Knowledges and sharing each others to practicing and experimenting in contemporary art scenes. Also we aim to develop a platform for intellectual exchange and critical dialogue to collaborate in creative community of Myanmar. SOCA founded by a few of freelance local multidisciplinary artists, now running the online program and special event like artist talk, art workshops and exhibitions. Now still active in online programs and based in Yangon.
Baho Rd, Yangon, Myanmar (Burma)
Museelab is a Project space (not-for-profit) based in Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France. Museelab (local artists beaureau) engages with art and artistic activity in temporary spaces (empty shops or abandoned houses) within rural towns, this beginning in France and Europe, it is an artistic collective, and a platform for established and emerging artists to exhibit and also work on community based projects. Museelab grew out of Teststip-FILMS, that was based in London and was a project of 24/48 film events. In 2017 Museelab was transformed and brought to France as a experimental project in physical locations with a mix of artists films, collaboration projects and residencies.
31 rue d ile, 72300 Sablé-sur-Sarthe, France
Petrohradská kolektiv is an artist-run initiative with its own cultural production and original dramaturgy. It’s a meeting point of experiments and contemporary arts founded in 2015. The original idea behind Petrohradská kolektiv was to make a community space for creativity and art practice, where there’s a place for both efficient working and pleasant relaxing, where you can focus on your own projects and then take a break without the necessity of leaving the building. Artists working within Petrohradská kolektiv get space, freedom and attention. Our activities are aimed at exhibitions, educational practice, live art and creative cooperations with Czech and foreign artists. Petrohradská kolektiv wants to contribute to the meaning of “art” within society by supporting, presenting and producing art projects. The basic pillars of the initiative are Artist in Residence program, Jedna Dva Tři Gallery, the Live Arts program consisting of music and performative program. In the beginning of 2019 the allied Kafe Petrohradská café situated in our building, opened. A new club cinema Kino Petrohradská will open in 2021. Petrohradská kolektiv’s building also offers more than 30 studios rented by artists based in Prague. Over the years, more than 200 artists worked in the rented studios.
Petrohradská 13, 101 00 Praha 10-Vršovice, Czechia
SUPERORDINARY IS AN EPHEMERAL ART SPACE LOCATED IN THE BRISBANE CBD. WE PROVIDE SPACE FOR ARTISTS TO CREATE WORK, SHOW WORK AND COLLABORATE BY RECLAIMING UNUSED URBAN SPACES. Superordinary facilitates partnerships with property owners to utilise otherwise unused urban spaces in central Brisbane and repurposes them for arts projects and artistic development. Superordinary aims to provide opportunities often unavailable to artists due to economic barriers of entry. As a melting pot of energy for multi-disciplinary collaboration, our artists in residency are provided with space, opportunity and encouragement to create and innovate within a like minded community. In addition to our artistic facilitation, Superordinary provides space to emerging creative professionals to garner the support required to produce activations of their own. Our ground floor venue space will be home to many of these, as well as several immersive events and exhibitions from our artists in residence. While our current location at 62 Mary Street is temporary, the ephemeral nature of Superordinary and the community it cultivates will continue on in future spaces responding to their unique attributes. It’s what continues on between these physical spaces that defines Superordinary.
62 mary street, Brisbane, Australia
THIRD SHIFT is an annual festival of public contemporary artworks that takes place in Saint John, New Brunswick and online. THIRD SHIFT 2021 will take place from August 19 – 22, 2021. Established in 2015, THIRD SHIFT holds space for new experiences and communal exchange through the exhibition of temporary public artworks in Saint John and online. In 2020, THIRD SHIFT expanded to include digital art including animations, short films, interactive online experiences, live coding, virtual performances, and more. THIRD SHIFT will continue to support physical and digital installations (see COVID-19 FESTIVAL FRAMEWORK for more details). For more information about THIRD SHIFT and to see installations from last year’s festival, please visit the festival website. When we are having these calls it is important that all applicants think about their relationship to the land; THIRD SHIFT offers an opportunity to re-imagine and engage with the natural and built environment in what we now know as Saint John. The land on which THIRD SHIFT takes place is the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples first signed with the British crown in 1725. The treaties […]
Saint John, NB E2L 5B2, Canada
Found in 2019 by Dominik Kuschmieder and Till Terschüren in a two-story 540sqm loft. After remodeling the space the house now offers 7 artists studios, a professional workshop and community spaces as well as a garden. The whole space is dedicated to art production and acts as a base and gathering point for graduates of the HBK Braunschweig.
Frankfurter Str. 25, 38122 Braunschweig, Germany
Climanosco was launched in 2015 with the vision that we can all play a part in addressing the climate challenge – and that a first step towards doing so is to make the best knowledge about climate science accessible to everyone. Find out more at www.climanosco.org/about/. We work with climate scientists and citizens to create collections of accessible and reliable climate research articles. Browse through our research articles at www.climanosco.org/research-articles/. Further, we collaborate with artists, activists and scientists on creating interdisciplinary projects to raise awareness to climate change and to develop visions of a sustainable world.
Viaduktstrasse 95, 8005 Zürich, Switzerland
The first lockdown has driven us to a fighting spirit. Now, the second one feels more like a great melancholy. We would like to see art and culture as the very elixir of life in society. It should not occur only in Sunday speeches, not only in good times, but also, and especially in difficult times and times of crisis. Culture is a fuel for social development. But with the lockdown, an entire industry is muted without any ado. We strongly believe that we need culture to bring color and emotional warmth to our everyday life. Hence Window of FAME becomes active and opens its window for female artists. IMPRINT: Responsible for the content of this website is Tibor Foeldes & Marianne Mettler, founder and curator of the project. COPYRIGHT: All photos,Video, textes and images contributed to this website are copyright protected. The copyright lies with Window of Fame, Zürich and the corresponding authors. Each use requires the agreement of the copyright holders.
Weststrasse 136, 8003 Zürich, Switzerland
The Bomb Factory Art Foundation was founded on the premise that art, artists and creative culture offer significant value in our society. Our mission is to support artists, cultural organisations and educational institutions to engage people of all ages and backgrounds in the viewing and creation of art. The Bomb Factory enables contemporary visual arts practice to thrive through the provision of affordable studio and exhibition space as well as a supportive network of artists where peer collaboration and critique is encouraged. All resident artists support the organisation by contributing their skills and time to the public programme. Their engagement with learning and participation enables The Bomb Factory Art Foundation to demonstrate the social value of art. Over the past five years, The Bomb Factory has established itself as an important fixture on the London Contemporary Art landscape whilst also becoming a valued and important resource for the local community. The Bomb Factory attracts visitors from all over London and beyond, who engage in our exhibition and education programmes. This includes art exhibitions, screenings, workshops, performances, poetry and music events, as well as talks and performance art open mics.
2 Boothby Rd, Archway, London N19 4AA, UK
Well Well Projects is an artist-run gallery located in Portland, Oregon. Co-founded and operated by Jeremy Le Grand, Jessie Weitzel Le Grand, Katherine Spinella, and John Whitten. Well Well opened in January 2021 with the intent of giving artists gallery representation. The co-founders bring their experience as artists, partners, and operators of a variety of artist-run spaces to the table in order to enrich this project and their home base in North Portland’s Disjecta Contemporary Art Center. With a member base that is Portland focused, they aim for this project to serve as a launch pad for artists while open-calls and other opportunities seek to reach a wider audience that expands outside the Pacific Northwest region. Art exhibitions serve as an important foundation to the gallery space, and programming seeks to vary the ways in which Well Well Projects interacts with the Portland community and beyond. Alongside regular solo and group exhibitions, Well Well is developing a series of artists workshops and classes, lectures, and a shop selling publications, art objects and editions.
8371 N Interstate Ave #1, Portland, OR 97217, USA
Greylight Projects is an artist-run organization founded in 2009. It focuses on supporting artists in their researches and practices by facilitating, producing and/or organizing events. Greylight Projects has no restriction in terms of types of media or origins of the artistic practices. It has been an organic and intuitive development since the beginning focusing on the work of the artist, and how this could be increased, enhanced by others (the dialogue) and shared with a public.
Schaesbergerweg 58, 6415 AJ Heerlen, Netherlands
A4 Sounds is a non-profit artist-run workspace and gallery in north-inner-city Dublin. It is one of the biggest artist-led spaces in Ireland, currently providing facilities and professional development support to 80 artists. Our mission is to transform the means by which cultural works are produced, accessed, and understood in Ireland, and by doing so to contribute to the development of a more just society. Guided by feminist, anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and LGBT-inclusive politics, A4 Sounds supports artists and activists who fight for change.
St Joseph's Parade, Dublin, Ireland