By Princess Akpotu
Spaceworks Tacoma is a non-profit organization committed to advocating for the systems that allow artists and microenterprises to thrive by championing livable wages for creatives, carrying out programs and fighting for affordable spaces where ideas can take root. Spaceworks Tacoma is affiliated with the University through the Summer Fellowship Internship program (SFI), and year after year, Puget Sound students work with them to gain experience in the professional art world. The organization was founded in 2010 as a joint initiative between the city of Tacoma and the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber in direct response to the 2008-2010 recession. Spaceworks’ aim is to revitalize the downtown area plagued by high vacancy rates and limited investments. The program seeks to restore abandoned spaces, support local artists, and foster small business growth, and it has been impacting the Tacoma community since its start.
“When people say that they don’t know who or what Spaceworks is, I counter with ‘you do’ because, unless they live under a rock, they’ve seen murals that were done by us or in partnership with us, and I’m sure they’ve visited a small business that has gone through our incubator program,” said Jennifer English, program director at Spaceworks Tacoma and one-time participant in Spaceworks’s incubator program.
Spaceworks has two main programs: Artscapes, which is the public art program that goes beyond activating storefronts to murals, and the business incubator program, which provides small-business training and support for creative entrepreneurs. You have likely encountered some of these downtown Tacoma murals. For example, in the Woolworth windows at 11th and Broadway, there is a depiction of two skeletons driving a bus full of weary wildcats. Another bold, flowery work is situated on 9th and St. Helens, right in the heart of downtown Tacoma’s Theater District. English highlights that Spaceworks compensates its artists.
“We pay artists rather than providing ‘exposure’, which people often think is good enough. Spaceworks applies for grants and uses donations to hire and pay for artists and the training we provide to entrepreneurs.”
Spaceworks’s impact is widespread in the Tacoma area, but young and upcoming artists may not be fully aware of their options if they’re not directly involved with the internship position. Audrey Blumenthal, a senior Studio Art and French double major at the University of Puget Sound, noted concerns about getting an art degree today and how art is increasingly perceived as a side gig rather than a full-time career. “I would love to be able to create as a form of my career because it’s really great, and so in the dream world, I would be able to make a living off of creating, but it’s hard to make it out there. ” This, coupled with the stereotypical view of art not being ‘real’ work, makes students question the feasibility of making it a full-time career. “[The stigma] is something that I feel in myself too. I catch myself sometimes like, ‘Oh, I have to go to the library and do real work’ instead of going to the studio and making stuff,” Blumenthal said.
Accessibility is what Spaceworks Tacoma strives for. The art market might not be the easiest field to break into given the creative costs, but art communities like Spaceworks offer needed support. The non-profit organization has been extending opportunities to hopeful students through their partnership with the University’s SFI program. The SFI is a competitive summer internship program for students interested in non-profit or public sector experience. Selected participants intern with local organizations for ten weeks and attend weekly meetings with the cohort to reflect on their learning experiences. Spaceworks is one of the oldest participants in this program. Nicole Kendrick, the Program Director of SFI, said, “Spaceworks has been one of our partners from the beginning. They’re one of our partners who have been with us for over a decade.” Kendrick stated that Spaceworks selects one student intern every summer. Students interested in art and business are encouraged to apply, and Lucy Gretel, a recent alumni of the university, was hired for a part-time position after her internship.
Rebecca Padilla, a Studio Art professor at the University, speaks to the stigma around a career in art mentioned by Blumenthal, one that Spaceworks actively tries to combat. “It was hard for me, but it’s not harder than any other path, right? Like, I think there is a sort of a notion that being an artist is harder, or you’re not gonna be able to pay your rent, or X, Y and Z. And I think artists and artist communities are really good at supporting each other.” Padilla, who teaches sculpture and installation courses, does, in fact, pay her rent and has been able to make a living as an artist.
Supporting optimistic Tacoma artists is a goal that the organization has been able to meet. English shared how Spaceworks has personally impacted her and lots of others in Tacoma.“On a more personal note, the biggest impact I would say is the Pottery business that I own with my best friend, April. We graduated from the Spaceworks Incubator in 2014 and have been running our studio since.’ We would not have been able to start a business without the training from Spaceworks.”
Janae Hill was the most recent intern from last summer’s program. When Spaceworks needed marketing help, she pitched a brand awareness project in her first week on site. Coming up with her own work goals and deadlines, Hill gained transferable skills for a future career path during her time at Spaceworks.
“Not only did they provide me [with] a space to build on essential marketing skills, they taught me what it means to fight for a cause that you believe in.”
From creating opportunities for artists and small business owners to thrive to impacting members of our very own campus community, Spaceworks is a great asset to the Tacoma arts community.
