Overview
Sydney artists will have the opportunity to access a new, affordable creative space in the heart of Sydney's CBD from early next year. The City of Sydney has signed a new 99-year lease, securing five storeys of creative studio space on Bathurst Street from developer Greenland Australia. The 2000-square-metre space will be operated by Brand X for at least the next three years, with the city council and not-for-profit coming together to create an affordable space for emerging and established artists in the inner city.
The creative studios will help support dancers, musicians, filmmakers, digital creatives and visual artists with a series of dedicated spaces. Creatives will find two double-height rehearsal spaces available for dancers, actors and performers; five soundproof recording and rehearsal studios for musicians; production and editing suites for media and filmmakers; wet-dry visual arts studios, an artist-in-residence apartment, meeting spaces, dressing rooms and a cafe.
"It has long been a priority of the city to increase centrally located, affordable space for our artists and creatives," Lord Mayor Clover Moore said. "By delivering workspaces and venues, we're not only supporting the arts post-lockdown, but also making our city a more interesting and inspiring place to be."
Brand X currently operates the East Sydney Community and Arts Centre in Darlinghurst, and has been the creative tenancy manager of live and work apartments in Darlinghurst and Waterloo, assisting more than 100,000 artists to find affordable space.
The not-for-profit's Access and Inclusion Panel and Industry Advisory Panel will oversee the selection of projects at the creative studio, "with a focus on developing new voices from a diverse range of disciplines and backgrounds," according to Brand X Director James Winter. Artists and organisations interested in utilising the new space can register interest at the Brand X website.
The City of Sydney Creative Studios is located at 119 Bathurst Street, Sydney. It is set to open in early 2022.
Top image: Paul Patterson