Last week we had the privilege of participating in workshops, meetings, and tours led by Artspace Immersion. As part of the 2023 New Orleans cohort, the NOLA Artist Incubator is immersed in a year long learning community to practice storytelling, build partnerships, and connect our work with broader discussions of community development and spatial equity. As we strive to create our own equitable space for the organization and enter into new phases for our future growth, it was a delight to participate in the programming throughout the day.

Site visits to Antenna Gallery & Studio Be

We attended a case study at Antenna Gallery in the Bywater and heard from Antenna’s Executive Director Carole Frances Lung about the challenges, solutions and successes of operating a physical space in New Orleans. We also learned more about Antenna’s residency program and the impact the physical space has on that and other programming.

Later that day we went to Studio Be for a private tour, panel, networking, and happy hour. Panelists provided insights and feedback on the project concepts envisioned by organizations within the cohort, and acted as sounding boards during the breakout discussions.

It was especially exciting to meet Brenda Breaux the Executive Director New Orleans Redevelopment Authority. We lease our lot for the garden from NORA so we teased about how nice it was to finally meet our landlord. The evening event provided a wonderful opportunity for us to share in person all the work that has gone into making our Galvez Garden the magical, productive space that it is today.

The following day we met with the Artspace Immersion team to talk about our goals at the Galvez Garden. We discussed our organizational needs and hopes of constructing or acquiring a building in the foreseeable future. We mentioned how a garden would be incorporated into our plans for future building sites, but highlighted how the Galvez Garden is a project that has tremendous value of its own and gave a tour of some of the newest developments on site. We just had our monthly meeting today and are excited to continue to work with Artspace and the Cohort to refine our plans for building a home for the organization.

What is Artspace Immersion?

Artspace Immersion is a capacity-building program designed for nonprofits and creative businesses that are in the planning stages for a space-related project by helping them navigate the real estate process The program covers the following topics: leadership, project concept, cost analysis, location, funding, and communications. In March 2023, Artspace welcomed the NOLA Artist Incubator along with 9 other creative organizations from New Orleans into the year-long program, fully supported by the Mellon Foundation. New Orleans is the ninth city where this program has been operated, joining Detroit, Memphis, the Twin Cities, North Little Rock/Little Rock, Chicago, and Washington D.C.