If I were going to get a studio space in DC, I’d get one at 52 O Street, where I went to Open Studios this past weekend. The place reminds me of a sewing factory (now converted to fancy retail) on the Chinatown/Little Italy border where I lived when I first moved to New York. Long before I lived there, sculptor Eric Rudd converted 52 O into loft space. According to his website, Rudd,� who built 52 O in 1978, now lives in North Adams at Beaver Mill where he has� one of the largest private art studios in the world. Artists can still buy a 900 sq ft Beaver Mill loft with large window frontage for $59,500
to $64,500. In 2001 Rudd wrote The Art Studio/Loft Manual: For Ambitious Artists and Creators to help younger artists find and convert old buildings into live/work space. In 2003, Marty Youmans bought� 52 O Street and has continued to maintain it as a
community for working artists, although in January some artists got eviction notices to make way for a youth hostel. Whether Youmans will move forward with the plan despite community opposition is unclear.
But enough about real estate. Here are some of photographer Ryder Haske‘s images from the Open Studios Facebook photo album, which are much better than my lousy snaps.
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Always amazing to see the different studio personalities, spotless to madness.
What a great enviroment to create in. Eric Rudd's book is great and it's wonderful to see the ideas in real life (or at least in a blog).
What a great space and some very talented arts – great work!!!
Hi. I clicked on the first link 52 O Street and it redirected me to an Asian pornographic website. Pretty creepy and odd.
Deleted the link. Thanks for letting us know.