Sculptor Mike Burns next to the arch he created at the Longenecker Horticultural Gardens at the UW Arboretum.
For the past four years, sculptor and metalworker Mike Burns has worked out of Winnebago Studios, a multi-artist creative space on the city’s near-east side. It’s a rare, affordable rental option in the heart of a fast-growing neighborhood, home to 17 artists working across various mediums.
“This has been a great location,” says Burns, who creates large-scale installations from stone, bronze and steel. But come next spring, Winnebago Studios will be demolished to make way for a new cohousing development on the site, leaving the artists in need of new workspaces — at least temporarily. “At this point, I don’t know where I’ll be next year,” Burns says.
Announced last year and approved Oct. 3 by the Madison Common Council, Winnebago Arts and Cohousing is a unique style of housing that will incorporate 45 private residences around shared common spaces. The design is not yet finalized, but Adam Chern of Accipiter Properties says the new building will likely include space for 10 artist studios. In addition to being the new project’s developer, Accipiter also owns Winnebago Studios, and Chern hopes some of his current artist tenants will be interested in the new space.
“The plans for our building are far from solid — they’re aspirational at this point — but the goal is to offer space for artists that would be permanently affordable,” Chern says. “But it would require some sort of funding mechanism to bridge the gap between new construction cost of the building and what artists can afford.”
The funding source is yet to be determined, but Chern says he’s had “encouraging talks” with the city about potential subsidies. Private fundraising is another option, but Chern is less inclined to go that route. “It would be a little difficult as a for-profit developer with our hands out looking for money,” he says. The funding would then serve as down payment assistance for the studios, which would be sold as commercial condominiums. “It creates permanent affordability,” Chern says of the model. “Artists themselves would own the spaces and have a fair amount of control.”
Chern acknowledges that some of the more industrial artists like Burns won’t be able to work in the new studios, which are better suited for smaller-scale artists such as painters. Philip Salamone, who runs the Atwood Atelier drawing school out of Winnebago Studios, is among those who will likely move into the new space; he’s already working with the architect to design his new studio in the new development. “I’m excited to be paying a mortgage instead of paying rent,” he says. But he’s also mourning the loss of the current space. “It’s a little bittersweet,” he says. “It’s such an iconic building, and it’s been a staple in Madison for so long. The whole [Schenk’s Corners] area is artistic and trendy, in part because of Winnebago Studios.”
Chern is also working to secure interim rental space for the artists to bridge the gap between the Winnebago Studios demolition and the opening of the new building in summer 2019.
He’s already leasing the former headquarters of Madison Teachers Inc. at 821 Williamson Street and negotiations are underway with TDS Custom Construction to lease additional space for the industrial artists. Accipiter is footing the rental bills until the artists move into the temporary spaces next spring and is also helping with moving costs.
“It’s kind of amazing and probably unprecedented,” Salamone says of his landlord’s support. “So often art studios get developed and gentrified, but in this case the creative element is going to remain.”
