Brooklyn Management Company Offers A Dozen Artists Low-Rent DUMBO Studios

DUMBO, BROOKLYN — Two Trees building management company unveiled a list this week of local artists it selected to give reduced rent rates for DUMBO studios.

This year, the subsidy program was offered to 12 experienced artists and two local arts organizations.

"We are thrilled to welcome this year’s Cultural Space Subsidy Program awardees to DUMBO," said Lisa Kim, cultural affairs director at Two Trees, in a statement. "The artists and organizations selected for 2017 add to the impressive roster of artists and cultural groups already in working in DUMBO. Our annual application will open again on April 1 and we encourage artists and arts groups to apply for below-market space."

Open to professional artists as well as arts, education, and community focused groups primarily, but not limited to 501c3 nonprofit organizations, participants are selected through an open call based on their commitment to community engagement, social impact and quality of work. Through the Cultural Space Subsidy Program each artist or cultural group is awarded commercial office and studio spaces ranging from 700 to 2,500 square feet, all with natural light and high ceilings and access to freight elevators, communal conference rooms, and high-speed internet.

Two Trees recently made local headlines when celebrity Tavi Gevinson began Instagramming her Fort Greene apartment managed by Two Trees in a financial partnership with the company.

The following are the 2017 recipients, courtesy of Two Trees:

Cey Adams

Cey Adams is a New York City native, whose work explores the relationship between transformation and discovery. His focus includes pop culture, race and gender relations, cultural and community issues.
Ben Thorpe Brown creates sculptures, prints, video installations, and performances. His recent work was included in exhibitions such as Dreamlands: Immersive Cinema and Art from 1905-2016, The Whitney Museum of American Art; Greater New York, MoMA PS1; 24/7 the human condition, Vienna Biennale; and Chance Motives, SculptureCenter.

Marsha Cotrell

Marsha Cotrell utilizes a desktop computer and office laser printer in the creation of unique, abstract works on paper. Recent solo exhibitions include Anthony Meier Fine Arts in San Francisco and 11R in New York. Her work has been reviewed in The New York Times, Artforum, The Brooklyn Rail, and The Wall Street Journal. Cottrell’s work is included in public collections such as The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Modern Art New York, The Morgan Library and Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Beth Dary

Beth Dary’s work explores global themes in a variety of media, often creating site-specific and public art installations that are responsive to the local environment. Dary exhibits nationally and internationally and has received numerous fellowships, residencies and awards including Yaddo, the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. She is currently an Artist Mentor at Smack Mellon and serves as the curator for "Main Window," a public art window in DUMBO that showcases Brooklyn and New York City artists.

Eva Davidova

Eva Davidova is a Bulgarian/Spanish media artist utilizing animation, 3D sculpture, drawing and Virtual Reality performance. Her work has been exhibited internationally. Recent projects include Playground for Drowning Animals and Transfer and Disappearance, both presented in DUMBO; Happenland at Radiator Gallery and Feeding Alice at the Holographic Center in New York; the Moscow Biennale; LOOP; Scope Basel Video; Roma Contemporary and solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Center La Regenta and the Everson Museum’s Urban Video Project, Syracuse, NY.

Anne Gilman

Anne Gilman’s works consist of large-scale drawings and multi-panel projects that map information, thought, and emotion. Her work has been exhibited internationally, with two recent solo shows: In any one day, how all the things get mixed together at Five Points Gallery in Torrington, CT and Descifrar/ to decipher, decode, figure out at Instituto Cervantes, NY. She has received a Chenven Foundation Award, fellowships from the Edward Albee Foundation and MacDowell Colony. Her work has been featured in Bomb Magazine, Guernica Magazine, Publishing Perspectives, and Literal.

Brian Kokoska

Brian Kokoska is a painter whose recent solo and group exhibitions include: Reality Bytes, Frank F. Yang Art & Education Foundation, Shenzhen; Trauma Sauna, Ashes/Ashes, Los Angeles; Hush Hook, LOYAL, Stockholm; I’m a horse now, East Hampton Shed, East Hampton, NY; Poison IV, Valentin, Paris; Rare Angel (w/ Debo Eilers), American Medium,Brooklyn; and Blood Reply, Ohmydays, Singapore. His work has been featured and reviewed in Mousse, Dazed, New York Observer, Art in America, The Philadelphia Inquirer and VICE.

Bundith Punsombatlert

Bundith Phunsombatlert works in printmaking and digital media. He uses new technology to create new definitions of space in traditional, mass, and cultural media. Carefully considering the history of a culture or a place, he analyzes and synthesizes these situations in order to develop artwork that reconsiders new identities in the globalization era, by engaging a diversity of perceptions, uncovering social meaning as it affects our day-to-day lives.

Jennifer Riley

Jennifer Riley is a painter, contributing editor for ArtCritical.com, exhibitions curator at IUCA+D and chairman of the board of directors for Triangle Arts. She is active in the New York art scene exhibiting, curating and writing about art. She is one of the 16 featured artists in New York Studio Conversations, edited by Stephanie Buhmann, published by The Green Box, Berlin.

Kara Rooney

Kara Rooney is an artist and critic, working in performance, sculpture, and new media installation. Her visual work has been widely exhibited in international and domestic venues including Fridman Gallery, NY; Driscoll Babcock Gallery, NY; A.I.R. Gallery, NY; the Chelsea Art Museum, NY; the International Women’s Museum, CA; the Jersey City Museum, NJ; the Montclair Art Museum, NJ; and the Pera Museum, Istanbul, Turkey. Rooney earned her MFA from the School of Visual Arts and is an Editor-at-Large for The Brooklyn Rail.
Bernardo Siciliano paints portraits of people and places he knows well, particularly DUMBO, where he has resided for the last 10 years.

Artie Vierkant

Artie Vierkant works with images and objects. He received his MFA from the University of California San Diego and is represented by New Galerie, Paris. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Westfälischer Kunstverein, Münster, Germany; Mesler / Feuer, NY; Untitled, NY; and New Galerie, Paris. His work will be included in upcoming group exhibitions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Kiasma Museum, Helsinki. His writing has appeared in October Journal and other publications.

Cultural Groups

Meta Meta Meta

Meta Meta Meta is a collaborative arts organization run by artists Leah Wolff and Guy Ben-Ari. Since 2009, they have been facilitating creative and discursive activities with the aim of supporting a diverse community of underrepresented artists through collaboration and community engagement. Meta Meta Meta teaches workshops, organizes events, and produces publications in order to empower the public through increased access to the arts.

Brooklyn Boatworks

Brooklyn Boatworks encourages, inspires, and empowers young people through the unique craft of wooden boat building and on the water experiences. They teach the values of learning by doing, cooperation, perseverance, and craftsmanship. Working inside New York City schools, their programs build students' STEM skills and support positive behaviors, critical thinking, leadership, and self-esteem.

To apply for next year's Cultural Space Subsidy Program, 2018's applications will be accepted from April 1 through May 30 with three-year leases starting in January 2018 at the reduced rate of $12 per square foot. Artists and cultural groups will be notified by October 1, 2017. For more information and to apply, visit: https://twotreesny-cssp.submit...

Photo via public domain