Midway Artist Collective Takes Ownership Of Midway Artist Studios!

We are very happy to announce that as of June 2, 2014, Midway Artist Collective is the proud owner of Midway Artist Studios!

This marks a huge accomplishment for all of us. Based on letters and comments from artists and arts organizations in the greater Boston area, what we’ve done here is both unexpected and an inspiration for others.

The importance of the successful purchase of the Midway building, and the non-profit rental model, has struck a chord especially in light of the housing crisis that many Boston artists currently face. Artist networks are collapsing around Boston as rents drive people out – those that remain are in a constant state of insecurity regarding the future. Even prior to the close, we received a lot of interest in what we were doing, which leads us to believe that with the successful purchase now complete, others will be inspired to adopt some form of our flexible model.

The successful conclusion of the process was the result of intense work by the artist representatives of the Midway Artist Studios in collaboration with New Atlantic Development. It was a cooperative process involving the artists and city and state government.

There are many people who made this possible; the residents of Midway Studios, all of the investors, the MAC Directors, New Atlantic Development, Keen Charitable Trust, FPAC, Boston Community Capital, the City of Boston Department of Neighborhood Development and Boston Redevelopment Authority, Councillor Bill Linehan, State Representative Nick Collins, State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, Councillor Ayanna Pressley, Director of the Department of Neighborhood Development Sheila Dillon, Mayor Marty Walsh and his Arts Transition Team, and many of you. Without any of these pieces of the puzzle we would not have been able to close the sale.

It should be noted that the artist residents of Midway themselves raised the initial $1 million necessary to move the process forward, and raised approximately $1.6 million in total to ensure the closing of the sale. Additionally, thousands of hours of time and energy were dedicated to shaping the mission of the non profit entity that purchased the building – the Midway Artist Collective (MAC) and presenting this vision to the interested parties. This work was done with both an eye towards the present residents, and towards the future artists that will live and work at Midway in the decades to come.

We want to express our deep appreciation to all of those who supported this important endeavor to make Midway Artist Studios a live/work space for artists in perpetuity.

Sincerely,

Midway Artist Collective