A Plan and Party to Save Central Street Studios

An iconic artist workspace in Somerville’s Spring Hill neighborhood is going up for sale, but this story is not unfolding in typical gentrified fashion.

Central Street Studios (Photo: A&BC of Greater Boston)

Artists and musicians of Central Street Studios located at 57 Central Street are working with the City of Somerville, the Arts and Business Council of Greater Boston, ART STAYS HERE and a running list of supporters to raise funds and purchase the 4-floor building and preserve it as an affordable artist workspace in perpetuity. 

“This is really one of the most collaborative processes I’ve been around in real estate,” said Jim Grace, executive director of the A&BC of Boston. “We have all the players interested, participating, and positive—and really wanting to work together to solve it.” And thankfully, Grace noted, they have the time to do it.

Owners Paul and Karen Morse, Nancy Dutton, and David Benson have operated the building as an artist workspace since 1983. After an unsuccessful attempt to sell the building in 2021, the owners reached out to the City of Somerville and A&BC of Greater Boston for help.

“It has always been our desire for 57 Central Street to be a place where artists thrive. We’ve nurtured this creative community space for over forty years. Now it’s time for Jim Grace and the Arts and Business Council to steward it into the future,” owner Karen Morse said in a recent press release.

Expected donations land the parties $100,000 shy of the $1.8 million required to buy the building. The volunteer-run arts coalition, ART STAYS HERE and the Central Street Studios’ tenants’ association have launched an online fundraiser and are hosting a “preservation party” at Warehouse XI in Somerville on April 21. The free event will feature an auction, advocacy station, and opportunities to mingle with the 29 artists and musicians of Central Street.

"If this deal goes through, this could set a precedent for Somerville and other cities for partnering with artists themselves and other organizations to find ways for these buildings to survive as arts spaces in the face of development that's threatening our communities," Lena Warnke said, a tenant of Central Street Studios and member of art-pop-rock group, Sidebody.

"On the one hand, it's a hopeful story. On the other hand, nothing has been confirmed. It's still scary for the artists because we're still wondering whether we're going to have studio space in the coming months," Warnke added.

Central Street's communal atmosphere and a formalized tenants union has made advocacy more achievable and effective.

"Each floor had a strong community beforehand, but it's really been this threat of possibly losing this space that's brought us together. Organizing this auction has allowed me to see some peoples' work for the first time. It's cool how situations like these bring people together," Warnke said.

Ami Bennitt, a founding member of ART STAYS HERE, has played a key role in helping Central Street tenants organize and advocate.

“I find them inspiring. They all do independent work, but they’ve built a community,” Bennitt said. “You don’t often see that kind of intra-space stuff in many arts buildings. [Artists] talk about the importance of being around one another, but I think [the tenants of Central Street Studios] really mean it. So many arts buildings–rehearsal spaces for instance—see artists working side by side, but not together. In this case, they’ve really become comrades. And mostly in their 20s and 30s, they’re relatively young. This is an emerging group of artists,” Bennitt said.

Central Street Studios is one of many at-risk buildings ART STAYS HERE has helped. For Bennitt, this work in anti-displacement is all interconnected.

“This is a movement,” Bennitt said. “ Somerville considers itself an artist's city, but we’re hoping this awareness about displacement urges artists to build their community ahead of time and give what they can now. What if the owners of Vernon Street Studios or Milk Row Studios want to sell? If everyone can throw down their $5 now [for Central Street], when their time comes, everyone will throw down for them."