Gowanus Lottery Launches for Affordable Artist Studios

By Kirstyn Brendlen, Brooklyn Paper

A lottery for six affordable artist studios in Gowanus— the first of more than 100 such workspaces slated to come to the neighborhood in the next few years — is now open.

The studios, built as part of a community benefits agreement signed ahead of the Gowanus rezoning, are set to open this spring at a new co-working space, The Shop, at 420 Carroll Street.

Priced at around $1.66 per square foot per month, the studios will rent for between $275 and $331 per month, or $3,300 and $3,800 annually. The non-residential spaces are exclusively for working, not sleeping or living. Per the agreement, rents can increase only 2 percent per year.

That’s well below market rate for the area, said Johnny Thornton, executive director of Arts Gowanus, which helped orchestrate the community benefits agreement and is overseeing the lottery and the affordable studios.

Listings for arts studios in the area show rents two or three times higher than what’s expected at The Shop. A membership and a private studio at the Gowanus Studio Space runs at least $630 per month. Not far away in Sunset Park, a 220-square-foot studio costs $775 per month. In comparison, the largest affordable studio at 420 Carroll, at 223 square feet, costs $275 per month.

Gowanus used to be an affordable haven for artists, and still has a thriving arts scene. But as the neighborhood changed, rents started to creep up, forcing creators to move elsewhere. When the Gowanus rezoning was proposed, locals worried more artists would be displaced, either by high rents or by developers buying and knocking down the buildings where they worked.

But as part of a 2021 agreement reached just before a critical City Council vote, 10 developers agreed to include subsidized studio spaces in about a dozen new buildings around the nabe. More than three years later, the studios at 420 Carroll — a mixed-use building with housing and commercial space — are the first to come to fruition.

Anne Olson, director of co-working at The Domain Companies — the developer behind 420 Carroll — said the company “couldn’t be more excited” to provide the studios.

“Place-based development is a major priority for us; the opportunity to work with the existing community to preserve what makes Gowanus special was incredibly appealing to us,” Olson told Brooklyn Paper. “The community benefits agreement and the subsequent studios through Arts Gowanus has helped us get connected with the community organizers on the forefront in this neighborhood. It is truly a wonderful chance to support their existing efforts within the new development, and we are eager and excited to continue to connect with more people and organizers as we move toward opening.”

“It all seems like an abstraction that’s finally becoming real, like, you can see it,” Thornton said. “When I first get to open one of the doors and go into these studios, it’ll blow my mind, because it’s been such an abstraction for years.”

Each artist is essentially a small business, Thornton explained, and while many work at home, a dedicated studio space allows them to expand their work, meet with curators and other business partners, and become part of a community of artists.

“Having a giant cost because of your dream, your passion, come out of your paycheck every month is a really difficult thing,” Thornton said. “So having [studios] that are affordable really can create a lot more flexibility, and create a lot more reasons to stay an artist and stay in New York City. That’s kind of one of our goals, to keep artists here, and keep them creating.”

The studio lottery, and an even more affordable option

The lottery for the studios isn’t quite as strict as for affordable housing, Thornton said, and it’s available via the Arts Gowanus website, not a city portal. The studios are meant for “fine artists,” per the site, who must prove that they’re actively working by providing photos of their recent pieces and either an artist statement and biography, CV, or a letter from someone established in the arts who can back the applicant.

An algorithm used to sort the applications will give more weight to artists who can prove they were previously displaced from Gowanus. Those who are part of an underrepresented community will also be given priority.

Arts Gowanus will interview top applicants remotely, but the final determination will be made by the landlord or property owner — who may ask for their own application and credit or background checks. The rent includes heating, cooling, ventilation, electricity, and shared Wi-Fi. Shared resources include a communal kitchenette, bathrooms, and slop sink.

Applications for the first round of studios close on March 1, 2025. Applicants who don’t get studios will be kept in the system for future lotteries, and won’t have to re-enter for other studios in the same Arts Gowanus program.

There’s one more open space at 420 Carroll, for the Arts Gowanus Fellowship Program.

Before the fellowship program, one studio in each location was subsidized even further, for artists making below 50 percent of the Area Median Income. But that still presented a barrier for some in Gowanus, Thornton said.

Instead, Arts Gowanus itself will rent those additionally subsidized studios and pay all costs for its fellows, plus offer career counseling and other opportunities. All low-income Brooklyn artists will be considered, but the nonprofit will prioritize those living locally, especially at Gowanus Houses, Warren Houses, Wyckoff Gardens, and Red Hook Houses.

The fellows will have to commit to 10 hours in the studio per week for one year, and participate in Arts Gowanus Programming and other workshops and events. Arts Gowanus is offering two fellowship spaces this spring, one at 420 Carroll and another at the Arts Gowanus office at 540 President Street.

Looking ahead

“We couldn’t be more excited about both of these things, it’s really been a long time coming,” Thornton said. “So, this being the first ones that are coming online, it’s just a really special time, and it’s taken a lot of work.”

With the studios at 420 Carroll set to be completed this spring, Thornton expects more studios in other buildings to start coming online later this year. Arts Gowanus’ new headquarters and community center, which will also include three free studios, will likely open in late 2026 or early 2027.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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