Lucky artists find a city garret of their own

Wanted: studio space for young artists, anything considered - willing to put creative powers to work to realise the potential in any old property.

ClichΘ that it may be, the stereotype of the struggling artist eking out a living in a sparse attic studio is at risk of becoming even more desperately accurate than it has been up to now. High property rents in the city have resulted in the mass exodus of young artists from Dublin. As once downtrodden and undesirable areas of the city centre undergo redevelopment and old buildings are pulled down to make way for trendy new apartment and office complexes, the artists who once occupied these premises get pushed out.

Locating alternative space in a city under redevelopment is a tall order, even for creative types. Garden sheds, broom cupboards and old train carriages are now eyed in a new light by city-based artists.

Finding a working studio from which to paint and exhibit was the challenge facing four soon-to-be graduates from the National College of Art and Design in the final few months of their degree course. Months spent knocking on doors enquiring about empty upstairs rooms in the Thomas Street/Capel Street areas, where traditionally, landlords and owners had been delighted to earn extra income from unused storage space above shops or attic rooms, proved fruitless.

The booming property market has made property owners shrewdly re-evaluate those attic rooms; space had become a premium commodity and it was a foolish landlord who didn't try to convert such spaces into flats to rent at inflated market prices.

Many of their contemporaries gave up on the idea of finding studio space, but the four artists persisted in their search. Eventually, through word of mouth in the art community, they found a space in an old woollen mills complex on North King Street. So Imelda Healy, Cara Thorpe, Anne Quinn and Gillian Lawlor established the Brunswick Mill Studio at their 400-year-old North King Street premises.

The odds had been stacked against them. According to Imelda Healy, only one quarter of the graduates from her year in NCAD were successful in working full-time in art. Support or advice on finding premises is not offered by the college, nor are any arts or state-funded agencies able to assist.

Exciting news as it was for the group, the reality of the market means that only premises not up to standard for any other function are let to artists as a last resort. The quality and condition of many of these studios leaves a lot to be desired. Finding the North King Street studio was only the first stage of a process that is ongoing over a year and a half later as the artists still work to convert it into a usable studio.

"We very lucky to find this space. Stoneybatter and Smithfield have become very popular areas; the Stoneybatter Studio, another studio and exhibition space established by a group of artists, is located here in the complex too," says Healy.

The artists are grateful to the owners of the 400-year-old complex for allowing them to rent the space, and even more so for working with them to get what was used as a storage space for over 100 years back into working condition. But for a rent of £430 (€545) per month (including electricity) there's not a lot of improvements the landlords can afford to make to the premises.

"Rubble on the floors of the disused attic room was the first thing to be cleared, then a solution had to be applied before they could use cement to infill the floors, and then paint over it. Partitions had to be built to give us four individual working areas. An essential sink and lighting also had to be installed," explains Healy.

The sub-zero temperature of their studio dispels any romantic notions of young artists in an old mill. Heating is next on their things-to-do list. A new roof with better natural light is another ambition, but the artists are aware that as the building is listed, it would be a costly renovation for the owners, Jack and Pauline McGurk.

Starting out as an artist is far from lucrative. The hand-to-mouth existence means that money earned from selling works has to be reinvested in materials to paint more pictures and sell more work. The trendy modern studio spaces in areas like Temple Bar are not in a young artist's price range.

There was little finance to invest in their studio, but the startup costs that ran into hundreds of pounds were a necessary investment. Eventually they would like to see the complex evolving as an arts centre with one of the larger premises at ground floor level being transformed into an exhibition space.

Gallery shows and exhibitions are where artists find buyers for their works. Working as a group has its advantages for the artists. While each artist exhibits individually, they can also hold group shows and benefit from the collective profile and publicity.

Long-term aspirations currently take a back seat to keeping the place in a habitable condition. The dust that had collected for over 100 years is hard to shift, and the finger-numbing coldness makes it difficult to work some days.

Despite the renovation work completed by the artists and landlords, the building still appears to be in varying stages of dilapidation.

Not so long ago, areas like Smithfield, the docklands, Christ- church, the Liberties and Foley Street were home to thriving communities of artists.

Old buildings housed multiple studios, and many in turn went on to establish galleries and exhibition spaces close by, giving such areas a cutting-edge bohemian image.

Where the artists went, the trend-setters eventually followed. Look at the Tribeca, East Village and Meatpacker districts in New York, or the Left Bank in Paris.

As even established artists start packing for rural areas where decent and affordable studio space can be found, the struggle to find suitable studio space can only get worse for young artists.