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When local architect Christopher Campbell bought the building that houses 534, 536, and 538 Congress Street in 1999, he had a vision of locking down a property in the heart of downtown to sustain the arts community. The crowds lining up at SPACE Gallery week after week are testaments to his vision, but a less visible creative community is busy at work next door and upstairs, helping to make Campbell’s dream come true.
The Artist Studio at 536 Congress Street has room for 35 working artists. It is Portland’s largest bastion of permanent creative enterprise, ever since the studios across the street transformed into luxury condos. Tenants can close the door and work in private or just as easily walk down the hall to borrow a proverbial cup of artistic sugar. Shared resources such as a print shop and wood shop save everyone the hassle of amassing equipment privately.
The best part about this potentially exclusive creative world is that these artists want to share it with you. The Artist Studio holds seasonal open-studio events with live music and food, providing a forum for creatively minded conversation like no other place in the city. Visitors get a rare glimpse into the often mysterious process of artmaking while the artists can see one another’s work and get reactions from anyone who walks through their door.
In the interest of this increased communication, the Phoenix asked some of the resident artists at 536 Congress to share a few insights into their processes and the places in which they create. You can find them and their neighbors in their natural studio habitats this First Friday if you’d like to continue the conversation.
Lucinda Bliss (drawing, painting, collage)
Since I invest in the studio space, I don’t play mind games about not making my work. I get there whenever I can with very little procrastination, so I’m more prolific in the making and my seeing is sharper. There are also regular opportunities for dialogue. My experience is that casual (or serious) critique can save an artist months of noodling around — the critical eye of someone you respect is such a gift.
Derek Smith Luke (ink and gouache on panel)
I work at night, after I get out of work. Weekends. My blue collar turns gold when I enter the doors of 536.
Kelly Mcconnell (oil on canvas)
I always paint on Sundays because painting is my religion. I don’t mean to sound trite about that because that’s really how it is — my husband and daughter go to church and I go to my studio.
Joseph Begnaud (oil on canvas and panel)
We have some great artists here who show in Boston and New York. They take their work to New York, just so Mainers can go to New York and end up buying work that they could have in theory bought locally. It seems a bit silly, and undermines the faith we Portlanders have in ourselves. The Italian Renaissance was built on city-pride and competition. Florence wouldn’t be on the grand tourist map today if it wasn’t for the vision of its Medicis.
