A Place for Art and Craft

The Brewery Art Colony in downtown Los Angeles
(click for video)



It's called the Brewery Art Colony because it includes the old Pabst Blue Ribbon breweries. Originally, the idea was to rent space to any kind of business, but the developer decided to open it up as a place for about 300 artists to gather and get creative. Carlson Industries bought the Brewery site in 1980 and spent two years gutting the place, removing large tanks and pipes as it reshaped each building into workable spaces.
The colony sits on 18 acres. Twenty-one former warehouses — with an old Edison power plant chimney dating to 1903 — house work studios, living lofts, one restaurant and endless galleries. Billed as the largest live-and-work artists' colony in the world, there are about 300 studios and 400 to 500 people living here.
"The Brewery colony feels very much like the campus of an alternative college, filled with youthful energy and an artsy experimental subculture...With practitioners of a variety of mediums, the common message seems to be: Create."---Karla S. Blume. "Brewery living spaces put art in the heart of the city" Los Angeles Times, November 6, 2005






This place possesses some key attributes that I really like. More than just a place for artists to create and live, they offer demonstrations and workshops that attract the public and have galleries to sell their crafts.

Ashland Art Works is a non-profit art center in Ashland, Oregon: an artist cooperative with 5 galleries, art studios, and sculpture gardens offering classes and workshops. A working artists’ cooperative on the banks of Ashland Creek, Ashland Art Works consists of historic buildings either renovated on the land, or brought in and rebuilt, all with an artist’s and crafts person’s eye. Today, artists live, work and freely exchange ideas in this tranquil and inspiring environment. The galleries, studios, and workshop complement lovely gardens and winding paths, accented by outdoor sculpture.