The New World School of the Arts was awarded $90,000 as a 2008 Knight Arts Challenge winner to create ArtSeen, a Wynwood studio space for seniors working on their final projects. Today, Christina Gast updates us on the project…

A new academic year has begun, and at New World School of the Arts’ Artseen studios and gallery in Wynwood two dozen upperclassmen have settled into their new studios. The young artists are getting comfortable in their new spaces, setting up easels and palates, green screens and tool boxes, beginning a journey that for many of them will culminate in the BFA exhibit at Artseen in the Spring. From the perspective of student Dona Marie Altemus, “Having a place of my own makes a world of difference. it provides privacy, a place where I don’t have to worry, and it’s a community where other people can assist you with your pursuit of artistic growth.”

The space is a big step for New World, which in the past hasn’t offered studio space to students and has mounted BFA and High School Showcase exhibitions in nomadic fashion as venues became available. At the new space, with it’s 5,000 square foot ground floor gallery, the school is able to foster a valuable feeling of community amongst students, faculty and alumni, who meet there often for exhibitions, critiques, and studio visits. Exhibitions coincide with Wynwood Art Walk nights, and are free and open to the public.