The Studios of Key West (TSKW) is a 501(c)3 art center in the heart of Key West, Florida at 600 White St.
Established in 2006, The Studios of Key West [1] provides a collaborative and supportive environment for creative experience, nurtures the creation of new work, and supports the advancement of established and emerging creative people in the Florida Keys, as well as visiting artists and creative people from around the world.
In addition to supporting local artists and creative people, TSKW is a starting point for tourists and visitors who would like to connect with the cultural life of the island. The organization offers a full program of cultural experiences each year, including exhibitions, lectures, workshops, concerts, and community partnership projects.
TSKW’s residency program provides 4 week residencies on the island for artists from all over the world, and has hosted more than 100 artists, writers, film-makers, and performers. TSKW’s studio artist program provides long term work space for Florida Keys-based artists and currently maintains 15 dedicated studio spaces.
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The Armory
The historic Key West Armory building (built between 1901-03) is the hub of TSKW’s campus and provides the base for most programs.
TSKW renovated the building between in 2006 and 2007, and the campus is now home to a sculpture garden, exhibition and performance hall, and two separate spaces for exhibitions including the downstairs Main Hall and Space 2 upstairs. The second floor also houses studios for artists and writers.
Sculpture Garden
Adjacent to the Armory is The TSKW Sculpture Garden, a landscaped area that hosts several sculpture installations each year. The garden presents temporary installations and outdoor exhibitions and has been home to the work of many artists including John Martini, Susan Rodgers, Lauren McAloon, CR Gray, Anja Marais, and others.
610 Studios
In 2010, to meet the growing demand for additional work space for artists, TSKW expanded their studios program by adding several studios two doors down from the Armory at 610 White Street.
Ashe Street Residency Cottages In mid 2011, TSKW began renovation work on 607 and 609 Ashe Street for use as residency cottages for visiting artists. Upon completion of the project in early 2012, the cottages will include three suites with two attached working studios, an outdoor nature center, an expanded sculpture garden adjoining the Armory and Mango Tree House, and an outdoor area for small gatherings.
The Studios of Key West launched a residency program in 2007, based in the accommodation now known as the organisation's Mango Tree House. The Southard Street space has since hosted dozens of artists, musicians, and cultural figures from all over the world, including Madison Smartt Bell, Nemo Librizzi, MOMO, Coleman Barks, Curt Richter, Herbert Weissberg, Sandro Kopp, Helen Whitney, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips and many others.
Stays are 4 weeks long, and the proposal period for applications is January 1-May 15 each year. Successful applicants are provided with living space, and in many cases are also afforded work space.
TSKW hosts many programs, workshops, cultural gatherings and exhibitions throughout the year.
Exhibitions
TSKW hosts approximately 32 exhibitions and installations each year in the Armory Main Hall, Space 2, and the Sculpture Garden. Proposals for exhibitions are accepted from local and visiting artists and are installed for 2-4 week periods. The third Thursday of the month is known as Walk on White, and TSKW, along with other businesses and galleries along White Street, hold open their doors for a festive gallery walk. The TSKW artist studios are open to the public and visitors are encouraged to also view the current exhibitions.
Workshops and Classes
Each year, TSKW offers a full season of weekly classes, workshops and longer-term courses that cater to both local island residents and visitors. Weekly classes and courses provide opportunities for study with artists like Rick Worth, Karen Beauprie, Jim Salem, Rosalind Brackenbury, Richard Grusin, Mike Rooney, Roberta Marks, Letty Nowak and others.
TSKW also offers many 1-4 day workshops in the visual, performing and literary arts each year. These workshops are taught by instructors like Frank Francese and Robert Burridge. Past instructors have included Charles Reid, William Welch, and Susan Sugar.
Concerts
TSKW hosts two concert series each year, a contemporary folk series called Old Town New Folk which features national singer/songwriters, and a cabaret series which features local island talent. Past Old Town New Folk musicians have included Peter Mayer, Emily Saliers, Livingston Taylor, Susan Werner, Noel Paul Stookey, and Ben Harrison.
The Cabaret Series is also popular, and recently, TSKW has begun presenting 1-2 classical concerts each year with esteemed musicians.
Lectures
Since 2008, The Studios of Key West has partnered with The Friends of the Library [2] to host their free lecture series every Monday evening from early January to late March at 6 pm. the series hosts leading writing and cultural figures and in the past has included presentations by Calvin Trillin, Jean Carper, Lee Smith, Lou Harris, former U.S. Poet Laureate Maxine Kumin, poet Billy Collins, authors James Gleick, Barbara Ehrenreich, Judy Blume and Meg Cabot, to name just a few.
The Studios of Key West was founded as a non-profit cultural organization in 2006, with a mission to support the island's creative community, the development of artists and audiences in the Conch Republic, and new partnerships near and far. It is based on successful 20th century models for artist colonies, but aims to expand the approach and model for the 21st century artist community. The Studios of Key West now maintains a growing campus based at the historic Key West Armory building, located in the Old Town neighbourhood at Southard and White Streets, and offers a dynamic mix of community workshops, performing arts events, exhibitions, lectures, and island residencies for creative people from around the world.
The Armory building, originally built between 1900-1903 as the drill hall and armory for the Florida state militia, the Island City Rifles, is the only wood-frame government structure in the Keys. It underwent historic preservation efforts in 2006 and 2007, and now comprises a main hall exhibition and event space, twelve studio spaces for Key West artists and writers, a sculpture garden with rotating three dimensional and public art, and several properties that are to become residencies for distinguished visiting artists. By offering free and regular creative opportunities, such as the monthly Walk on White open studio tours, weekly life drawing sessions, and a series of lectures and presentations by and about creative people, the Armory has become a destination for both residents and visitors.
Core programming has grown from a few workshops in 2007 to over 100 creative classes during the 2010-11 season. These have been delivered by notable American cultural figures, including watercolorists Frank Webb, Charles Reid, and Don Andrews, writers Rebecca Skloot, Roxana Barry Robinson, Robert Stone, and Crescent Dragonwagon, and mixed-media artists Valerie Goodwin, Thomas Mann, and Roberta Marks. A lecture series by and about creative people was inaugurated in February 2007 by Robert MacNeil, and has grown to include several dozen free public presentations each year. In 2008, free professional development sessions, touching on a variety of skills and issues for working creative people, were introduced for Keys artists.
Experimental and collaborative projects continue to develop, including the late summertime One Night Stand new theatre works initiative, the introduction of Key West's first Art-o-mat machine, a partnership with Southern Arts Federation, workshopping support for Joyce Stahl's imaginative Nutcracker Key West production, and an innovative partnership with local artists, schools, and children to create the Keys' first Leathers and Associates community-designed playground. The organisation also convened the 2007 Arts Speak sessions for Key West cultural leaders, in partnership with the Florida Keys Council of the Arts and Sculpture Key West.
TSKW is now run by a small professional staff, led by executive director Jay Scott, and is governed by a board of dedicated Key West community leaders. The mission and vision continue to grow, with an increasing emphasis on partnership and collaboration, community interface and involvement, cross-cultural exchange, and wholesale support of the creative process. It works to build on the creative legacy of past and present Key West residents such as Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Richard Wilbur, Judy Blume, Meg Cabot, Mario Sanchez, Henry La Cagnina and Annie Dillard. The Studios of Key West proceeds from the traditional approach to the artist colony, established by the likes of Yaddo and MacDowell Colony, and expanded more recently by Anderson Ranch, Vermont Studio Center, and Atlantic Center for the Arts. Key West's version intends to advance this progression, and establish the artist community model for the 21st century.