Artist Space Trust

Artist Space Trust works to secure the future of artists in the Bay Area by using the community land trust model to secure permanently affordable spaces for artists to work and live. Our vision is an artist-friendly Bay Area, ensuring the health and vitality of our communities for generations to come.

Cherie Hill and IrieDance in She-Verse. Photo: Robbie Sweeny

L to R: Rose Rothfeder, Lashon Daly, Andreina Maldonado, Cherie Hill.

About Us

A GROUNDBREAKING INITIATIVE

Artist Space Trust (AST) is the first CLT in the US solely devoted to equitably securing permanently affordable, safe and accessible housing and creative space for artists and culture-bearers. Launched in 2023, in response to the loss of artist’s lives in Oakland’s Ghost Ship fire and the ever-increasing outmigration of artists from the Bay, AST is committed to preserving the diverse cultural fabric of the Bay Area.

AST properties are gathered into a collective structure, offering long-term community control and artist-sensitive management and expertise. We acquire existing properties affordably through bequests, donation, or through strategies including partial subsidy and options allowing for aging in place. AST properties are converted through split title, with artist homeowners and cooperatives purchasing their homes and workspaces, and leasing the land underneath from AST. The underlying land is held and stewarded by AST in perpetuity with deed-restrictions that ensure artist-occupation for generations to come.

Learn more ➔

Painting detail of Preservation by Kelly Tunstall and Ferris Plock. Photo: Shaun Roberts

THRIVING COMMUNITY

Our Vision

AST envisions a Bay Area where artists thrive without the burden of skyrocketing real estate costs. AST properties across the Bay provide artists with long term housing-security, safe and accessible gathering and production space, and an intergenerational commitment to cultural community preservation. Our success is rooted in the mutual aid of artists and arts-supporters dedicated to building a legacy of support through funding and the donation of properties. AST provides homeownership opportunities to BIPOC artists and culture-bearers historically locked out of building real estate equity.

Donate to AST ➔

Key Achievements

Since our launch in April 2023, AST has achieved significant milestones, thanks to the dedication of our initial project director, Meg Shiffler, and the support of our partners and donors:

AST Director Meg Shiffler. Photo: Mabel Jimenez

Artist and Community Advisory Council: AST has assembled an advisory council with members representing the diverse artistic practices and cultural communities of the Bay Area.
AST Staffing: AST’s inaugural Director Meg Shiffler took the helm in March and Qiana Ellis joined the team in December as the AST Administrative and Outreach Associate. The staff works in partnership with key staff from Vital Arts and NCLT.
Seed Funds: Vital Arts and NCLT secured crucial seed funding from regional foundations to launch AST. AST is securing additional funding for continued growth. See list below.
Property Bequests: Our first secure property bequest is a Julia Morgan-designed home in Berkeley donated to AST by author, artist, educator and activist Rafael Jesus Gonzalez. Two additional bequests are in process, with more interested donors waiting in the wings. These bequests are a testament to the generational shift of property wealth we aim to facilitate.
Impact Investment Fund: AST is actively developing our Acquisition and Renovation Impact Investment Fund (ARIIF) with the support of social impact investors locally and nationally.

Contact us

Key Acheivements

Since our launch in April 2023, AST has achieved significant milestones, thanks to the dedication of our initial project director, Meg Shiffler, and the support of our partners and donors
Secured Additional Funding

AST has secured crucial funds that are instrumental in making our vision a reality.
Property Bequests

We have received bequests of our first two sites from older artists, with one complete and one in the process. These bequests are a testament to the generational shift we aim to facilitate.
Impact Investment Fund

AST is actively developing an impact investment fund led by VA board members to support our initial property acquisitions.

Artists play a critical role in bringing us together to share fresh visions and stories of resilience, resistance, and hope. Unless new policies and solutions are enacted, the SF Bay Area's creative wealth risks becoming a historic artifact, rather than an imperative driver and incubator for both individual and collective visioning as well as cultural forms that expansively reflect the human experience. We need new and varied approaches to the housing and creative space challenges facing our cultural communities, or the outmigration of artists seeking a more affordable life will continue.

For more information about Artist Space Trust and how you can support our cause, please visit artistspacetrust.org.