Arts space
Colonylike complex provides studios for local artists
All they want is a space of their own. For artists in Baton Rouge, a place to work and show their work can be hard to find. Baton Rouge native Mark Nikoff, owner of N the art space Art Complex, an artist himself, confronted the problem.
“I’m real enthusiastic about art. If I can help somebody, I will. They kept coming to me and saying, ‘I can do that for a show, but I’d really like to have a place to create,’” Nikoff said. “They were searching. I had I think, at one point, 20 people wanting studio space, art studio space where they can create. Somewhere that is safe. Somewhere that is decent, that is away from their home.”
Nikoff found that place and N the art space was born. The complex, in two multi-storied buildings at 7809 Jefferson Highway, is like a medical clinic: there is a central landing from which narrow hallways shoot off in two directions. Doors line the hallways. Behind each door is a studio.
“We created art studio spaces, and that’s what we have,” Nikoff said. “We have a total of about 28 private studios of varying sizes.” All 28 are occupied, and there’s a waiting list.
“We’ve got stained glass, painting. We have a photography studio. We have some video. We’ve had a writer before. We have graphic designers. And basically, they come here and they just do their stuff. Some people do it for a living. Some people do it after they get off work,” Nikoff said. “It could vary between about 100 square feet up to about 400 square feet, a few are larger.
“It kinda conforms to the space we actually acquire. This particular building, the space in here was a little different from the other building that we have. The spaces are basically offices that we’re (converting) as studios,” Nikoff said. Some of the studios have windows. Others don’t. They’re small, few larger than 12 feet by 20 feet. The artists have 24-hour access to their studios, and can host individual showings at their little galleries. Or they can show their work somewhere else. “They are not tied to showing here. They can show anywhere they want,” Nikoff said.
The artists join quarterly for a public open house to showcase their work and maybe make a sale or two. The next open house is 5-8 p.m. April 28, Nikoff said. “We invite everybody to open their doors should they choose,” Nikoff said. And there’s an “art store” now where the resident artists can place their works on consignment.”
“That’s new (display of art for sale). We add little phases of things that are in the pipeline as we are able to, and so this is an art store. I try to gear away from the term ‘gallery.’ A lot of people come up and think a gallery is exclusive or too expensive so I wanted to be an art store so it would have a more comfortable feel, more people would feel comfortable coming in.”
Cost of renting a studio at N the art space varies, Nikoff said. “It starts out at about $100, and the range goes up to $500,” he said. Rental fee is based on the square footage of the room, he said.
Nikoff understands the needs of his tenants. He works in mixed media creating pieces ranging in size from 30 inches square to more than 8 feet in height. Some of his works are in the art store. So he screens applicants to make sure they’ll fit in with the other art colony residents. “I like to keep up a nice even representation of visual artists. We typically focus on visual art. I have people waiting (to get a studio). I ask them to submit to me something — what do you do? What kind of work to you do? Just a little information from them.”
Most hear about the colony through word of mouth, Nikoff said. Of the 28 now in residence, “all are local, 73 years old to 24,” he said. They’ll soon be joined by more artists. “I finalized our new addition last week,” Nikoff said. “We are adding 10 more artists (who will be) housed in our new third building. This additional 2800 square feet brings our total square footage to almost 10,000 square feet of art space.”
Social media led the way
“I put out on Facebook that I was looking for a place outside my home – I have a large studio space at home. It’s actually much larger than this and very large scale, but I wanted to be in the community,” Stephanie Green said. “A friend of mine on Facebook told me about Mark and his space and I came and met Mark and he’s just an amazing guy with great community.”
Green is a lifelong artist who pursues her passion full-time. She works in an ancient medium called encaustic art which utilizes a paint created from melted beeswax, tree sap and an added pigment. The Dallas native has lived in Baton Rouge 30 years. She teaches workshops. “I have them here and my studio at home which is larger, I have them there. And I also have them at a place in Arnaudville called Nunu’s – it’s a cooperative too.
“I think that when you’re involved in a community of artists, the energy is so good, you feed off each other,” Green said. “We do know each other. We share ideas and techniques.”
In Green’s case, technique might involve using a blowtorch. She heats the encaustic medium and lays down layers which harden when they cool yet look lustrous and are soft to the touch. “It’s fragrant, it’s sensuous,” she said. “Everybody wants to touch it.”
She’s been in N the art space since October 2011, she said, but she markets her work far and wide. “I have paintings in different places. I have some at a gallery in California, I don’t have local gallery representation. I have paintings at Crate and Barrel, they are reproductions of these paintings — the water series,” Green said. She still paints at home sometimes. “When I paint large, I paint at home. But I like to be here. I like to be with the other artists.”
Leftover house paint
Sarah Griffith works in acrylics overlaid with oil now, but she began her career in abstract art on a fluke.
“Art was a hobby that turned into a real business for me,” Griffith said. “I taught school for 30 years and was a school principal. I was an elementary teacher. Eighteen years ago we moved into a new home. Abstract art was not hot in Baton Rouge at all, but I had seen it in magazines. And so we had some leftover house paint, and I had a red dining room. I had some red paint, so I painted an abstract piece for our foyer just to pop, something different from the Audubon birds. Some people wanted to buy it, some guests for dinner one night. I was so embarrassed. I said, ‘look, you can just have it.’ The guy called me back the next day and insisted on paying for it. So I took some money.
“Then I did another piece for the foyer, and the same thing happened.”
Pretty soon Griffith’s paintings were hanging in local businesses. “The big impetus which changed me is that I went to a big show art expo in New York. That’s when I was introduced to reproductive work and was ultimately in Southern Accents and some major magazines because designers around the country and galleries picked me up. I did not start out to paint for a career. It just kinda began to happen,” she said. Pretty soon art was consuming a lot of her time and a lot of her space.
“I had my studio in my home for 15 years. I like the idea of being in a space that I could go in, start something, leave it and not have to disrupt my home, my family. I like also the collaboration with other artists. I’ve never really done that a lot. I’ve always really been sorta on my own, so I like that idea of being in a space (with other artists).
“This is a great area for it. Baton Rouge has evolved into a city with a great interest in art. This particular part of town has a lot of venues for eating and going out and so forth. I think that it’s a great place to paint, but it’s also great place to show,” Griffith said.
She’s been in N the art space since October 2011. “I show here in the studio. I’m from Baton Rouge, but I am in other galleries around the country. I have reproductions in the International Market Place. I’m in catalogs,” she said. “I actually do a lot of custom work from south Florida all the way across the Southeast. I travel to New Orleans and Lafayette frequently.”
An affordable place
“Studio space is at a premium in Baton Rouge. Before I found Mark, you were looking to pay the price of an apartment. The cheapest space I would be able to find a studio to actually rent a space would be $400 a month. Something ridiculous. You’d hope you’d get a bed and bathroom with it, you’re paying so much.
“Soon as I found Mark, it was by far the most affordable space,” Jason Breaux said.
Sulfur native Breaux is a 2003 graduate of LSU with a degree in painting and drawing. “I moved here for college, haven’t left yet.” He has been with Nikoff’s colony for three years.
“I was with Mark when we were over on Alello. We used to have a little house across from Studio N on Alello Drive. There were three of us in the studio there. At most there were five at any one time, counting Mark.” He moved to the N the art space a little over a year ago.
He loves having his own studio space.
“The biggest attraction, especially being an oil painter, is having your own space. You’re dealing with toxic things, poisonous chemicals – cadmium, zinc – things that can give you cancer. I know a lot of older painters who were my professors and things who ended up having cancers, and that’s definitely a possibility that’s where they got it. Just to keep that away from your home environment is really good, especially when you deal with those mediums,” Breaux said.
“The other biggest thing is simply to have other artists around. It’s really important to have other people who do this day in and day out come and express an opinion to you or to come and give you a critique. Most artists live kind of in a bubble. Non-professional artists who don’t actively attempt to be around other artists, they’re practically in a bubble, meaning they don’t have a critical eye.
“They just get a non-critical eye from people who are just viewing their art. Those of us who know the basics of art, the ins and outs, all of the process, I think it’s a lot better for us just to walk in and see what someone’s working on and give them not just an opinion but a critical opinion. We’ve all got our problems and shortcomings which we can’t see. And usually those are the ones that you want to find the most,” Breaux said.
He works predominantly in oils. His pieces defy labels. “I actually have — even though the subject matter looks very atypical and alternative — I actually have a very traditional approach to art. The technical term I have for my art is prototypical structuralism. I’m definitely a structural painter not a formalist. My work is more about my process.”
He’s happy Nikoff’s project has taken off. “It’s bigger every week for him,” Breaux said. And he’s happy to be part of it.
“Just being here and being around people like Mark is so worth it. Mark is so into the scene, the art world. He wants to be knee deep in that. For those of us who are more focused on creative aspects wherever they occur, it’s nice to have someone like that so we can have someone to go to and say, ‘Explain. How goes this?’” Breaux said with a laugh.
That’s just what Nikoff wants his art colony to be. “They just use it as a springboard. We’re actually a little bit ahead of our time in Baton Rouge as far as the co-op facility,” Nikoff said. “As things have grown, there was a need for what I wanted to do, so I just did it.”
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