Art Bash | Saturday, November 14, 6 p.m. | Artspace, Raleigh
Wandering through the sun-drenched halls of Artspace in late October, one can find a handful of artists quietly at work. One woman bends over a large canvas with oil paints. Another sits in front of a machine for precision carving, preparing to start on a tiny skull-shaped ornament for a bracelet—a Halloween commission.
Artspace’s studios, open to the public, remain a unique highlight of downtown Raleigh. Stepping inside feels a lot like stepping away from the relentless grind of everyday life, into a space where any small spark of creativity can thrive.
The nonprofit started in 1980 as a mere concept: an arts center that would revitalize the surrounding streets, including Fayetteville Street and City Market.
“There were two things that came together,” Sally Bates, the first executive director of Artspace, said in a 40th-anniversary video posted to the organization’s website. “There was the artist community wanting to have a bigger say, a bigger face, a bigger presence. And then there were the business leaders that wanted to see the downtown revitalized.”
At the time, downtown was riddled with empty storefronts. Growth in the capital city had slowed in the 1970s, as commercial activity moved toward Research Triangle Park and the suburbs. At one point, the city attempted to revitalize the area by converting Fayetteville Street into a pedestrian mall, an effort that ultimately failed.
If all that sounds familiar, it should. Today’s downtown core faces many of the same challenges: a smattering of empty storefronts; slowed growth as commercial activity moves away from the downtown core to places like the Warehouse District and North Hills.
Artspace, unlike some other downtown businesses, has endured—surviving the COVID-19 pandemic, seismic shifts in arts funding, and rising operational costs. For decades, it has continued to exhibit art, educate children, and support working artists while other organizations come and go. On November 14, the organization will hold its annual Art Bash fundraising event, with a special nod to the 40th anniversary with a live art bid, an ’80s-themed after-party, a ruby raffle, and other activities.
Reaching this milestone is no small feat. Still, as organizers reflect on 40 years and look toward the future, that collective original dream of a vibrant downtown arts district remains unfulfilled.
A Look Back
In 1980, a group of artists and business leaders approached the Raleigh City Council with the idea for an arts center downtown, and it rapidly gained momentum. The Raleigh Arts Commission formed a subcommittee to study the proposal, and soon suggested forming a nonprofit to build and manage an arts center in the old Sanders Ford building.
“They wanted a space that was going to be similar to the River Arts District in Asheville,” Carly Jones-Barstow, the executive director of Artspace, told the INDY. “They looked at a lot of different models, and they were very inspired by the Torpedo Factory [Art Center, in Virginia].”
The Sanders Ford building, spanning 30,000 square feet, is one of Raleigh’s older structures. It was originally built in 1911 to house horses, back when carriages were the best way of getting around. Later, the building became the Sanders Ford car dealership, which eventually outgrew the space and moved out.
“It was universally agreed that the arts were the magnet that would bring people downtown. And if the artists came, the people would come, and if the people came, the restaurants would come, and it would all be symbiotic and good.”
Sally Bates, the first executive director of Artspace
By the 1980s, the historic building had been completely abandoned and was home mostly to pigeons, recalled Leni Newell, one of Artspace’s first studio artists. But as Artspace embarked on a mission to renovate the space, the organization had “tremendous support from many different stakeholders,” Bates said in the video.
“It was universally agreed that the arts were the magnet that would bring people downtown,” Bates said. “And if the artists came, the people would come, and if the people came, the restaurants would come, and it would all be symbiotic and good.”
In a letter from 1981, then-mayor Smedes York wrote about how artists could “bring people and activity into an area that has been devoid of both” by “occupy[ing] buildings that have been empty for years.”
Artist and architect Thomas Sayre—perhaps best known locally for his monumental sculpture “Gyre” at the North Carolina Museum of Art—took charge of the renovation. In 1986, Artspace opened to the public, with 23 individual studios for artists.
Artspace Today
In many ways, Artspace has been an overwhelming success. For decades, it has given working artists studio space downtown, where they could gain exposure and build business.
“It really kick-started everything,” Newell said. “Buyers would come through from other gallery spaces and businesses, looking to buy art. You don’t get that when you’re just in your home studio. I made a lot of sales.”
Moments from Artspace’s history have become staples of downtown life, like Raleigh’s monthly First Friday event, which started as the First Friday Gallery Walk in 1990. Artspace collaborated with the City Gallery of Contemporary Art to create and market the event, which still brings thousands of people downtown each month.
The giant copper-and-steel acorn that is lowered in downtown Raleigh each New Year’s Eve was crafted at Artspace by sculptor David Benson. And of course, there are the years of summer camps, classes, and field trips Artspace has offered K-12 students. Jones-Barstow, in fact, was a summer camper at Artspace before becoming executive director years later.
Under Jones-Barstow, the organization has also added an artist residency program for graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (or HBCUs), in addition to its regional emerging artist and universal access artist residencies (the latter of which supports artists with disabilities).
“Part of what I have done since being here is trying to bring more equitable opportunities in the arts to folks,” said Jones-Barstow. “Making space for artists that may have been left out of the story in the past or not given opportunities at the same level. It’s very important to keep a variety of perspectives.”
Looking to the future
Years of institutional history give Artspace some armor against the challenges other arts organizations are facing. The organization is well known across the Triangle and has had time to refine a unique funding model that works for them, according to Jones-Barstow. But that doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing.
Artspace’s historic building requires constant maintenance, including a roof replacement within the next few years, said Jones-Barstow. And while “we have lots of incredible funding for programs,” donors are less excited about giving money to utility projects like fixing the HVAC or the roof, she added.
Costs like this, rising rents, and less foot traffic have created major funding problems for arts organizations. In September, the Contemporary Art Museum of Raleigh (CAM) announced plans to sell its building in the Warehouse District, citing ongoing financial challenges.
Some organizations, like VAE Raleigh, have been forced to hop around different buildings downtown, which makes it difficult to survive, much less grow. Others have simply closed, as artist-founders moved on from projects that required incredible time commitments.
The City Market Artist Collective closed in 2025, after founder Paris Alexander decided to reclaim his time in the studio, and in August, artist Bill Thelen closed grassroots gallery Lump (though a new arts collective, plum, is now leasing the building).
What could a vibrant arts district look like in Raleigh? Posed the question, Jones-Barstow said she envisions a vibrant mix of creative spaces, from art studios and galleries to performance venues and small businesses.
“It should be a destination for the city and a home base where artists of every discipline find resources and each other,” Jones-Barstow wrote in an email to the INDY. “You should be able to walk through on any day, see art being made, and maybe also make some yourself.”
The Triangle already has a highly active and collaborative artist community, as the demand for Artspace studios shows. Bringing these people and organizations together in one place can both help that community grow and create a destination that enriches downtown, according to Jones-Barstow. A stable home also gives less conventional artists “room to take risks” and can bring new forms of art to the Triangle, she added.
When it comes to the logistics of making this dream happen—it’s not easy, Jones-Barstow said, but there are options. Keeping creative spaces open in the long term is key, which requires a “long-term affordable space, funding that lasts beyond a single grant cycle, and a plan that artists, galleries, nonprofits, and the city [of Raleigh] build together.”
“There are ways to do it, but it takes, number one, for everyone to want it bad enough to invest,” Jones-Barstow said. “It’s not that we don’t have the talent here, but we have to have the financial backing. Not just from government, but also from our lovely startups and corporate entities that are moving to the Triangle.”
“At some point it does take the will of the community, the funding community, as well as the government.”
To comment on this story, email [email protected].
You must be logged in to post a comment.