I recently realized the difficulty some fellow artists and musicians have had trying to find appropriate studio spaces in Toledo.

With the current swell of the creative class and my personal daily involvement with artists and musicians and others who are “in the know,” this was something that hadn’t really occurred to me. As an artist who has immersed himself in Toledo for the last 10 years I was surprised by how difficult it is to find information on work/practice space in and around Toledo.

Checking the Yellow Pages and Googling “art studio, Toledo, Ohio,” I found everything from galleries, tattoo studios, dance studios, frame shops to professional studios and found practically nothing at all when it came to work or practice spaces for rent. I figured an article on the subject may help to squelch future frustrations of individuals who are interested in getting up and out of their basements or other home studios and want to get into the mix with other creatives or simply have a space to find focus.

This will be a brief overview with contact information on some of the spaces that are or may be available for rent in and near Toledo.

The Collingwood Arts Center at 2413 Collingwood Blvd. in the Old West End directly across from Scott High School. The CAC offers art and music studios as well as office and living spaces. The CAC has a beautiful amphitheater and class rooms available for residents to rent for performances or classes. Prices vary on the room and purpose of use. Contact Marlin at (419) 244-2787 or visit www.collingwoodartscenter.org.

The Secor Studios located at 425 Jefferson Ave. at the corner of Superior St. The Secor offers studio spaces for artists, musicians and performers as well as office spaces in the heart of Downtown Toledo. The Secor is very diverse in the size and style of spaces available and could be built to fit any size for an artist or group who has particular needs/desires and the budget to match. Studios in The Secor start at about $125. Contact KC at (419) 514-7496.

Common Space offers a wide variety of options with many amenities for artists, musicians and performers from class rooms to dance studios and performance space. The size of the studios vary from 10-by-10 to 22-by-33. Prices range from $85-$350 Common Space has multiple locations  including 1700 N. Reynolds Rd, 10 S. Holland-Sylvania Rd. and 437 South Main St. Bowling Green. Contact Martin Nagy (419) 531-2046 or visit www.aclew.org.

The Olive St. Studios is located Downtown in the Warehouse District at 252 Ottawa St. Olive St. is a raw space for visual artists and sculptors located near the western base of the High Level Bridge. Prices vary and are “usually” full. Contact Brian Juchartz at (419) 290-1132.

Former Summit St. Studios, Tholepin Press has studio spaces available in a variety of sizes and caters mainly to 2D artists with a full print studio available to rent a as well as weekly public life drawing classes. Studio pricing varies. Contact Paul Geiger at (419) 243-4944.

Another space I would also like to share that may be able to help you or a loved one let the creative juices flow is Space 237. 237 is a gallery and studio space offering ceramics classes with Jules Shine Webster. 237 does not offer rooms for rent but they do have a full ceramics facility and they rent studio time and teach students of all ages how to use the tools, equipment and materials used in ceramics. You can contact 237 by calling (419) 255-5117 or by visiting www.space237.com.

Studio M Printmakers located at 320 N. Michigan St. is, what do ya know, a printmakers studio offering classes and studio time on a variety of printing equipment and tools. Studio M does not offer studios for rent but they do offer classes and equipment for fine arts printing. For more information on classes and studio availability contact Mania Dajnak at (419) 343-5084 or e-mail mdajnak@sbcglobal.net.

I’m sure there are studio opportunities out there that I have missed or overlooked, so my apologies. Please comment here so future readers may be aware of these unfortunately overlooked opportunities.

Be well, Toledo.

Jerry Gray is an artist, writer, vocalist, bartender, gallery owner and advocate of the Toledo Potential, which promotes the retaining and featuring of artistic talent and culture in our city.

Tags: Bozarts, Collingwood Arts Center, Common Space, Jerry Gray, Olive St. Studios, Secor Studios, Space 237, Studio M Printmakers, Tholepin Press, Uni-Brow

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 at 10:24 am and is filed under Star, Unibrow.
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