All mediums welcome at new downtown art studio — and it’s open to the public

Ceramics, glass blowing and metal fabrication will take place in a single building in Macon, and it will be open to the public.

Startup Studios, at 1055 Riverside Drive, will have its opening night Nov. 2 after the First Friday events downtown. People will be able to watch a ceramics artist and a glass artist perform their crafts.

“Some people say, like, downtown sometimes after 10 p.m. or after certain hours, downtown is like a ghost town, but it’s actually not. There’s a lot of things going on, and we want to make people notice that,” said Yen-Ting Chiu, a ceramics artist and one of the founders of Startup Studios.

Bryan Beck, a glass artist and a founder of Startup Studios, said he and his wife, Yen-Ting, came up with the idea to create a collaborative space in which artists can work.

“At (graduate) school, you have your studio spaces, and you can sit across from somebody that’s working on something completely different and talk about what you’re doing,” Beck said. “Having that community helps with the art-making process.”

Beck said the space has five studios for artists with an open floor plan to inspire collaboration. There will be gallery booths that artists can rent per month or by commission.

Startup Studios has a conference room that other artists in the community can use for classes, and the rent will be 25 percent of their profits. If no one shows up to an artist’s class, they don’t have to pay any additional fees.

Yen-Ting said they have remodeled the former trolly repair station by removing the carpet and tile to give the building the feeling of a warehouse.

“Usually warehouses are good for the arts,” she said. “People don’t need to worry about like, ‘I’m making mess here.’ We actually try to make it very environment friendly, so everybody can come in, do what they really want.”

Beck said they wanted a space for artists and the people of Macon after the Contemporary Arts Exchange closed.

“We hope to be that new location,” Beck said. “Having that kind of local camaraderie between artists and the community is important.”

Heather Jones, owner of Heather Margarete Designs and an artist in Startup Studios, said she loves the space and is ready to get other artists in there to collaborate.

She said she hopes Startup Studios will invite people to get involved with art.

“It’s going to bring more knowledge about the arts to the community,” Jones said. “Having a space like this, it allows people to come in and be a part of the art rather than just being a bystander.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2018 at 12:00 AM.