Studio and Home, All in One: Artists' Housing in Jamaica Plain

Tucked between Brookside Avenue and Cornwall Street, a stone's throw from the Sam Adams Brewery and two T stops, the Brookside Artists’ Lofts play a dual role as artist residence and work space in artist-friendly JP.

Edana Spicker and Joe Fallon, of Keller Williams Realty, specialize in selling artists residences, and speak with gusto on the 1,307 square foot basement loft, one of 22 in the complex with ample parking.

The recently renovated space, Fallon says, has been masterfully built around the old foundations of the manufacturing sites that used to run along Cornwall Street, then known as Chemical Way, allowing light to peer in through the front and back of the loft, exposing the original Roxbury puddingstone foundation.

“That’s why they called it Puddingstone Galleries back in the day” Edana said, referring to a former artist who lived in the complex and ran a fine art gallery out of the space.

Over the phone, Heidi Burbidge of the Boston Redevelopment Authority tells how the space, and others like it, came about in Jamaica Plain. The Senior Project Manager of the Artist Space Initiative, she explained how the BRA looks at a variety of different buildings for artist-specific residence.

They have to fit multiple roles, she says, as working space and living space. Some are “organic creations,” buildings that have evolved into that role through owners’ designs, while others are parts of arts institutions.

“The city has been trying to add to the supply of different artists’ spaces through either subsidies or support for these units,” said Burbidge, adding that the neighborhood has had a strong and distinct artistic characteristic for some time.

“One of the only complexes that has multiple artists is Brookside studios,” she says, “when you look at JP Open Studios and the many many artists that come out in JP to show support, there are hundreds.”

Spicker and Fallon voiced enthusiasm for the community while reciting its history, especially in the face of developers around the turn of the century.

“We were lucky enough to have a very politically active and community minded organization,” Fallon says. “There was a cluster of artists who lived here and they knew the drill. So they knew how to save this place for themselves. Most of the other places in the city did not have that and they didn’t have a real cohesive kind of union to save their space.”

Eric Hofbauer, 38, has been playing jazz guitar in Boston since 1996, and moved into the complex six months ago.

“My wife and I were very excited for the space,” he said over the phone, calling it an “amazing opportunity.”

“We never thought we’d be able to afford it and make it happen.”

“I’d lived in Somerville in the same place in Davis Square for 10 years,” he said. “For the amount of rent you pay and the square footage, it’s hard… then we realized that I qualified for artists’ housing, which opened up a whole new world.”

"The definition of ‘artist’ is pretty broad,” Spicker says, “It’s not just a fine artist doing oil painting. There’s poets, set designers, musicians… we had a soap maker in the other day.“ Fallon adds a taxidermist to the list for good measure.

However Burbidge reinforces that applicants must submit a body of work to be reviewed by fellow artists for consideration.

“In that way we remain truly an artists’ residence.”

Arists — Check this link to see where Artist Spaces are available. For information on the condo pictured in the photos, please contact Joe Fallon.