While Beacon has been an artistic haven for the past few decades, rising property prices and a high cost of living have made it difficult for artists to find both time and space for creative practice. Despite its growing population, the natural surroundings make it nearly impossible for the city to expand. The city is surrounded by the Hudson River, Mount Beacon, and the Hudson Highlands. Stacey Burgay’s new studio, That Creative Space, is an affordable studio space for artists to make work and gather in community at workshops and classes. The studio, located on Fishkill Avenue, is opening in September.
When Stacey Burgay left New York City in 2024 to search for a less cramped, more affordable life, she was drawn to Beacon as a place that felt right for her. In January, she lost her full-time job working in project management and operations for a media insights company. “When I was thinking what it is that I would do next, you know, I started to think ‘well, what’s needed in the community?’” Burgay says. “There is really no centralized place to make or learn art here.”
Burgay put out a survey to her community, asking people if they would be interested in a shared studio space, and if so, how much they would be willing to pay to be a part of it. Burgay used the Department of Labor’s SEAP program, which allows people receiving unemployment to develop a business plan. She was inspired by AlterWork Studio in Queens, a space she joined in 2020 that was a way for her to have an affordable studio space and take ceramics classes. “It’s [Beacon’s] such a hub of performance and activity, and it’s so vibrant, but there aren’t any physical spaces to make and learn not just about art, but curiosities, and self-growth. That Creative Space started to form with the real goal of providing a more accessible and welcoming space for everyone,” she says.
The space’s fall workshops will include Botanical Ink Making, Accordion Zine Making, Simple Quilt Making with Sashiko Thread, and Taxidermy Drawing Night, each taught by a different artist. “Almost everyone who is teaching with us this fall has a professional practice either within their art form or in their industry,” Burgay says. The space will also host a 12-week drawing class taught by Carinda Swann, the retired executive director of the Garrison Arts Center. That drawing class will cover everything from foundations to figurative to abstract drawing techniques. On school holidays, the space will also host kid-centric workshops, such as a Make Your Own Cyborg workshop.
That Creative Space has four different membership options: A community membership meant for established artists with their own studio spaces to give them space and time to mingle with other artists, a shared dedicated studio membership that gives people allotted studio space, open studio time where people can come and use the studio but can’t leave supplies overnight, and the flexible membership, which gives an artists eight hours of studio space. There will also be a few spots open for a work exchange program for people who can’t afford to pay for studio space monetarily.
“It’s really for anyone who’s looking for a creative community, whether they’re an adult or a kid or a teen that’s looking to find a space where they can feel like themselves,” Burgay says. That Creative Space will hold an open house on September 6, where community members can view the work of artists who will be teaching fall workshops, participate in an art supply swap, join in on collage-making, and gain a sense of what the space has to offer. Formal classes will begin on September 9. “For the people who don’t know the studio exists, I want them to say ‘oh, look, there’s a place where I could make work again,’” Burgay says.
