Northampton Community Arts Trust

Art requires a healthy ecosystem.

What's that? Well, in part, space — space to create, space to present, space to produce.

To that end, the Northampton Community Arts Trust has modeled itself after a land trust. A land trust preserves and protects space for, among other things, species health and survival. We aim to do the same for art in our community: Our mission is to protect and ensure the long-term vitality of Northampton through the acquisition and preservation of affordable and accessible space for the arts throughout the community. These spaces will be held in trust as common heritage resources, stewarded for the community for present and future generations.

What's that look like? To us, like this:

• protected space – space that has been removed from the market and held for the community;

• affordable space – space that any organization can reasonably afford;

• sustainable space – space that is designed, built and operated such that affordability can be maintained;

• robust space – space that will remain affordable and accessible for decades;

• welcoming space – space that entices, involves, attracts and excites the community of Northampton.

In the fall of 2013, the Arts Trust acquired a 25,000 square foot building at 33 Hawley Street in downtown Northampton. We opened the building to community arts organizations for the next 18 months and hosted rehearsals, classes, and performances that touched hundreds upon hundreds of people. In the late summer of 2015, we began Phase One renovations to the building that focused on structurally enhancing the building and replacing its skin with a high-efficiency shell.