Once people cooked and washed at House 8 in Anscharpark, the art is now in the listed, red-brick farm building. Kunstverein Haus 8, founded in 2010, celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Atelierhaus with an exhibition in December. For KN-online, the board of directors looked back and into the immediate future of the company.
The Künstlerhaus, with its 14 studios as well as offices and function rooms, is located in southwest Anschar Park. Next to it is the boiler house, the 15th house of the naval hospital at that time. It will soon be renovated in order to create new spaces for art and gastronomy.
Anke Müffelmann and Tamer Serbay have been members of the Board of Directors since the founding of Kunstverein. “Initially, the use of the studio house was very diverse. Weddings were celebrated and held. We had two to three galleries a year,” says Anke Mövelmann. The need for exhibition space has increased—now eight to ten galleries fill the gallery space with “professional artists.” “The quality bar is very high here,” Serpay says. Applications will be submitted after 2022.
Only professional art is welcome at House 8 of the Anscharpark
There was a movement among studio users. Twelve rooms are available with an area of 34 square meters each and two rooms with an area of 144 and 80 square meters each. The rent is €4.50 per square meter per month. According to the contract, “artists can rent a studio for a maximum of ten years so that others can also have a chance,” says Moffelman.
Thus some pay rent in full, and others receive grants, subsidies or scholarships. “Everyone as he can. The only thing that matters is that they are professional artists, that is, they have an economic interest.” An important aspect of the association in order to motivate as many artists as possible to remain in Kiel. Ten years ago, many left, and today many stay here. “A very good result for us,” Serpay says. For example, he cites successful ceramic artist Lina Kapke, who was able to maintain the studio through a grant and is now self-employed and works as a part-time art teacher at Luisenlund boarding school.
In addition to appreciation, it is mainly about presence: “Everyone who works receives a wage,” says Andreas Trapitz. Thus there is already a fee schedule for the Federal Association of Visual Artists that you can use as a guide. “A lot of them have a job that unfortunately doesn’t give them much time to come to the studio,” he says. That is why Kunstverein has recently begun to pay exhibition fees, and there is half a position for coordination.
Evelyn Jessen’s art lies in the realm of photography and objects. She has had a room in a studio house for six years. “I have connections with other artists here,” she says, “the exhibition is very exciting, because you encounter other people’s art and that educates you.”
In addition, the environment is wonderful. Artist and designer Ming Zhan Yu has been working with porcelain at Atelierhaus for five years, and has a scholarship: “It’s good not to be isolated and to be able to communicate.”
And so everyone looks forward to the new possibilities of the adjoining boiler house, where a cultural and gastronomic use is planned, as well as seven new rooms of the studio house, mainly dedicated to the professional arts. “If there’s free capacity, there should be public cycles or uses, we’re still working on a model,” Movelman said.
The boiler house is also being renovated in Anscharpark
The boiler house is currently empty because it will be renovated by 2023. The Heinrich Böll Foundation at Atelierhaus will move its rooms to House 1 at the beginning of 2022, “This means that this floor can be remodeled. For example with a meeting point for the self-employed.”
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