When a group of artists couldn’t find affordable studio space after graduate school, they decided to start one of their own. In addition to helping artists, the Fort Worth nonprofit also addresses another need: food insecurity.
Easyside, housed in a former dry cleaning facility on East Lancaster Avenue, offers studio space, a workshop equipped with tools and a community pantry every other Friday.
The organization started in 2022, opened its doors in 2023 and started its food pantry at the beginning of 2024.
“We didn’t really have time to wait for somebody else to come,” Corrie Thompson, one of four co-founders, said. “We need this resource now and we need to do it well … so we’re really trying to focus on building it in a way that’s a long-lasting resource.”
If you go
What: Opening reception for “Seven minutes in heaven” by Lauren Walker
When: 6-8 p.m. June 29
Where: Easyside, 3715 E. Lancaster Ave.
Admission: Free
Easyside plans to offer two tiers of membership. The first will provide access to all common area tools, the woodshop and a mini-kiln for pottery and ceramics. The second supplies a dedicated studio space in addition to the amenities listed above.
Current studio artists have access to the workshop, and the nonprofit hopes to extend that access more widely soon.
Members also contribute to the space through volunteering with food distribution, working on educational programming and helping to maintain the facility.
By providing the space and amenities at an affordable price, the founders of Easyside hope that they can serve as a good jumping off point for artists looking to build their practice.
“When we were in grad school, we didn’t talk about starting a nonprofit. We were just kind of looking at … models that currently exist in the DFW area, and really, there aren’t very many artist-run spaces,” Thompson said. “There are really high-quality museums and there are a lot of commercial galleries in Dallas — and a few here in Fort Worth — but there aren’t really many artist-run nonprofit spaces.”
Food distribution might not seem like an obvious pairing with a gallery and studio space, but helping bring resources to the community rather than extracting them away was important for the co-founders.
The area has few grocery stores, so bringing in and distributing healthy food with the help of organizations like Opal’s Farm was one tangible way the friends felt like they could contribute.
“I’m excited about how we’re trying to put community first when it comes to our mission,” fellow co-founder Adrianna Touch said. “We can’t solve every political or (other) problem out there, but we hope to at least mend it and bring the community together when it feels like it’s been a time of division.”
Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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