Emilie Heidemann
Mallory Stowe oil painting at Roundhouse Studios.
Mallory Stowe: seeking camaraderie.
Artists have been looking for studio spaces in Madison for years, and supply has long been scarce. While this May’s opening of Roundhouse Studios at 1741 Commercial Ave. doesn't fill the entire gap, it is a “a fantastic step forward,” says Jolynne Roorda, co-director of the Arts + Literature Laboratory, which launched the Roundhouse Studios project.
The 15,000-square-foot facility is much more than just studio space for area artists. It’s a place where the public can come and see what Roundhouse’s 39 artists are working on, and experience eclectic live music acts hosted by Communication, the arts group that has also moved to the space.
Roorda says that the Arts + Literature Laboratory wanted to “help find a solution for the shortage of artist studios” that has continued to exist since it opened a decade ago. Madison’s lack of studio space has made it “challenging for artists to build sustainable careers and contributed to the creative brain drain to cities that have more infrastructure for emerging artists,” she says.
The group was able to create limited studio space when it moved into its new home at 111 S. Livingston St. in 2020, but Roorda continued looking for other options. “We knew there was much more need.”
Last summer, Roorda visited Tandem Press, located at 1743 Commercial Ave. Printmaker Jason Ruhl suggested she contact building owner Bruce Bosben about available space. Bosben and his team were willing to transform the large second floor offices into private studios, adding locks, improved lighting,, and other features needed to make it suitable for artists.
Roorda and her staff began showing the studios in November 2024, and artists quickly took note. “My favorite moment was when I gave the initial group tours,” Roorda says. “It was exciting to show the studios to a dozen people at a time and have nearly every artist say they wanted to take a studio.”
Roundhouse is now home to 33 studios, a suite for the performance space and art gallery Communication, and 14 cubicle spaces, some of which may become more private studios, says Roorda.
“The most important aspect of Roundhouse Studios is the community developing there, due to the large number of artists,” Roorda says.
Community was important to Madison artist Katie Hogan, who says the biggest reason she wanted to rent a studio at Roundhouse is “being around other artists.”
Hogan, a full-time artist whose main medium is oil paint, now has the capacity to teach private painting lessons, have open studio hours, and meet with collectors. She pays $350/month in rent. The application process was easy, too, she says.
Mallory Stowe, who also paints in oils, pays $250/month for her studio. Stowe, a recent graduate of UW-Madison’s fine arts master’s degree program, also appreciates the camaraderie with other artists. She didn’t want to miss out on that after college, she says. “This isn’t a space in the middle of nowhere,” she adds. “It feels like a part of Madison.”
The entrance to Roundhouse Studios is more than an entrance —this artist space is a museum dedicated to raccoons, and media in which raccoons are the main character. Artist Trent Miller runs the museum, home to nine primary exhibitions of his creation. It also has a gift shop with raccoon memorabilia, as well as a “bandit lounge,” where people can read literature about raccoons, and other quirky and artsy topics.
Miller essentially runs the museum as a conceptual art piece, he says.
“Raccoons are kind of mysterious. They like to touch everything. They are little troublemakers…. As the museum came together, I just went down all these rabbit holes.” He expects the exhibit material to change from time to time.
Miller’s space also contains an exhibit that poses questions about humans’ perception of time — whether it’s linear or circular. As to how raccoons and time connect, “That’s up to the visitor to decipher,” Miller says.
As visitors leave the raccoon museum, they’ll encounter a reception area of three “Care Chairs,” a community art project led by artist Maria Schirmer, formerly of Madison.
Schirmer explains that after finding a succession of purple chairs, first at Goodwill and then left at the curb where a hair salon was going out of business, she decided a project was in order. She and friend Carlee Latimer dreamed up the care chair concept. “We wanted to think about what happens when care is at the center of everything we do.”
The project is meant to engage Roundhouse Studios artists and visitors in a conversation about just that. Participants can write on circular pieces of paper answers to questions like “What makes you feel pampered?”and “How do you feel in this space?” and have those responses displayed on the wall next to the chairs.
Emilie Heidemann
A room at Roundhouse Studios.
Communication’s 1,400-square-foot suite inside Roundhouse includes a stage for live music, a “green room” for workshops and other events, a printmaking studio,, as well as space for its art for sale.
The nonprofit, formerly on Milwaukee Street, launched a fundraising campaign to cover the cost of moving, with a goal of $4,500.
“We will continue with all of the same core functions, while adjusting or expanding each function as the space allows,” Communication events coordinator Michael Wojtasiak says. “We won’t have standard shop hours [at the new location] at this time, but we will continue to sell local artists’ work on consignment. The majority of our sales were during events rather than during shop hours anyway.”
Wojtasiak sees benefits to being “within an ecosystem of artists” as opposed to its old site in a residential neighborhood. “We see Roundhouse as mutually beneficial for all its inhabitants to expose each other’s audiences to local talent.”
Visiting hours
Roundhouse Studios is currently open only by appointment with individual artists or during scheduled public events, such as its upcoming fall open studios event Oct. 18, noon to 5 p.m. To learn more about events, follow @ALLRoundhouse on Instagram or sign up for the Arts and Literature Laboratory’s email newsletter.
Communication also has events planned in September. On Sept. 5, Thanya Iyer and her band, Chicago-based band Tenci, and Wisconsin-based looping solo artist Hunter Nicholson are set to perform at 7 p.m. inside the 1741 Commercial Ave. space.
Communication’s series of free drop-in art hangouts will launch in September: Knit Night is Tuesdays at 7 p.m., Bring Your Own Canvas meets Thursdays at 6 p.m., Sept. 8 is Bring Your Own Zine night, and on Sept. 27 the space hosts an open sewing studio.
And its monthly, all-ages, all-masked open mic returns on Sept. 13 at 6 p.m.
The Museum of Raccoons plans to be open the first Friday of each month, September-November, from 5-7 p.m. It is also open by appointment. To schedule an appointment, email trentmiller49@gmail.com.
