Thank you so much for taking the time to consider helping us pay for our studio rental which has gone all the way up to $3000/ month.

My wife and I have rented our studio in Signal Hill for over 10 years now. Where we have made our life’s work. She is a painter and I make sculpture and design work from jewelry to ceramics to furniture.

The past 4 years the industrial complex has been bought 3 or even 4 times by private equity firms who are more and more just faceless entities who don’t care about the struggling humans paying rent. Every six months or so our rent goes up a bit and our portion of the maintenance/operations/expenses will, out of the blue, jump $500! We thought that by extending our lease 5 years again, we would be locking in our rental amount, but unfortunately because it’s an HHH only the base rent is locked in.

We are both practicing artists and my wife’s only income is generated from selling her work. If we were to loose the space she would not be able to work and we would have to store decades worth of her paintings and my sculptures. I work as an adjunct professor at 5 schools. It is a struggle to pay for our 2 daughter’s activities, never mind healthcare and all our expenses.

I’m just putting out feelers for anyone willing to lend a helping hand to keep our vibrant practice going. Any amount you could donate would help us get through the end of our current lease at which point we can try looking for a space that is not owned by a huge corporation.

thank you for your time and consideration in this matter!!

Noah