Located in a converted industrial building from the 1920s that was once the headquarters of Financier Patisserie, and a paint distribution factory, Art Cake’s flexible model was created to accommodate a wide range of creative industries. The 13,000 square foot building was renovated by architects Smith & Sauer, in close collaboration with the founders, artists Cordy Ryman and Ethan Ryman. It features a multi-room exhibition and event space on the ground floor and a complex of affordable artist studios on the second floor. Uniting the vision of the two entities, is a visual system designed by Point in Passing.

The ground floor of Art Cake is an ideal venue for a wide variety of events, from art exhibitions and installations, to film shoots, lectures, and dinners. 

Art Cake will operate on a self-sustaining model. The revenue generated from the multi-functional space on the ground floor will be filtered into the studio program to maintain affordable spaces and grow resources for artists living and working in New York City.

Art Cake studio program provides individual workspaces to a global pool of artists in a variety of fine art disciplines. Rotating the artists in residence every one to two years, the mission is to build and support a diverse community of artists working in New York. The complex on the second floor is comprised of ten studios and a shared communal area.

Cordy Ryman notes, “Loosely based on the cooperative, artist-run spaces that were popular in Lower Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s, the flexible, self-sustaining model, featuring galleries and studios, provides space for art to be both viewed and produced. We hope to create a community of artists who will experiment, take advantage of the studio space for production, and engage in the programming on the ground floor.”

The studios have been curated by a selection of New York-based artists, curators, writers, and professors. Each member of the rotating selection committee provides names of two to three artists who would benefit from the studio program. Art Cake welcomes artists of all ages, working in all disciplines, and who can commit to using the studios regularly for production.

“Our vision is to provide studio space and resources for artists to make art in a city where it has become more and more difficult to maintain a creative practice. We intend to provide a platform that would hopefully give birth to some sort of minute portion of a generation of artists.” Ethan Ryman says.

There is no application or open call at this time.

Cordy Ryman Co-Founder

Ethan Ryman Co-Founder

Marina Gluckman Executive Director