DIGITAL CAMPUS: Find, Set up and Manage your own DIY Artist Sutdio Community in Berlin

Find, Set up and Manage your own DIY Artist Studio Community in Berlin (even on a tight budget and without fluent German)

When affordable studio spaces and artist communities are unavailable, sometimes the best option is to start your own. But where do you start? Artist and community organiser Lillian Morrissey shares her knowledge and insight as the cofounder and director of three artistrun studio communities, from 2012 until the present: Angular Studios (Lichtenberg, 28 artists), Adalbertstrasse 9 (Kreuzberg, 6 artists) and Join the Dots (Sydney, over 30 artists and community members).

This workshop provides a practical, experience based guide to setting up and running a DIY artist studio in Berlin: even if you’re on a tight budget, and you don’t speak fluent German. It covers the full process from forming a core group and finding affordable space to managing finances, navigating organisational and legal considerations, and maintaining a functional and Vibrant artist studio community over time.

Participants will gain insight into the realities of setting up an independent, artist run studio community in Berlin’s market, including how to move quickly on opportunities, avoid common mistakes, manage conflict, and build a harmonious and sustainable shared working environment.

Suitable For: Artists who are looking for studio space in Berlin, and who are motivated to establish and direct their own DIY Studio community

Finding and Setting up Your Space

Part 1: Foundations

• Forming a core group
• Defining vision, expectations, and rules
• Financial planning, banking and affordability
• Exercise: mapping your resources

Part 2: Finding and Securing a Space

• Where and how to search
• What to look for to find something affordable
• Understanding rental terms and a few legal basics
• (NOTE: I am not offering legal advice)
• Preparing documents and moving quickly
• Presenting your project professionally

Part 3: Setting Up the Studio

• Contracts, roles, and organisational structure
• Renovation, permissions, and safety
• Onboarding new members
• Exercise: describe your dream studio project
• Directing and Managing a Joyful Community

Part 4: Running the Studio

• Clarifying your shared vision for the community
• Setting up behavioural rules and clarifying expectations
• Financial management systems
• Cleaning and shared responsibility
• Communication structures
• Building and maintaining community consciously
• Know your rights as a tenant

Part 5: LongTerm

• Sustainability
• Conflict resolution and group dynamics
• Preventing toxic situations
• Directing versus accepting the reality of community:
• how to strike a flexible balance
• Planning for change and exit strategies
• Exercise: conflict resolution scenarios