Fosun and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC) announced an 11-month partnership in which 35,000 s/f of vacant office space on the 30th Floor of 28 Liberty Street will be donated to LMCC for use in their Workspace artist residency program.
The space is currently being adapted into approximately 30 artist studios, meeting rooms, common areas, and a dance floor / rehearsal space. Artists will begin working onsite on or around September 22, 2015.
“Bringing LMCC’s Workspace program to 28 Liberty is positive for the building tenants, and beneficial to the entire Downtown district at large,” said Bo Wei, chief executive representative of Fosun Group in the U.S. and Vice President of Fosun Property Holdings.
“We enjoyed working with LMCC on the 2015 River To River Festival and our ongoing partnership reflects our firm’s commitment to the arts and to the local community in City of New York.”
28 Liberty is a 60-story, two-million-square-foot, landmarked office tower in the heart of the Financial District. Fosun Property acquired 28 Liberty, formerly known as One Chase Manhattan Plaza, in December 2013 as part of an ongoing expansion of its global presence in major financial centers.
Since then, the company has initiated a comprehensive renovation, including the lobby, elevators, critical infrastructure and plaza.
The redeveloped property will accommodate more than 200,000 s/f of high-end retailers to provide service for the tenants, local residents and area professionals.
In direct response to the immediate needs of artists and the artistic community in New York City, LMCC offers a variety of artist residency programs in spaces throughout Manhattan and at Governors Island to artists working in all disciplines and at varying career stages.
Workspace is a nine-month studio residency program for emerging visual artists, performing artists and writers focused on the creative process and the development of a community of peers and professionals in the field.
Working with partners like Fosun, LMCC adapts and activates temporarily vacant office space downtown to annually provide 25–30 artists and arts groups with studio space in some of the city’s most noted landmarks.
Melissa Levin, LMCC Director of Cultural Programs said, “The 30th floor at 28 Liberty is a perfect example of the kind of space that we look for when siting one of our core residency programs, Workspace. We believe that providing high quality and unique studio spaces to emerging artists is critical to their success in developing their creative practice. Partnering with Lower Manhattan stakeholders is similarly critical when we think about how to stay connected to our community, and showcase the important role artists play in the already vibrant Downtown.”
