Artists Offered Free Studio Space in Effort to Slow Portland Gentrification

WeWork is offering a six month residence for artists.

WeWork Custom House in Portland. (Another Believer / Wikimedia Commons)

By Rachel Monahan

National co-working startup WeWork is joining an effort to keep Portland artists from being displaced by rising rents.

WeWork is offering four artists six months of free studio space in its first-ever artists-in-residence program at its Pearl District location.

Applications are due Jan. 13, and the move-in date for studio space is Feb. 4.

"I strongly encourage the private sector to make these artists-in-residence programs available, and I applaud WeWork for taking the lead," say City Commissioner Nick Fish, who has championed efforts to address the shortage of affordable studio space for artists.

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