Artist Maggie Connors lives in Midway Studios, Boston’s largest building of artists who live and work together. Connors has lived there for 10 years, and said she’s inspired by the wide variety of artists who inhabit the space.
Connors is a painter and a sculptor. – HANNAH COHEN
Connors said her work is influenced by her part-time job as a personal trainer.
Connors uses a variety of media including charcoal, watercolor, chalk, graphite, and ink. – HANNAH COHEN
Besides painters, Fort Point is home to artists who design jewelry, clothing, comics, wire sculptures, pottery, handmade cards, and music. There are photographers, videographers, choreographers and calligraphists. Much of their work hangs in the hallways of Midway Studios and local galleries.
The entrance of Midway Studios is decorated with paintings and sculptures of local artists. – HANNAH COHENWire sculptures hang by the elevators in Midway Studios. – HANNAH COHENArtists who live in Midway Studios are members of the nonprofit Fort Point Arts Community (FPAC), dedicated to the local arts community. – HANNAH COHENSome of the artists have lived in Fort Point since the 1980s. – HANNAH COHENConnors is one of hundreds of artists who call Fort Point home. – HANNAH COHEN
Connors recently knocked down one of her walls in preparation for the spring “Open Studios’’ event, where the public is invited inside local artists’ studios.
The Open Studios event runs from May 15 to May 17, and is hosted by FPAC. – HANNAH COHENConnor’s bed is separated from her workspace by a partition. – HANNAH COHEN
Located at 15 Channel Center Street on the South Boston waterfront, Midway Studios was purchased by Fort Point residents in 2013 as a place dedicated to preserving artists’ studios and housing.
Midway Studios was purchased by artists for $20 million in 2013. – HANNAH COHEN
Artists have lived in the neighborhood since the late 1970s, and currently own two other spaces beside Midway Studios, which houses 89 artists studios.
The 249 A Street Artists Cooperative and The Artist Building at 300 Summer Street provide live-work space for an additional 90 artist households. – HANNAH COHENConnors said she finally feels like she has a space worth investing in. She recently bought a leather couch. – HANNAH COHEN
Like Connors, Kristen Alexandra, a metalsmith who lives and works at 249 A Street finds living where she works rewarding.
Alexandra makes jewelry, flatware, and sculptures using metals like brass and sterling silver. – HANNAH COHEN
Alexandra has lived in Fort Point since 1993, and has owned her A Street condo for eight years. A small room with soundproof walls allows her to hammer loudly.
Her studio is perfect for “getting dirty,’’ she said, before taking time to regroup in the rest of her living space. – HANNAH COHENNot facing a daily commute to a studio allows Alexandra to be “super efficient,’’ she said — evident by the large glass jewelry case in her home, filled with delicate earrings and necklaces. – HANNAH COHENAlexandra teaches Pilates in her spare time. – HANNAH COHENAlexandra sells her work online and at galleries around the country. – HANNAH COHENAlexandra said she loves how close she is to great restaurants, museums and art shows. – HANNAH COHEN
Singer-songwriter John Cremona, 59, represents one of the original Fort Point artists. He’s lived in the neighborhood for 24 years.
Cremona fondly remembers the days of paying $250 a month for 700 square feet. – HANNAH COHEN
Though Fort Point’s building boom has drastically changed the area, Cremona said the influx of businesses and restaurants has made the neighborhood more vibrant.
Channel Center Street in Fort Point – HANNAH COHEN
Cremona moved into a space in Midway Studios a couple weeks ago, and is in the process of renovating it. Like many other historic warehouse buildings in Fort Point, Midway Studios, constructed in 1911, used to be owned by The Boston Wharf Company, which built brick and timber buildings for the warehousing of raw materials. Many of the buildings were initially used for storing sugar and molasses, followed by wool.
Though cardboard boxes are scattered about the airy studio, Cremona’s electric guitar is already unpacked. So is a wooden easel and paint supplies. – HANNAH COHEN“There doesn’t have to be a dichotomy between commerce and the art world,’’ Cremona said. He looks forward to the Fort Point artist community expanding in the future, and partnering with local businesses to sell work. – HANNAH COHEN
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