Our Mission
Arts In Bushwick is a visual and performing arts platform prioritizing visibility, resources and support to Bushwick artists and Brooklyn-native artists of color from all mediums of visual art, music, and performing arts. Our responsibility is to respect the cultural relevance and diversity of our community, and hold ourselves accountable while maintaining social responsibility for our impact in the neighborhoods we serve.
Our History
The first Bushwick Open Studios was held in October 2006 as a one day “open to all” festival celebrating the creativity of the artists in Bushwick. There were 85 open studios, a film festival, a group show for those who did not have studios, a community parade, and a cabaret, music and variety act closing party in the Nut-Roaster warehouse that is now the Brooklyn Fire Proof Film Studio.
The idea for Bushwick Open Studios came out of an event in November 2005 called “Bushwick Open Source” organized by Bushwick Art Projects. This event was a one night, curated event that linked together multiple art spaces. Back then there were only a few event spaces in Bushwick. There was going to be a second “Bushwick Open Source” event in October 2006 with the addition of an Open Studios component, but in late September the event was cancelled.
On September 30th 2006, a small group of artists under the name Gemini Artist Productions purchased the domain name bushwickopenstudios.com and put out the word that BOS 2006 was still on! A small group of artists and volunteers organized what became the first Bushwick Open Studios in only 21 days and on October 21st 2006 Bushwick Open Studios was born.
Following the success of the first Bushwick Open Studios, it was decided that an open and all-inclusive organization should be formed to produce the Bushwick Open Studios annually and to make sure that it would be self-sustaining. In January 2007 open meetings were held by the artists and volunteers involved in the 2006 BOS and out of these meetings, Arts In Bushwick was founded in order to organize the 2007 BOS. Thus in June of 2007, BOS became an annual festival organized by Arts In Bushwick and has continued to grow every year to become one of the largest open studio events globally.
The new management of Arts In Bushwick recognizes that in the past, AIB/BOS has failed to be a truly inclusive artistic community. Our goal moving forward is to understand the power of gentrification and how we, as an organization, have also played a part by not doing the proper outreach to the native community and the Bushwick we say we serve. We plan to move forward with full transparency and accountability while still maintaining and producing one of the best open studios in the world.
Our Projects
Arts In Bushwick has two core functions – producing neighborhood arts festivals, and facilitating community projects and dialogue.
As of Fall 2020, AIB has a physical space: an artist hub in Bushwick. Featuring studios dedicated to music, photography, and more, the hub is also home to AIB partner organizations Educated Little Monsters and Bushwick Street Art.
An important part of the Arts In Bushwick family, Educated Little Monsters is a local grassroots arts organization and movement dedicated to providing an artistic outlet for Brooklyn youth of color. Close collaborator Bushwick Street Art is a spray paint shop, graffiti hub, and community from Bushwick providing artistic opportunities for Brooklyn-native artists.
And the AIB community keeps growing: with the launch of our Patreon, artists and others can become part of our network. We aim to create a public database of artists, musicians, and performers to foster new connections between creators, venues, and audiences.
In addition to Bushwick Open Studios, AIB also produces workshops, markets, and conventions, which can be found on our events page.