Welcome to City-Wide Open Studios

Each October, Artspace invites you to explore the studios of over 400 artists. Come to New Haven for the largest open studios festival on the East Coast.

“No other cultural event…brings the city so close together and involves the city so intensely,” –The New Haven Advocate.

See how artists in New Haven are transforming historic buildings and neigbhorhoods into places where art is made. Explore studios in diverse communities. Visit studios in the old Erector Set toy factory. Discover the Alternative Spaces – special temporary art installations in vacant factories and storefronts that are being revitalized for new uses.

Start your visit at the Main Exhibition at Artspace. See one piece from each participating artist and pick up the free Official Map & Guide. Plan your own tour, or join a free guided bike or bus tour. And get ready to view New Haven in a whole new way.

More About CWOS

City-Wide Open Studios was founded in 1998 and is now in its seventh year. This award-winning grass-roots celebration of
visual arts was established to:

1. connect visual artists to the public and to each other
2. provide a forum for showing and selling artwork that is open
to all artists
3. boost community pride in visual artists and their contributions
to a strong city
4. bring thousands of visitors from New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and beyond to explore New Haven
5. showcase vacant historic properties by using them as
exhibition spaces, leading to their revitalization for new uses

From the start, Open Studios successfully filled these needs
and began growing. The first year, over 200 artists participated
in the one-weekend event. This year, the festival will last all
month and include over 400 artists.

Each year, CWOS is fresh and different. New artists join,
returning artists unveil new work, and different sites are
used for the Alternative Space. Special projects and
events are planned each year – read more about past
projects in the Photo Album.