• Level Five is a cooperative studio for and by artists. We collectively organise and take care of our spaces and the people making use of them. In this way we create a durable foundation for each of our artistic practices and initiatives.

Level Five is a cooperative studio for and by artists. We collectively organise and take care of our spaces and the people making use of them. In this way we create a durable foundation for each of our artistic practices and initiatives.

Level Five is an artist cooperative committed to developing artistic practices in Brussels. We do this by providing space for artists* and a supportive environment for their work through artistic development programmes and advocacy for artists.

Level Five is run for and by artists, which means we collectively organise and take care of our spaces and the people making use of them. In this way we create a durable foundation for each of our artistic practices and initiatives.

Established by artists in 2019, Level Five currently runs 3 studio buildings across 3 Brussels municipalities, providing artist studios for more than 100 artists. In 2023 alone we had 131 artists registering for a studio on our already long waiting list. This demonstrates our relevance as an organisation and the need for more artist studio spaces in Brussels.

Vision — Our vision is to establish a sustainable infrastructure for artistic practices in Brussels, in perpetuity, and to propagate a supportive artistic environment.

Mission — to make space for artistic practices and to develop the resources and practices to sustain a supportive artistic environment.

• providing affordable studio space to a wide range of artists;
• offering resources to develop their practice; and
• being an effective advocate for artist studio spaces.

 

* We use artists in a broad sense and host a diversity of artistic practices: visual arts, performative arts, theatre, architecture, film, writing and curating. Our focus is on artistic practitioners that aim to spend the most of their time on developing their artistic practice.

Available studios

Sorry, no vacancies at the moment

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Organisation

Members are the foundation of Level Five. There are members that have a studio in one of the locations and there are members that participate in and support the community without having a studio, we cannot make a distinction in their importance in finding a stable ground. We also acknowledge the contribution of previous members to Level Five. See the list of artist members.

Our board consists of 5 external experts (2 culture, 1 economic, 1 juridical, 1 urbanism), 2 members, and 1 council member. The role of the board is to support and advise the community, council and coordinators towards a durable organisation. Through the General Assemblies and the Council there is an exchange from the community to the board, they formulate steps towards this collective horizon and see to it that we tread carefully but with confidence.

Anders Böhlke
Caroline Dumalin
David Bernstein
Laura Muyldermans
Mirthe Demarel
Sophie Rocca
Stefanie Salzmann
TWIIID

A group that is concerned with the continuation and reflection of the overall organisation of all the locations and the community. They are responsible for organising the FORUM and meet bi-monthly. In the council reside the coordinator, administrator, the location responsibles, and a number of members who join yearly on voluntary basis in the GA of October.

Alasdair Asmussen Doyle
Bas Blaasse
David Bernstein
Dries Segers
Eitan Efrat
Elke Van Der Kelen
Graham Kelly
Hélène Petite
Leander Schönweger
Martyn Petrus
Olaf Winkler
Paoletta Holst
Sirah Foighel Brutmann

Previous Council members
Batsheva Ross
Bianca Baldi
Che Go Eun
Kevin Gallagher

Coordinators are (part time, together 1 FTE) employees of the cooperative appointed by the board and in extension the GA to take care of the task of managing the daily operation of the organisation and to ensure together with the members, location responsibles, council and the board a supportive environment carried by the community.

Laila Melchior
Rob Ritzen

At each location 2 members are appointed as responsible. They get a remuneration in the form of a discount on their studio. The remuneration is based on the amount of the members of the location, €5 of the €20 monthly contribution. It is not the task of the location responsible to do all the work but rather to be the motor for self-organisation and care that is needed at each location.

GP – Martyn Petrus & Maud Gourdon
VO – Alasdair Asmussen Doyle & Helene Petite
VV – Eitan Efrat & Sirah Foighel Brutmann

Our story

Brussels, unlike other European capitals, does not have an established artist studio infrastructure and a dedicated policy for artist studios is only in its early stages at the moment. During the last three years Level Five has brought forward its interdependency and created a culture of mutual support among its members while cultivating alliances with other artists, initiatives and organisations in Brussels. As such, Level Five advocates for a sustainable policy and infrastructural investments in artist studios in the city. Step by step we are developing a cooperative organisation that can ensure a sustainable network of artist studio locations as well as a supportive environment for artistic initiative, development and exchange.

Studio Dries Segers

The organisation of our workspace is inspired by council politics and democratic models of decision making and action. There is a council elected from the members of Level Five, which organises the basic obligations of the organisation (asbl Level Five vzw). There is a monthly forum where members of Level Five collectively give form to the commons of the workspaces. There are numerous workgroups which develop ideas and solutions to challenges we encounter along the way.

The common spaces are where Level Five members and visitors can meet. They are conceived as open spaces that can transform into the different shapes social action can take: share a meal, watch a screening, view an exhibition, attend a lecture, participate in a discussion, etc. In this way the gap between production and presentation in the arts is narrowed down, which allows for a more lively and plural culture to emerge.

 

New Year's dinner at the Chapelle

Ever since the initiation of Level Five there has been an effort towards inclusion. This can be seen in the background and experiences of people, as well as within the content and form of artistic work. In addition, there is a plurality of backgrounds, gender, and languages. In content and form, Level Five ’s members cover a wide range of artistic disciplines; from painters to performers, from academics to architects, from sculptors to social-activists. This also supports our view of art as a social and democratic practice, it is only from aesthetic plurality that all perspectives can find expression. This aim for plurality constitutes the principle aim of Level Five, that is to maintain a discussion between us and the larger cultural and societal context of Brussels.

Support us

Ever since the initiation of Level Five there has been an effort towards inclusion. This can be seen in the background and experiences of people, as well as within the content and form of artistic work. In addition, there is a plurality of backgrounds, gender, and languages. In content and form, Level Five ’s members cover a wide range of artistic disciplines; from painters to performers, from academics to architects, from sculptors to social-activists. This also supports our view of art as a social and democratic practice, it is only from aesthetic plurality that all perspectives can find expression. This aim for plurality constitutes the principle aim of Level Five, that is to maintain a discussion between us and the larger cultural and societal context of Brussels.