Zygote Press: A Home of their Own with Elbow Room, Plus Room for Guests

Zygote Press–Cleveland’s community access, fine art printmaking co-op–not only has a spacious new home, but is moving into it with remarkable speed.  Just six weeks (plus a few days) after a champagne toast celebrating the February 24 closure of the deal, executive director Jackie Feldman and crew have moved their extensive (and growing) collection of very heavy printmaking stuff into new digs at 3907 Perkins Avenue.  They invite artists and patrons to check it out Friday, April 10 at Proof of Concept—a soft opening during which Zygote’s Proof Fellows will be on hand to talk about their work and preview their upcoming show.  The Proof Fellows are Jazzee Rozier, Arfil Pajarillaga, Kalia Horner, Monique Donesia, Briana Robinson, and Erykah Townsend.

The difference between Zygote’s current and most recent home is enormous in the spatial sense, and therefore enabling. In the old space on East 30^th Street, the gallery and print studio totaled 6500 square feet. In the new location, 3907 Perkins Avenue (which many will remember as the former home of Kalman Pabst Photo Group), the first-floor print studio alone offers almost 7500 square feet.  All that extra space makes it possible for more artists to work at the same time. What was once cramped quarters—notably in the letterpress area—now offers room to move, as well as room for some recently acquired presses. So in addition to the two French Tool etching presses and the workhorse Charles Brand, and the two Vandercook letterpresses, and the old red Chandler & Price platen press, there’s an additional Schneidewend & Lee platen press, and a very large lithography press recently donated by Tri-C.  Each is surrounded by enough space that they could all be in use at once.

Beyond that there are dedicated rooms for etching and screen printing, a dedicated grinding sink for stone lithography, a classroom with a dedicated press, as well as a digital lab with a Risograph. Plus the gallery. Plus an archive. Plus a common area, office space with kitchen, and several studio spaces available for rent to artists or businesses with relevant practices, which creates an opportunity for building a creative community.

Feldman says the speedy move was made possible by the “turnkey” nature of the space: It didn’t require construction.  There has been and continues to be some minor remodeling, but apart from extending some water lines and adding some modular walls, it was ready to go.

Feldman says she and her board began to consider the move in 2022, and halfway through the year began talking with architect John Williams (who designed Transformer Station, the renovation of the downtown Heinen’s grocery store, BAYarts’ renovation of its Playhouse, among other projects). At that point in the process, the assumption was that they would continue to rent. So the Gund Foundation supported a needs study, and Zygote press engaged some community representatives to talk about the organization’s role and future—especially the creation of a space where Artists of Color feel welcome in a real way.

But during the needs assessment, Feldman and Zygote’s board talked with Williams about what it had meant for some other organizations the architect had worked with—notably SPACES—to own their own building. They decided that as long as they were raising money to move into a larger space, and considering the likely need to invest in improvements, they might as well invest in the organization’s own equity by purchasing a home of their own. At a time when Zygote’s annual operating budget was about $350,000, they developed a capital budget of about $4.5 million—almost 13 times the annual budget. That was the starting point.

But after looking at dozens of options, they found the building offered by Kalman Pabst Photo Group.  Asking price: $1.6 million. Feldman says it immediately felt like home when they took a tour. The seller eventually dropped the price by half a million dollars to $1.1 million. That and the ready-to-go nature of the building meant that the project budget went from $4.5 million to $2.5 million. With a grant of $250,000 from the Cleveland Foundation, significant gifts from William Busta and Joan Tomkins, from Jack and Linda Lissauer, and from David Witkowski and James Anderson, plus an $850K mortgage from nonprofit lender Village Capital, and another loan pending, the financial picture is just about complete.  

It’s worth noting that there was a time when it was unusual for nonprofit art organizations—outside the legacy institutions—to own their own spaces. But in recent years, Cleveland organizations have made big investments in their own equity: The Morgan Conservatory, Cleveland Print Room, Praxis Fiber Workshop, and now Zygote Press all own their own homes.

Feldman says the organization is in talks with three potential community partners—artists with related or complementary practices, who will probably become tenants. Those will be announced as the commitments are signed and made official. Co-op studios—and with Zygote, the Morgan, Praxis, and Cleveland Print Room, Cleveland is flush with them—already have community-building in their DNA. For Zygote to buy a home with rooms to rent for more artists and their projects, the potential is magnified.

Proof of Concept—the “soft opening” visit to the new space with Zygote Proof Fellows on hand for a chat—is 5:30 – 8:30 pm Friday, April 10.

Zygote Press
3907 Perkins Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44114
Zygotepress.org