The Fenway Studios are artists' studios located at 30 Ipswich Street,

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. The studios were built after a disastrous 1904 fire at Harcourt Studios in which many artists lost their homes, studios, and work. Business and civic leaders promptly acquired the land, hired architects, and began construction. Architects Parker and Thomas designed Fenway Studios with north light for all 46 studios, 12 foot windows, 16 foot ceilings, and fireplaces in the end studios. The exterior was built with

clinker brick Clinker bricks are partially-vitrified bricks used in the construction of buildings. Clinker bricks are produced when wet clay bricks are exposed to excessive heat during the firing process, sintering the surface of the brick and forming a shin ...

in the Arts and Crafts style. In 1905 artists returned. The building was designated a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...

in 1998 as the only artist studio building specifically designed with input from artists that is still in use for that purpose. Numerous Boston artists and teachers worked in the studios, including Marion Boyd Allen, Lila Perry Cabot,

Joseph Decamp Joseph Rodefer DeCamp (November 5, 1858February 11, 1923) was an American painter and educator. Biography Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he studied with Frank Duveneck. In the second half of the 1870s he went with Duveneck and fellow students ...

Philip Hale Philip Hale (March 5, 1854 in Norwich, Vermont – November 30, 1934 in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American music critic. Hale attended Yale, where he served on the fourth editorial board of ''The Yale Record''. After graduating in 1876, ...

Lilian Westcott Hale Lilian Westcott Hale (December 7, 1880 in Bridgeport, Connecticut – November 3, 1963 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) was an American Impressionist painter. Biography According to the 1880 original Bridgeport archival records at the Connecticu ...

Charles Hopkinson Charles Sydney Hopkinson (July 27, 1869 – October 16, 1962) was an American portrait painter and landscape watercolorist. He maintained a studio in the Fenway Studios building in Boston from 1906 to 1962. He painted over 800 portraits in ...

György Kepes György Kepes �ɟøɾɟ ˈkɛpɛʃ(October 4, 1906 – December 29, 2001) was a Hungarian-born painter, photographer, designer, educator, and art theorist. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1937, he taught design at the New Bauhaus (later the Sc ...

George Loftus Noyes George Loftus Noyes (1864–1954) was a Canadian born artist who gained fame in the early 20th century as an American Impressionist. Noyes was born in Bothwell, Ontario and died in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Noyes' parents were both Ameri ...

, William Kaula,

Lee Lufkin Kaula Lee may refer to: Name Given name * Lee (given name), a given name in English Surname * Chinese surnames romanized as Li or Lee: ** Li (surname 李) or Lee (Hanzi ), a common Chinese surname ** Li (surname 利) or Lee (Hanzi ), a Chinese s ...

, Lillian and

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William Paxton William Paxton may refer to: Politicians * William F. Paxton (born 1946), American politician from Kentucky * William A. Paxton (1837–1907), American politician and businessman from Nebraska * Sir William Paxton (British businessman) (1744–1 ...

, Marion L. Pooke,

Edmund Charles Tarbell Edmund Charles Tarbell (April 26, 1862August 1, 1938) was an American Impressionist painter. A member of the Ten American Painters, his work hangs in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Gallery of Art, Smithsonian ...

, and

Mary Bradish Titcomb Mary Bradish Titcomb (1858 – 1927) was an American painter, mainly of portraits and landscapes. She is often grouped with the American Impressionists. Biography A native of Windham, New Hampshire, upon graduation from high school Titcom ...

. In addition to real artists the Fenway Studios have housed fictional characters: The mystery novel "The Palace Guard" by Charlotte MacLeod includes two artists living and working in the Studios, and significant parts of the action take place in and around this location. A later novel "The Odd Job","The Odd Job", Charlotte MacLeod, Doubleday, New York, 1995 by the same author, refers back to those people and the same locale. By 1974 ownership shares had passed to heirs, the studios were not being maintained, and they owed nearly $200,000 in back taxes. The "Artists for the Preservation of the Fenway Studios" was formed to save the studios, and in 1981 a mortgage paid for back taxes and building improvements. In 1982, after renovations were completed, the studios were converted into an early limited-equity cooperative. In 1998 façade structural issues were discovered, requiring emergency repairs costing $1.6 million, which required additional fund raising through the Friends of Fenway Studios. As of 2007, the studios are currently home to 25 artists working in a wide range of media.Image:Fenway Studios Façade 29Jan2008.jpg, Front façade as photographed from across the street Image:Fenway Studios Marker 29Jan2008.jpg, Informational commemorative plaque affixed to the building

References

External links

Friends of Fenway Studios
{{National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Boston National Historic Landmarks in Boston Buildings and structures completed in 1906 Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Massachusetts Fenway–Kenmore Artists' studios in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Boston 1906 establishments in Massachusetts

See also

References

External links