Studio Rentals

About the Noyes Cultural Arts Center

The NCAC, a municipally owned and supported arts center, is managed by the City of Evanston, in collaboration with the Evanston Arts Council and NCAC Tenants Association. The City’s Evanston Arts Council supports excellence in the arts community by providing grants and technical assistance, and making the arts an integral part of the life of each Evanstonian through festivals, concerts, public art, and special programs and events.

The building was originally designed as an elementary school by renowned architect Daniel Burnham in 1892. In 1980 the City of Evanston and community set forth a fundraising campaign to refurbish the aging school. The result is a vibrant facility with over 30 studios for use by artists and arts organizations.

Artists interested in studio space at NCAC should carefully review the following before applying:

• Procedure and Criteria for Resident Artist Selection (below)

• Insurance: Liability insurance is mandatory for all residents, naming the City of Evanston as additionally insured. Insurance will be at least $1 million for any one person injured or killed or any one occurrence, $2 million general aggregate coverage for any one accident, and $ 100,000.00 property damage.

PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA FOR RESIDENT ARTIST SELECTION: Eligibility:

• All professional artists and nonprofit arts organizations are eligible to apply for studio, rehearsal, and/or performance space.
• Priority will be given to artists and arts organizations living in or primarily serving Evanston.
• Applicants must be able to provide evidence of professional training, commitment, and a high level of quality production.
• Subtenants looking to become Leaseholders are required to follow stated application procedures. They will be considered with all other applicants.

Selection Criteria:

Recommendation(s) for rental of space at NCAC will be based on (and not limited to) the following:

• Evidence of a high level of quality of work created in the last three years.
• Commitment by the applicant’s discipline. Space must be used a minimum of 25 hours per week.
• Commitment of the applicant to the Community through community service projects.
• Applicant’s financial need for subsidized space.
• Current need for a specific disciplinary representation and/or balance of individual artists, organizations and diversity goals at the Center.
• Such criterion as the City of Evanston deems relevant to the individual studio available for lease.
• Priority will be given to artists and arts organizations living in or primarily serving Evanston.
• Availability and willingness to attend monthly NTA meetings, participate in NTA events and serve on the NTA Board or an active committee.

Application Procedure:

1. Artists and arts organizations must complete an application, submit resumes, detailed community service proposals, digital images or work samples, and other relevant material for review. (see application below)
2. City Staff will post information on Drop Box for leaseholders to review at least one week in advance of the NTA Application Review meeting. Incomplete applications and outdated materials will not be considered.
3. NCAC Tenants Association application review: 
   •  All applications are reviewed by the NCAC Tenants Association (NTA)
   • "Approval Voting” procedure will be followed wherein each NTA Board Member votes for a set number of applicants (the number of votes will be equal to the number of available studios).
   • Tenants are chosen according to the total number of votes received by each applicant.
   • Should a tie vote result, NTA Board Members will vote again one time to break the tie.
   • NTA Board Members are asked to review all materials in advance and to bring any notes, questions or concerns to the meeting.
   • Neither documents nor original artwork will be shared at the meeting, only digital images/digital work samples. 
   • City Staff will show slides of applicant art work, classes or programs to identify artistic styles and genres of applicants for discussion as needed.
   • Once presentation and discussion is completed, votes will be submitted on paper to NTA Board Chair and tallied at the meeting.
4. City staff will advance results of NTA process to Evanston Arts Council. The Evanston Arts Council reviews NTA recommendations and in turn, makes recommendations to the City Council for final approval.