Flux Factory is not only staying put in Long Island City, the artist-led nonprofit organization will expand to a second location on the Hunters Point waterfront next year.
After facing displacement since its founding in 1994, Flux Factory announced it has recently purchased the space they have rented since 2009. The purchase of the building will allow Flux Factory to deepen the affordability of its Artist-in-Residency program and make long-term investments in the quality of its space.
“When I was hired as executive director at Flux Factory seven years ago, we were facing imminent buyout. We were broke and didn’t have much of a plan, but everybody knew that Flux was important and unique enough that it had to somehow survive,” Flux Factory Executive Director Nat Roe said. “We’ve turned over every stone since then to somehow put the pieces together. The notion of owning two buildings seemed impossible until it was suddenly inevitable.”
Thanks to recent allocations from Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, former Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and the Department of Cultural Affairs, Flux Factory purchased its location on 29th Street in Dutch Kills, and next summer it will open its new location, Flux IV, in a 3,000-square-foot space on the ground floor of Gotham Point, a massive development currently under construction in Hunter Point South. It will become the fourth space it has operated.
“Only in New York could this transformation be possible, and it’s primarily thanks to Jimmy Van Bramer’s trust in our vision,” Roe said. “With this sustainability comes new accountability: We have to find a way to grow into larger shoes through providing better artist stipends, expanded staff and better equipment and facilities. Support toward the pilot year of the Flux IV space will make all the difference toward doing full justice to Flux’s potential and avoid a threadbare reopening, risking stunted growth for years.”
Flux Factory lost its initial home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 2002, and moved to 43rd Street in Sunnyside. They were displaced through eminent domain in 2009 and moved to its current location, an old greeting card factory located at 39-31 29th St. in Dutch Kills.
“Flux Factory’s legacy as an artist-run nonprofit that supports new and emerging creators makes them an invaluable neighbor in our community,” Van Bramer said. “After more than 20 years of multiple moves throughout Brooklyn and western Queens, I’m happy to say that with the help of funding secured through my office, they’re now able to put down permanent roots in the 29th Street location and expand their footprint in Long Island City with a new satellite site in Gotham Point.”
Flux Factory is temporarily closed for renovations, but when it does reopen, they promise to never close their doors again. The organization’s founder, Morgan Meis, grew emotional when he learned the nearly three-decade-long search for a permanent had finally been realized.
“I have to say I got choked up reading this … but it’s been a long time coming,” he said. “Anyway, you guys have finally done it. I can’t do justice to my feelings about this, but thank you all for your work.”
