A New Way to List and Find Performing Arts Space Is Coming to New York City
Bricks & Mortals, Dance/NYC, and IndieSpace are partnering to build Venuely, a citywide platform connecting artists with affordable, accessible, and mission-driven spaces.
Remember SpaceFinder? We miss it too.
Since SpaceFinder went away, artists across New York City have been left without one central, reliable place to find rehearsal, performance, meeting, and creative workspace. At the same time, venues, community organizations, and houses of faith often have space available but lack an easy way to connect with the artists who need it.
Bricks & Mortals, Dance/NYC, and IndieSpace have come together to help close that gap.
We are building Venuely, a New York City-wide platform designed to connect thousands of artists and arts organizations with hundreds of venues through transparent, accessible, and equity-centered technology.
Participating venues will be able to share clear information about their spaces, availability, rental rates, accessibility, and other details artists need when deciding where to rehearse, teach, and perform.
Performing artists and organizations can search for spaces that meet their needs and have access to additional space. Venues will be able to connect with more potential partners to book and use their spaces.
Building on the lessons of an earlier faith-based pilot, this next phase will expand the platform to include spaces such as:
Rehearsal and performance venues
Dance studios
Houses of faith
Community and cultural centers
Classrooms, meeting rooms, and other creative workspaces
Planned features include interactive maps, multilingual search tools, accessibility information, and transparent rental data. The platform is being developed with Surface Impression, with accessibility incorporated throughout the design and development process.
Built in Coalition With Artists and Venues
Venuely will not be designed for the performing arts community without the performing arts community.
Artists, venue operators, accessibility experts, and community partners will help shape the platform through focus groups, user testing, surveys, workshops, and beta testing. We are especially committed to hearing from d/Deaf and Disabled artists, immigrant artists, low-income artists, and others who regularly encounter barriers when searching for and using creative space.
Participants invited to contribute time through focus groups and user testing will be compensated for their labor. The knowledge artists and venue operators bring to this process is essential, and we believe that work should be valued accordingly.
The coalition is currently developing and testing the platform, with a soft launch planned for early 2027 and continued expansion throughout the year.
Help Us Build Venuely
In the coming months, we will invite artists, performing arts organizations, and venue operators to help test Venuely and provide feedback.
You can express interest in:
Testing the platform as an artist or arts organization
Listing your venue or available space
Participating in a focus group or feedback session
Becoming a community or promotional partner
Receiving updates as the project develops
We know how difficult it has become to find affordable, accessible space in New York City. Venuely will not solve every challenge facing artists and venues, but we believe it can provide a critical piece of shared infrastructure: one place where spaces can be found, information can be trusted, and new relationships can grow.
We are excited to build it together.
About The Venuely Partners
Bricks & Mortals: Neighborhoods change. Communities grow. Needs evolve. Bricks & Mortals helps congregations make informed, mission-aligned choices that support your congregation’s future. Whether you need a plan, a partner, or a path forward – Bricks & Mortals is a trusted network designed to support NYC’s vibrant faith community. Bricks & Mortals provides knowledge, networks, resources, and advocacy to empower faith-based organizations to maximize their properties for their communities. www.bricksandmortals.org
Dance/NYC: Dance/NYC champions the New York City metropolitan area dance sector by fostering a more just, equitable, and inclusive landscape where dance workers and organizations can thrive. Rooted in research, Dance/NYC engages in advocacy, regranting, and knowledge-sharing to help establish dance as a valued form of cultural expression and a common good. www.dance.nyc
IndieSpace: IndieSpace exists to center independent theater makers and ensure they have access to the resources, real estate, and advocacy needed to thrive in NYC’s creative ecosystem. IndieSpace focuses on removing barriers for historically excluded artists through programs grounded in equity, transparency, and collaboration. www.indiespace.org
This project is made possible with support from the Altman Foundation and The New York Community Trust.