Our first sign in 2014!
The new studio space on Tillery Street
Your space for creative connection.
An incubator for performance art, First Street Studio is committed to providing a nourishing and intimate environment for independent working artists to develop and evolve.
This single-studio art workspace is the home to dance, theater, music, film and interdisciplinary artists. Interested in booking space? Contact us today. We’d love to hear from you.
“You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality.”
OUR TEAM
Cheryl Chaddick, Founder
Dorothy O’Shea Overbey, Partner, Owner
AJ Garcia-Rameau , Partner, Owner
Paula Lewis, Studio Manager
Ty Graynor, Marketing Manager
OUR VALUES
First Street Studio values creativity, connection, and affordability. We seek to create an intimate environment where creative risk-taking is encouraged, artistic career paths are bolstered, and local collaborations thrive.
OUR VISION
First Street Studio aims to support the dynamic power of performance art by making space for our community to reflect, connect and grow.
HISTORY
Founded by choreographers Cheryl Chaddick and Katherine Hodges in 2015, First Street Studio’s architecture, construction, and technology is expertly designed to provide Austin performance artists with a professional rehearsal environment on par with the quality of workspaces found in some of the country’s most thriving art cities. Cheryl and Katherine recognized a lack of dance studio rentals that specifically cater to professional artists and understood what local dance historian Caroline Sutton Clark, MFA, PhD expertly articulates,
Founder, Cheryl Chaddick
The availability of affordable space directly impacts the creative life of a city… dance community as a whole thrives or declines with the presence of an accessible space suitable for dancing. Unlike other arts, dance must have the following: a large room without obstructions like support poles, a sprung floor, tall ceilings, and a specialized surface such as perfectly smooth wood or linoleum. First Street Studio not only provides these but also mirrors and the technical capability to handle light and sound so that Austin dance artists can perform.
In 2019, Cheryl and Katherine passed studio ownership to local creatives, Dorothy O’Shea Overbey and AJ Garcia-Rameau.
Today, First Street Studio remains a staple arts organization in ATX and a vital center for Austin’s community of performing artists. First Street Studio is an incubator for local creative and artistic collaboration, classes, and rehearsals. The studio is home to more than 100 Austin-based dance and theatre companies and individual professional artists, photographers, and wellness instructors. First Street Studio’s mission is to provide an equitable and accessible space that embodies creativity, connection, and affordability. First Street Studio offers an intimate and safe environment where creative risk-taking is encouraged, artistic career paths are bolstered, and local collaborations thrive.
First Street Studio Owners, Dorothy O’Shea Overbey & AJ Garcia-Rameau, are committed to protecting and providing a nourishing environment that actively supports the dynamic power of performance art by making space for our community to reflect, connect, and grow.