Looking to swap a creative studio space? No Problem! StudioMAP_studioSWAP is the online platform that allows you to do just that.

Launched by Caitlin Charlet, Parsons alumni of the 2014 class of the Master of Science in Design and Urban Ecology program, in September 2014, studioMAP_studioSWAP is a free online interactive map based platform that serves creatives who are looking to post and search for studios that are available for swapping across different cities. The platform aims to contribute to retaining the cultural heritage of New York City, cultural mecca for creativity, and to the growth of its urban diversity.

The project started in Caitlin’s Interactive Media class at Parsons where she was able to intertwine the learnings she received from her Advanced GIS course with her knowledge in interactive mapping to fill a gap in the market that she perceived at first hand experience to have great potential. Caitlin had exchanged art studios within her network of artists in several US cities. When introduced to the open world of sharing knowledge and the mapping community in her coursework, she envisioned the initiative and was inspired to carry through the project and launch the platform shortly after graduating.

Within the emerging online trend of map based space locating platforms for searchable property within cities, StudioMAP_studioSWAP is the first to address the creative community. It uses visual language to facilitate the experience of searching for a studio for a wide range of users who input the data that is then moderated by Caitlin on the back end of the platform.

With an extensive background in visual arts and teaching at renown universities in the US, Caitlin Charlet has recently joined the Center for Social Innovation through our Entrepreneurial Lab, to work full time on her new business. Leveraging the social creative entrepreneurial network at CSI and the available technical infrastructure, Caitlin envisions expanding StudioMAP_studioSWAP to a global level, opening up to non-profit collaborations with residency spaces and shared resources.

Stay tuned to this project and other future news.

Studio Swap @studio_map
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