Teen arts center will be leaving SF Railyard
Warehouse 21 plans to continue programs, board president says
SANTA FE — Warehouse 21, the teen arts center that has been part of Santa Fe’s cityowned Railyard for 23 years, is leaving its space, the nonprofit organization announced Friday.
City government is evaluating options for the 17,000-squarefoot facility, including the sale of the building, said Lilia Chacon, communications director for the city.
In a statement, Warehouse 21, which was briefly known as the Studio Arts Center in late 2017, cited changing demographics and a planned Southside Teen Center, Zona Del Sol, as well as increased maintenance costs for its facility as reasons for leaving its longtime Railyard location.
This “organizational transition does not mean the heart of W21’s program energy is going away,” the statement said. “Our goal is to offer more unique programs with lower overhead challenges.”
In 2011, Warehouse 21 — one of the Railyard’s original anchor tenants — was in arrears in rental payments to the city, and the City Council then agreed to count the teen center’s programs and services toward rental costs. Warehouse 21 currently doesn’t owe the city any back rent, Chacon said.
Santa Fe taxpayers got a
stake in the facility, which includes two theaters as well as office space, when the city put $1 million into constructing the current building years ago.
Richard Czoski, executive director of the Santa Fe Railyard Community Corp., the nonprofit that operates the Railyard under a city contract, said SFRCC leases the land under Warehouse 21 to the nonprofit officially known as the Santa Fe Teen Arts Center, but that the city owns the building.
He said the disposition of the building through sale or lease will be led by the city, and that “it will be interesting” to see who comes forward to occupy the desirable location.
Warehouse 21 was hit with management turnover in 2017 and 2018, notably the departure of founder and longtime director Ana Gallegos y Reinhardt. Two members of its four-person board of directors also resigned.
Current board president Maurice Oliver said in a statement that Warehouse 21 will explore outreach programs such as after-school and summer programming in partnership with schools and youth organizations.
Friday’s news release said Warehouse 21 has served more than 25,000 young people ages 12 to 21 from all backgrounds with cutting-edge programs, including training in media, performing and visual arts.
“As STEM rewrites itself to include Arts, hence the term STEAM, arts education is proving itself to be more valuable than ever,” Oliver said. “Warehouse 21 can support more accessible arts education, technological literacy and community building through partnerships with local schools and other locations around the city.”