THE BRASWELL ARTS CENTER AT AESCHENPLATZ / BANKVERIEN
The Braswell Arts Center is a space for creativity, collaboration and innovation in all art forms. Through arts education and exchange, Braswell Arts strives to encourage collaboration, creation, networking and entrepreneurship within the local and international arts community.
Since the beginning, our plans to continuously expand and increase the reach and range of what we offer to the community has always been at the forefront of our minds.
PHOTOS BY VISWERK
WE WORKED WITH WYSS-SANTOS ARCHITECTS
WHY WE MOVED
Since 2017, we have grown to offer nearly 50 classes per week to a community ranging from 4 to 70 years old and recently, with the end of our current rental lease approaching, we were faced with difficult decisions about the future of the BAC.
Prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, we began to explore what growing the BAC could mean. And with only one studio to work with, a full schedule 50 weeks of the year, and very, very little square meters for anything else, we quickly realized that staying at our current location on Austrasse limited our options.
When the world changed with the pandemic in March 2020, so did a lot of our plans. And even though we are still working on stabilizing after such a difficult period, we realized that the only way out of the hole the Coronavirus pandemic created, is to open the possibility to expand.
More importantly, we truly do believe in the mission of the BAC and the potential for growth, and so we have decided to move forward with this next phase. In December 2022 we will open our doors at our new home on Aeschenvorstadt.
With the new space, also came a lot of work, but we are extremely excited to have made this next space the starting point for new dreams ahead.
PHOTOS BY LISANNE VREEKE PHOTOGRAPHY
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE NEW BAC?
At the new BAC, we continue to deepen our connections and relationships with the Basel community, schools, sponsors, and other institutions in order to provide fresh and high-quality arts programming. In addition to expanding our class offerings as well as continuing with all of our usual programming such as arts camps for children and quality education for our pre-professional students, Braswell Arts will strive to offer free movement and performance classes for those in need as well as development and performance opportunities for artists worldwide.
We look forward to welcoming our students, members of the community, and creative souls in a comfortable and nurturing space, easily accessible in the center of Basel.
The new space is located in the heart of Basel, a few steps away from Bankverein and Aeschenplatz, spread out over two floors and 550 square meters.
The new BAC offers:
- 2 fully-equipped dance studios
- a fitness room with reformer
- dressing rooms, showers, and secure lockers
- a chill-out area for students and staff to relax and work
- a cafe and pop-up store area for local entrepreneurs
- a dance shop with dance merchandise and equipment to purchase and sample
The newly designed space aims to be fully transformable to accommodate high-quality dance classes, live performances, exhibitions, workshops, pop-ups and other inspiring events.