Meet the Staff: Executive Director, Joshua Green

Q: What is your name and your role at ArtUs Co?

A: My name is Joshua Green, and I am the executive director of ArtUs Co.

Q: What made you want to create ArtUs Co/Pump Project? 

A: Back in 2005, a group of us were looking for studio spaces and could not find many options, especially affordable options, for those just getting started in their careers. When we came across our original location in east Austin—a beautiful 12,000 square foot warehouse with old wooden trusses—we thought to ourselves that many other artists may be in the same situation as us in finding affordable studios spaces. With a leap of faith, Shady Tree Studios, soon thereafter Pump Project Art Complex and eventually ArtUs Co, was born. There was no A/C and no insulation in the building, but it truly felt like home.

Executive Director, Joshua Green, holding a glass sculpture made by him.

Q: Could you tell me a bit about the history of ArtUs Co, as well as what it looks like now?

A: From 2005 through 2018, we grew from an empty warehouse shell with five artists to 32 studios and two galleries with 50 artists, and for a short time, we had a second building that housed an additional 20 artists and a gallery. Over the course of these years, we hosted nearly 180 exhibits, and almost 250 artists passed through  the  doors of our original location. 

But, as they say, all good things must come to an end, and in summer of 2018 our original location was sold by the owner, and we began our exodus as we searched for our new home. While our gallery programming continued at Cloud Tree Studios, it took a little longer than we hoped to find a new home as the Austin real estate market heated up. 

In December 2019, we landed at The Arboretum, which started as just a holiday fundraiser but eventually became a temporary full-time store. I love the fact that we can have a gallery open seven days a week, we can expand audience outreach beyond the confines of the art world, and we can employ four great staff members who are truly motivated to make the artists and the organization shine. I could not do it without them.

In late 2020, The Arboretum offered us a longer-term lease at a second location to run more of our artist-directed programming, such as studios and workshops, and it is due to become more active starting fall of 2021. We are very excited about this opportunity to continue to help artists achieve their goals. 

And a final note to those who have asked: why did we change our name? We were known popularly as Pump Project for many years, but as time passed after the location closed, it felt more of a “time, place, and people” sort of thing and did not seem to fit our new locations and new look. We liked the name ArtUs Co, as it encapsulates the spirit of the organization: art, us, and co (for community).

Q: What goes into your role?

A: As director of  a smaller organization,  I sometimes end up wearing many hats and taking on various roles, especially when budgets are tight.  As we emerge from a very strange 2019/2020, my goal is to continue to build a great team of volunteers and staff to make the organization shine and step up our mission of helping artists.

Q: Tell me about your favorite part of the job.

A: I think the favorite part of the job is building the community, making connections, and connecting others with each other. Additionally, I have had the pleasure of watching some careers grow from infancy, which is always satisfying.

Q: What are you most likely to be doing when you’re not working?

A: While I’m not one for too much leisure, I do like traveling, especially seeing the beautiful landscapes of the southwest United States. I am also a big fan of sci-fi movies and series and science news in general. 

Q: Do you have a favorite vendor at the moment?

A: Asking about a favorite vendor feels like asking a parent about a favorite child— there are qualities I admire in each of them. I do have a soft spot for large sculpture and installation artworks, and I’m hoping we can provide more of these types of spaces in the future.

Q: What would you like ArtUs Co to look like in the future?

A: I hope ArtUs Co continues to grow beyond its roots and expand in its goals to help artists achieve their creative goals. We are in the middle of building our Artist Resource Center (a sort of coworking space for visual artists) at our new 4,000 square foot space at The Arboretum. With the help of community donations, grants, and our holiday fundraiser, we hope to get our staffing levels up to 100%, to be at full capacity by the end of 2022, and to expand the number of studio spaces beginning 2023.