Letter campaign to the Senator of Finance: Secure studio funding!

Berlin artists have sent an open letter to the Senator of Finance demanding the immediate release of commitment appropriations in the cultural sector.

The current freeze is blocking the renewal of studio leases. Buildings with private landlords are particularly affected. Without approval, around one-third of all subsidized workspaces could be lost by the end of 2027. (We have already reported several times on the studio funding affected and the Berliner Arbeitsraumprogramm/workspace program, which has been successful for over 30 years. The expansion of urgently needed workspaces for the independent scene is currently at a standstill and existing buildings are in acute danger: 368 bbk studios are located in buildings whose main leases expire in the next two years, with the first ones ending as early as December 31, 2025.)

In the letter, Cornelia Sollfrank, one of the spokespersons for the Kunstquartier Bethanien studio house, writes:

"The current freeze on commitment appropriations effectively blocks the continuation of the Berlin studio program. This puts a central part of the city's cultural infrastructure at risk.

What is happening right now and why it is so critical:

According to the cultural administration, 82% of the studio program's main rental agreements are with private landlords. Without the unfreezing of commitment appropriations, these agreements cannot be extended in the long term and are therefore at acute risk.

In concrete terms, this means that by the end of 2027, around 368 studios would be lost—about one-third of the total stock.

This is not only a matter of the livelihoods of hundreds of artists, but also of Berlin's credibility as a city of culture and creativity. Many of these studio buildings—including ours—have been in existence for decades, are deliberately supported by private owners, and would be secure in the long term if the public sector were allowed to fulfill its obligations.

The real problem does not lie in political will.

There are budgetary resources. There are structures. There are functioning contracts and reliable partners on both sides. But the cultural administration is currently unable to act because the necessary commitment appropriations have not yet been released. This has created a paralysis that makes it impossible to maintain existing funding structures, even with the necessary resources in place.

The issue is now in the public spotlight.

Numerous press reports and a widely supported petition show that many Berliners—far beyond the art scene—consider the preservation of studio funding to be a central concern. Further reporting has already been announced, underscoring how urgent the situation is perceived to be.

Our request to you:

1. Advocate for the release of commitment appropriations in the cultural sector
– especially in the workspace program for visual artists.
2. Enable the cultural administration to extend existing contracts and work in a predictable manner.
3. Secure the substance of the studio program—as a guarantee for affordable workspaces,
artistic diversity, and creative production in Berlin.

The Berlin studio program is internationally recognized and a successful model of urban cultural promotion. Its loss would be a political and cultural signal with far-reaching consequences—far beyond Berlin.

We ask you to fulfill your budgetary responsibility and prevent functioning structures from being destroyed for purely administrative reasons."

The artists are offering a direct exchange.

We will keep you informed of further developments.