Silverhand Studios

Silverhand Studios is a private operation run by Johnny Silverhand, rockerboy and popular insurgent. A radical to end, he wants to give artists a place to do their own thing, free from the manipulations of outsiders. To do this, Johnny has bought warehouses in many major cities and converted them into living spaces. Almost any shape and size studio can be found, some with plumbing and electricity, some without.

The average loft is a high-ceilinged room on the second floor of a warehouse with a dramatic skylight and a huge row of windows against one wall. The first level is usually completely empty, offering the artists a large gathering space. Depending on the warehouse, the structure may be wooden beams or corrugated steel.

In general, there are as many as twelve lofts per warehouse, and washrooms have been installed as needed. Cooking is electric and each room has a complete stove. All the housing is clean and vermin free.

The warehouses become communities, where the artists often get together to drink espresso, eat scones, and talk art. They all know how stereotypical this is, and find it ironically funny. Being among colleagues in such close proximity is conducive to learning, and each year one lives at an artist's community, one gains +1 to his respective artistic skills, up to +3.

There's a sense of secrecy to the communities; the general consensus is that the corporations could move in and take over or destroy the "work" at any moment. This make everyone a bit paranoid.

Cheap supplies (at discounts to 70%) can be obtained by the warehouse's "landlord," who is actually a contact to Johnny's creative agent. All the artists in a given community know how to get in nearly immediate contact with the landlord, (usually an out-of-work solo) who can also provide protection and an occasional hiding place for a particularly "sought after" artist. If an artist's life is in real jeopardy, he or she will be given the location of a warehouse in another city, and asked to leave.

The landlord can also find jobs for the artists so they can eat and pay rent. Silverhand isn't running a charity, and he figures having to pay rent, as cheap as it is, keeps an artist from losing that hungry edge. There is, however, great leeway when it comes to payment, and artists in a studio often chip in and help pay for each other's expenses.

In addition to those duties, the landlord also tells Johnny when a particular artist is showing great promise. When this happens, Silverhand occasionally arranges for an art dealer to "drop by" the warehouse and look over the artist's work to determine if it has merit.