mai house studio
our story
Kelly + Carolina are best friends. Carolina + Vas are married.
(Which is how we met, a good number of years ago.)
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We are all creatives from different walks of life, sharing the same vision - to create a space for artists of all disciplines to come together and nurture their talents.
Kelly is from Vietnam, Vas from Romania, + Carolina the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants.
Vas and Carolina are multidisciplinary artists based in Brooklyn. Kelly, is a floral designer based in Lower East Side. Recently, they stumbled upon this sun-soaked gem, renovated it themselves and called it their own Mai House Studio.
Mai is Kelly’s mother’s name + coincidentally the Romanian word for May, Vas + Carolina’s birth month.
Whether you're a painter, photographer, musician, actor or dancer, this space welcomes all artists who want to expand their vision and push boundaries. Our ultimate goal is to create a community space where artists can feel at home, thrive + showcase their talent to the public.
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MAI HOUSE STUDIO is an artist-run space in Chinatown and a multi-disciplinary collective of immigrant artists working to create development, performance, and community-building opportunities for artists of all disciplines to come together and nurture their talents. Since our founding in May 2023, we have been able to nourish a community of over 100 artists and program over 40 events that center artistic growth + experimentation and hold space for immigrant, AAPI, and Black creatives to gather. Our eclectic events have included: healing sound baths, chess meetups, floral workshops, potlucks, and 99Labs (a group-run actors' gym). Space and time to create has become a luxury, especially in New York City, but we are dreaming of a world where it shouldn't be, where artists no longer have to fight over scant opportunities.