Mainframe Studios

Mainframe Studios is on track to become a powerful national nonprofit model for strengthening creative culture in urban areas. The game-changing project will transform Central Iowa’s arts scene by creating a financially self-sustaining cultural and economic driver that ensures permanent space for artists in the city.

Annual rents for standard studios are $7 per square foot plus utilities (e.g. a 350sf studio is $204 per month plus utilities); annual inflation adjustments will apply. Premiums will be charged to those requiring special units or features. Studios may be shared by two or more artists.

Interest is outpacing workspace availability. Our current waitlist includes ceramicists, photographers, glass artists, actors, illustrators, musicians, painters, metalsmiths, sculptors, printers, game developers and many others.

Mainframe Studios' founder Justin Mandelbaum co-founded Western Avenue Studios in Lowell, Massachusetts. The once vacant mill building complex is now home to the largest artist community on the east coast. With 250 studios, 50 live/work lofts and over 300 artists, it covers 250,000 square feet.

Central Iowa is experiencing significant revitalization in recent years and is home to established, nationally-recognized arts organizations. With the addition of Mainframe Studios, Des Moines is unusually poised to prosper as a hub for vibrant creative culture.