441 Signaturer
500 for samlingsmål
Søknad er adressert til: Longyearbyen Lokalstyre
We ask Longyearbyen Local Council to develop a concrete plan for the artists, entrepreneurs, and small businesses that will lose their workspaces when the lease of Spitsbergen Artists Center expires in 2027.
We also ask the Local Council to explore all realistic alternatives, including external funding opportunities, before cultural and creative activity is permanently displaced from Nybyen.8
Grunn
This petition is about people, jobs, and opportunities in Longyearbyen.
Today, the building that houses Spitsbergen Artists Center provides affordable studios and workshops for seven local businesses and four independent artists. These spaces support local entrepreneurship, artistic production, tourism-related businesses, and community life.
When the lease expires in 2027, these businesses and artists risk losing their workplaces. At present, there are no known affordable alternatives in Longyearbyen that can accommodate everyone affected.
Over the last two years, the center has also become an important cultural venue. Since 2025, it has hosted more than 100 artists from over 25 countries, organized more than 70 exhibitions and events, and welcomed around 5,000 visitors annually. The center has contributed to Longyearbyen's cultural life, tourism, international visibility, and attractiveness as a place to live and work.
The decision to sell the building has already been made. However, the future of the people and activities currently based there remains unresolved.
We therefore ask Longyearbyen Local Council to ensure that local artists, creative entrepreneurs, and small businesses are not left without solutions when the lease expires. We also ask that all available opportunities for preserving affordable creative workspaces in Longyearbyen are properly explored.
As Longyearbyen continues its transition beyond the mining era, supporting local initiative, creativity, and small businesses should be part of building a resilient and diverse community for the future.
Takk for støtten, Spitsbergen Artists Center / Philotera AS, Longyearbyen
Spørsmål til initiativtakeren
Del underskriftskampanjen
Informasjon om kampanjer
Underskriftskampanje startet:
10.06.2026
Innsamlingen avsluttes:
09.12.2026
Region:
Longyearbyen
kategori:
Kultur
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Ny språkversjondebatt
Having spent time at the Spitsbergen Artists Center as a guest artist and recently exhibiting my work there, I have seen firsthand how important this place is. It is far more than a building—it is a vital artist-run hub that brings together artists, residents, businesses, and visitors from around the world. The loss of this extraordinary creative space would be a devastating blow to Longyearbyen's cultural life and the future of artistic activity in the High Arctic.
Ingen KONTRA-argument ennå.
Hvorfor folk signerer
I was a resident at the Spitsbergen Artists Center in Nybyen last year, and I found it to be an incredible place for me as a photographer to carry out my work and field research.
It is an extraordinary hub for international artists to create, exchange ideas, produce and exhibit work in one of the most unique and environmentally significant locations in the High Arctic.
Spitsbergen Artists Center offers ideal and affordable facilities and it provides a perfect base for long-term residencies, it allows us as artists to develop projects that critically reflect on our relationship with the Arctic and its rapidly changing environment due to climate change, and to bring awareness to a global audience.
The Artists Center is unique in Longyearbyen, and it absolutely needs to continue to exist.
(Redigert)
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I came to Longyearbyen from California on a sixteen-day Arctic expedition and spent the last afternoon of it in the Artists Center. I applied for the residency the day I got home and I am booked in for April 2027. That is what this building does. It is the only open-call residency in Svalbard, and it turns people who would have passed through once into people who come back, stay for weeks, and spend their money in town. Seven businesses and four artists work there now and there is nowhere affordable left for them to go. Please make a concrete plan for those people and exhaust every alternative before the space is gone.