Chroma is Expanding!

Chroma Studios is expanding! We now have three locations, two with band studios and one with artist studios.

Our Band studios are located downtown on the NE corner of 1st street and Roma and near Nob Hill at 210 Manzano NE. There are a variety of spaces and rents(ranging from $200-600), totally secure with 24/7 access, central heat and air. We rent to all types of musicians and bands, and have a great community atmosphere. Availability of studios varies. We are usually full and have a waiting list, though with the new location, openings happen more frequently.

Contact Paula at 505-259-6320 for more info or to be put on our waiting list, or email me at paula@paulamanninglewis.com.

Chroma Studios was named the “Best New Business” in downtown Albuquerque at the annual 2009 LOOK awards. We are now in our 13th year of operation.

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Chroma Studios 2020

We are still here! The website has been updated as of today. We are still renting Band Practice studios in downtown Albuquerque. Most often, we are full and don’t have rooms available. We have a waiting list and will let you know when a studio opens up. We can’t say when something will open up. We have a month to month lease, so every month has the possibility of a room being available. We only advertise a space if there is no one on the waiting list. We recommend getting on the list because it’s the best way to get in.

My name is Paula Manning-Lewis and I am the co-owner and manager of Chroma. Please contact me at (505)259-6320 or email me at paula@paulamanninglewis.com for more information or to be put on the waiting list.

Call for Artists!

We are in full planning mode for our upcoming ChromaFEST on Saturday, April 8th. What is ChromaFEST, you may ask? It’s a music/art festival and a fundraiser for Chroma Studios. We plan to make it an annual event, but this year is extra special. You may have seen our Big Announcement a couple of months ago. Now that 2017 is here, we are in full swing fundraising/planning mode. This year’s event will be at The Cell Theater in downtown Albuquerque. We will know more about times once we get the band/music lined up. There will be live music, food truck/s, a silent auction and of course, an art market!

We are looking for artists who would like to set up a booth to show/sell their work. The term artists is used in a broad sense here as we are open to any kind of creative handmade items. Fine Art, jewelry, photography, fiber arts, really ANYTHING handmade by YOU. This will be an outside show, so you may need a canopy for shade. You will need to bring your own set up; tables, chairs, easels, canopy, etc. Since this is a fundraiser show, we are asking each artist to donate a piece for the silent auction. In return, we will be eternally grateful to you!

What we need you to submit is 4-10 photos of your work, a bio/artist statement, and a $10 application fee. If you rent a studio from us, the fees are included in your rent. If you are not a Chroma Studios artist, the booth fee will be $25 in addition to the $10 application fee. This is a one day, Saturday show that may go as late as 10:00pm. Booth fees will be collected after you are accepted to the show. There is limited space, so unfortunately we can’t accept everyone. 😦 The deadline is February 15th and we will notify artists by March 1st.

Please send your submissions to chromastudios@comcast.net and pay your $10 application fee by paypal to plewis11@comcast.net or by check/money order mailed to Chroma Studios, 1606 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87106.

Please email if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from YOU!

Our BIG Announcement!

Good afternoon! If you follow Chroma Studios on facebook, you may have seen some recent posts about a big announcement coming soon. Without further ado, here it is!

First of all, we are planning ChromaFest for next year. April 8th is the date, the Cell Theater (on 1st street between Roma and Lomas) is the place. We will know the hours once we know how many bands will perform. This is going to be a music and art festival that we hope to hold annually. The first Chroma Fest happened several years ago and was a lot of fun. This is going to be a MUCH better and bigger festival. The space at the Cell will hold up to 1,800 people. We will showcase live music from the bands who currently reside in our studios as well as bands who have previously called Chroma Studios home. We will have artist tables for our current and past artists to set up and show/sell their work. Depending on how much participation we have from Chroma artists/musicians, we may also bring in other bands and artists to fill in. We will have food trucks set up. ChromaFest will be a fundraiser for Chroma Studios.

Why a fundraiser you may ask? April 2017 marks our 9th anniversary in business. It is also the end of our long term leases in both locations of Chroma Studios. Aaron and I have made the decision to take the leap in making Chroma Studios a more permanent part of the Albuquerque scene. We are going to purchase a building! Currently, we lease both our spaces which gives us little to no control over what happens in and around our space. We plan to move into a space where both artist studios and music studios will be in the same location. We are currently split between two locations, art and music. We plan to soundproof all the music studios and have ventilation and natural light in all the art studios. In the future, we plan to add a performance space, art gallery, classroom and recording studio. We are hoping to have enough parking for everyone! Our biggest hope is that we will be able to lower our rents too! The reason we need to do fundraising is simple. Aaron and I are not independently wealthy. We work as full time artist and musicians in addition to running Chroma. Although it is our business, the move will improve things for everyone!

In addition to ChromaFest, we are setting up a crowdfunding campaign to help raise additional funds. There will be lots of Chroma merchandise for rewards, but we hope to get donations of CDs and artwork from the artists and musicians of Chroma. Tickets for the festival, compilation CDs and ChromaFest posters will also be included as rewards. Stay tuned for more information on the Crowdfunding campaign and the ChromaFest line up!

 

Studios now available!

We have had a couple of our studios open up, one is now available and 3 more will be opening up on January 1st. NOW is the time to get in to see them and they can be held until January 1st with a deposit. These studios (especially at the band location) rent FAST! Give us a call if you are interested. Paula – 505-259-6320 or Aaron – 505-908-1392 Click on the “Studios” tab above (or the live link) for more information on what is available, prices, sizes etc.

Chroma Fest begins tonight! 5-9pm

Our first annual Chroma Fest begins tonight with an art show/open studios event at our Central location (1606 Central Ave SE suite 201). 5 – 9pm we open the doors at our artist studios, several of the resident artists will be there to share their studios and work. We also have a handful of artists that previously showed their work with us at Chroma Gallery. Refreshments and a good time will be had by all! 🙂

Tomorrow is the Music portion of Chroma Fest at our downtown location (corner of 1st and Roma, 600 1st str. NW). Ten bands will perform starting at 1pm and going until 10pm. Chroma studios downtown houses 18 band/musician studios. Come down and enjoy the variety of music that practices within our walls. We are setting up on the street in front of the building for a good ol’ street party! Hope to see you rockin’ out with us!