Since the 1980’s Guerrilla art has emerged as a vital distribution channel for artists, allowing creators to work outside of traditional channels that many viewed as overly commercialized and lacking in opportunity. In Paris, La Générale Nord-Est has been this type of alternative distribution channel for artists of all mediums and points in their career. With it’s stark walls covered in plastered paper drawings, flaking paint pealing from the ceiling and the hum of creative energy, La Générale radiates a guerrilla feeling and attitude the moment you walk through its wide doors. La Générale, however, like many arts organizations using this underground model, is under threat largely due to the ephemeral nature of their mission and the constraints on their resources.

La Générale defines themselves as a laboratory for cultural, artistic, political and social creation. They aim to promote risk taking and experimentation. La Générale achieves this mission in their programming  through accepting artist proposals for project based residencies. They are committed to their residents, giving them the space to take risks and experiment, whether the conclusion of their time is a success, a failure, a single phase in their larger work, or simply providing them the space to think. Another key offer is the knowledge sharing the collective and collaborators at La Générale have to offer. They host philosophers, art school students, theatre and film makers, visual artists and graphic designers. These residencies are also open to international participants, and they have hosted people from all over Europe, the United States, Korea, Japan, Mexico and Columbia. La Générale also provides space for non-profit and producing festivals. Residencies range based on the project, from one day to one month. La Générale’s model of providing space for creators in a guerrilla style setting is becoming rare, and as a result they often receive proposals from well-established names who are seeking the space to experiment.

Not only is La Générale a place dedicated to artists and creators, it is also a place about community building. To fulfill this component of their vision, La Générale is open to the public through free events. In 2016 La Générale hosted 130 events. As free events, La Générale is accessible to all and there are no barriers to entry based on economics. These events also allow for transparency with the surrounding area, building a sense of pride in La Générale’s neighbors about the organizations role in the community. This build up of goodwill with the community is key for an organization such as this, as it means their neighbors will support their sometimes illegal operations instead of impeding on them. 

Since 2009, La Générale has managed a single collective space in the 11th arrondissement in Paris. Originally constructed in the 1930’s to serve as a garage for the electric company’s vehicles, the space now includes a spacious ground floor where the garage once stood, various improvised office and work spaces and a rooftop garden. The space helps to support their mission by providing key resources to artists such as tools like a photo lab. La Générale has a valid lease on their venue till 2020, but the lease is likely not to be renewed as the organization is occupying it as an interim tenant prior, activating the space till a more permanent tenant can be agreed upon.

La Générale began as a creative collective, and is still run by this structure today. The collective of La Générale currently consists of 15 members, including 4 permanent employees who work part-time  and are focused on operations. As a collective, La Générale’s members aim to avoid hierarchy within their organizational structure. This is reflected in the fact that within their legal association filing they do not note a President, but rather a “Spokesperson”. For La Générale this change in title felt much more in line with their mission and brand as a collective. The members of the collective have a diverse background ranging from visual artists, designers, performers, architects, cooks and gardeners. This diversity makes La Générale a place open to all artistic and cultural practices. All programing is selected by the members as a group, with the organization programming only 3 to 6 months in advance. This short turn-around allows for greater flexibility and contributes to the impulsive and inspired feeling about the work. The majority of programs are selected through a proposal process, which the collective select and agree upon as a group. On average they receive 5 to 8 project proposals a day, with the majority of submissions being theatrical in nature. The collective, however, aim to create a balanced program and try to diversify their programming portfolio to include areas of all interest.

Another key component to the human resources of La Générale is their dedicated volunteers. These volunteers often come from the organizations own network, including participants and artists from their programming. Their ability to find such volunteers is reflective of the sense of community La Générale has been able to establish both internally and externally. These volunteers help with a range of activities, including the running of their un-licensed bar and concessions stand during public events. Due to restrictions in the lease and the lack of a food or beverage license, this part of the organization is technically not sanctioned or even legal. However, the bar creates a vital revenue stream and provides an added value to its visitors, many of whom now expect such services at event venues.

The importance of the bar as revenue stream becomes clearer when we look at the overall funding model and budget for La Générale, which attempts to maneuver around organizational constraints on creating self generated income. As it was once part of the public electrical company, the building in which La Générale  now resides in is owned by the city of Paris. The city currently charges La Générale a discounted rate of only 8,000 euro a year for rent, barely 1/10 of the commercial rate. This discount constitutes the entirety of the support given by the Paris City Hall and the Ile-de-France Region to the organization. It should be noted, however, that the agreement is only for access to the ground floor of the building. The collective use other parts of the building without any legal standing, but there has never been any contention over this by the city or neighbors. One of the key constraints to their funding model lies within this lease agreement, which stipulates that the organization is forbidden from nearly all commercial activity. This prevents the organization from being able to charge for their events, even though the ability to provide free events for community building fits  nicely into their larger mission.

One area they are allowed to receive self-generated funds is through film shoot rentals. They are only allowed to do this twenty days out of the year. In looking at requests for this commercial activity, La Générale’s collective members aim to select projects that are remain on brand with the organization’s mission and vision. This includes more indie production companies in the fashion and film industry who want to shoot in the space for a variety of projects including movies or photo shoots. La Générale’s annual expenses are approximately 100,000 euros. Half of this is paid through these film shoot rentals, while the rest comes from the bar and concessions.

The funding model, centered around rentals and concessions, is largely based on the asset of their building and space. The building, however, is also potentially their greatest weakness and risk. In regards to the latter, collectives operating in a guerrilla style out of alternative spaces run severe safety risks. The repercussions have direct impacts on the community, the organization’s leadership, political officials and patrons. A prime example of this was the destructive fire that tore through Ghost Ship, a well known art collective in Oakland, California, in December 2016.  Ghost Ship was operating out of a former warehouse that had been built in 1930 as a milk bottling plant. The collective hosted regular events, which is what was about to occur on the night of the fire which killed  36 people. Due to the set up of the space being filled with equipment for a concert and the lack of proper building code implementation, the people inside the building were unable to leave. The result was criminal prosecution for the founders of the collective, along with lawsuits against the city by the victims families over their lack of due diligence. The Ghost Ship case is an important one to acknowledge when considering guerrilla space models, as the model has innate risks due to the use of alternative or unauthorized spaces. La Générale acknowledges that they do not follow necessary building standards, but use fire proof materials when possible. 

While spaces like La Générale that supply key resources and services are in high demand in the cultural sector, arts collectives often face greater barriers and challenges as they grow and mature. With limitations on their funding model and risks in space usage, the organization will have to evaluate whether La Générale can continue to grow with their current model or whether a new model would serve their mission or if they should solidify ephemeral vision by ending the collective at the termination of their lease in 2020. If they aim to continue to grow, a more sustainable and secure model may become necessary. This new model would have to involve the ability to pursue new revenue streams like funding from granting foundations or private donors, to circumnavigate their inability to generate revenue from commercial activity. But by involving more financial stakeholders, their is a risk of the organization and its programming being diverted away from their original vision to try and accommodate funding requirements. If they do chose to close their doors after 2020, La Générale will be leaving a legacy of organic collaboration and creativity that will last in its impact and in the memory of the community.