Our Mission, Vision, and Values
NCLT staff 2025
Our Mission
Artist Space Trust (AST) is the nation’s first Community Land Trust exclusively dedicated to securing and stewarding permanently affordable, community-owned housing and creative spaces for artists. Through our programs we stem artist displacement and provide solutions to systematic housing injustice. AST cultivates vibrant, empowered communities that center the holistic wellbeing of artists.
AST is a joint program of Vital Arts and Northern California Land Trust, and serves San Francisco Bay Area artists.
Our Vision
AST is the blueprint for artist-centered, artist-led Community Land Trusts nationwide. We envision a vast AST network of affordable housing and creative spaces that secure the permanent presence of artists in every Bay Area neighborhood. This interdependent artist + community relationship is deeply engaged, culturally abundant, and mutually prosperous. The value and impact of artists and culture-bearers is seen as foundational to a healthy society and is supported by policy, equitable access to resources, and intergenerational education.
Our Values
Artists are Essential
AST uplifts the essential role of artists as activists, world-builders, and thought leaders who bridge gaps between communities, foster resilient and culturally rich societies, and connect us to our humanity.
Access Must be Equitable
AST is dedicated to racial equity, inclusivity, intersectionality, and removing systemic barriers to affordable housing through community-inclusive programs and practices.
Housing is a Human Right
AST replaces the profit-driven real estate market with a Community Land Trust model that enacts housing justice through affordability, stability, and community control.
Community is Key
AST facilitates a multigenerational legacy of mutual aid by creating pathways for artists and communities to support each other. AST believes in community ownership, nonprofit stewardship, and the power of strategic partnerships to generate opportunities for low-income artists.
Transparency is Imperative
AST maintains accountability to artists, community, donors, and partners through ethical operational practices that prioritize honesty and intentionality.
Artist Space Trust was launched in March 2023. Our Mission, Vision, and Values were established in August 2024 through a planning process with the AST Advisory Council, as well as key staff members of Vital Arts and Northern California Land Trust.