Schaumbad – Freies Atelierhaus Graz

Schaumbad’s 2008 founding belongs to a broader artist-run tradition in which producers create their own infrastructure rather than wait for established institutions to provide studios and exhibition opportunities. The first location was a former commercial bathing facility near the main railway station. Reusing that building gave the collective its name and established a playful language of “bathing,” “decks” and “Schaumbad” that still appears in programme titles.

The original founders were Daniel Bergmayr, Isabel Espinoza, Eva Ursprung, Kathrin Velik and Markus Wilfling. Up to fifty artists worked in the first complex during the 2008–2011 period. The scale mattered because shared space allowed artists from different disciplines and career stages to work alongside one another rather than remain isolated in private studios.

Loss of the first building became a formative crisis. When the property was sold, the temporary-use agreement ended and the artists had to search for a new base. The group continued through temporary and public-space projects rather than dissolving, showing that Schaumbad was already more than one building.

The 2013 move to Puchstraße gave the collective a long-term industrial setting suitable for larger-scale work. This continuity through displacement helps explain why current Schaumbad language emphasizes collaboration, flexibility and collective survival. The institution’s history is a practical example of how independent cultural infrastructure in a city can depend on affordable space as much as on artistic ideas.

For visitors, this background gives meaning to the improvised architectural character of the current site. The mixture of studios, workshops and event spaces is not accidental clutter; it reflects an organization that learned to build its own environment incrementally with available resources.

Schaumbad’s Puchstraße building is part of Graz’s post-industrial southern landscape rather than the historic-centre museum district. The institution rents about 2,200 square metres in a former lemonade factory. The industrial scale allows activities that would be difficult in a conventional storefront gallery, including large exhibitions, fabrication, film work and performance.

The ground-floor factory hall covers about 1,100 square metres. Between 2013 and 2018, eleven studios and a film studio were built into this shell. Eight additional studios occupy former office spaces and the western wing, while three workshop or studio areas are outside the main building. The adaptations used sponsorship, educational cooperation with the Ortweinschule and substantial labour by the artists themselves.

Current infrastructure includes 23 studio and work rooms, a darkroom and shared wood, metal and ceramics workshops. This breadth allows painters, sculptors, filmmakers, sound artists and interdisciplinary practitioners to use the same site. Schaumbad’s value therefore lies partly in resources that remain invisible during a normal exhibition visit.

The public spaces reflect that production environment. The Halle functions as a large exhibition and event venue with high ceilings and flexible hanging options. The Oberdeck is a tunnel-like white-cube presentation space upstairs, often used for solo or smaller exhibitions. A bar and shared kitchen support openings and social events.

Visitors should not assume that every studio is automatically open. Schaumbad is a workplace, and public access follows exhibitions, open studios, tours or scheduled programmes. A public event may reveal much more of the house than a quiet exhibition afternoon, but the working areas remain governed by artist privacy and production needs.

The collective structure is one of Schaumbad’s defining features. Studios are used by individual artists, collaborations and collectives across different disciplines. Shared workshops create practical reasons for exchange, while exhibitions and internal discussion create intellectual ones. Artists can work independently without losing access to a larger community.

International exchange is built into the programme. Schaumbad has partnered with the Styrian Artist-in-Residence programme since 2015, giving visiting artists access to workshops and studios and presenting their work to local audiences. Other incoming and outgoing residencies extend that network to partner institutions abroad.

The house also creates formats for artists who are not permanent studio holders. Temporary-use spaces, guest studios and exhibition opportunities allow the programme to remain porous rather than becoming a closed club. The Oberdeck format, for example, frequently presents individual artists and includes artist-talk or Art Brunch elements.

The 2025 Hanns-Koren-Kulturpreis recognized precisely this ability to combine production, presentation and social exchange. The award citation described Schaumbad as studio house, exhibition space, interdisciplinary workshop, stage, cultural quarter, experimental field and meeting zone. That breadth is unusual even within independent art scenes.

Travellers should therefore think of Schaumbad less as a gallery brand and more as a cultural ecosystem. The specific exhibition on the wall matters, but so do the people, workshops and informal encounters that make the project possible. Events with talks, performances or open studios often reveal that ecosystem more clearly than a silent daytime visit.

On 2 September 2026, the current exhibition is “Oberdeck #30: Paradise. Gerhard Hammerl.” Hammerl has worked for decades in the Malwerkstatt of Jugend am Werk Steiermark and developed detailed “Paradise Pictures” populated by animals, people, fantastical architecture and imagined peaceful worlds. The Schaumbad exhibition focuses on his recent work.

The exhibition publishes its own schedule: Monday through Thursday 10:00–14:00 and Friday through Saturday 14:00–18:00. That schedule runs through the final days of the exhibition and is the correct basis for current visitor planning. It should not be generalized into permanent Schaumbad opening hours.

From 12 September, the venue hosts “un:gleich Realität Rassismus,” a photography project built from interviews and portraits exploring lived experiences of racism. The opening on 12 September includes music and a panel discussion, showing how Schaumbad often combines exhibition display with public discourse.

From 17 September, “ALL MONSTERS ARE HUMAN” opens as a cooperation connected with steirischer herbst ’26. The project examines grotesque imagery, violence, fear and the darker dimensions of human experience through contemporary art. It continues into October and overlaps with other programme activity.

The overlap is typical. Schaumbad can host exhibitions, performances, workshops and festivals simultaneously in different parts of the complex. Before travelling, check not only the date of the exhibition but also whether a festival, private event or installation period changes public access.

Admission also varies by programme. The Hammerl exhibition is advertised as free, but festival periods can include tickets for concerts or other events. The event page should always take priority over generic venue assumptions.

Schaumbad is not in the Old Town. Its location at Puchstraße 41 places it in the southern industrial landscape near other workshops, businesses and cultural or sports facilities. This makes the journey part of the experience because the venue demonstrates how contemporary art production can occupy areas rarely included in classic tourist routes.

The official public-transport recommendation is tram line 5 to Dornschneidergasse. From the stop, follow Dornschneidergasse toward Puchstraße, turn left and use the entrance marked for Saubermacher/Schaumbad. Cross the Mühlgang and turn right; the venue is at the end of the building. Schaumbad estimates the walk from the stop at about four minutes.

The directions are worth following carefully because the entrance does not resemble a museum forecourt. Industrial access roads and shared commercial space can make the first approach ambiguous. The institution’s own map or directions are more useful than simply searching for a decorative façade.

Cycling is also practical in southern Graz, but visitors should use legal bicycle parking and avoid blocking workshop or delivery areas. Driving is possible, yet parking and industrial-site access can vary with events. Public transport is generally simpler for first-time visitors.

The distance from the centre is not a disadvantage if planned correctly. A trip to Schaumbad can be paired with Johann Puch Museum or other southern Graz destinations, creating a cultural route through areas where industrial history and contemporary production overlap.

Schaumbad’s official contact information lists the ground floor as barrier-free. A stairlift provides access to the first floor, including the Oberdeck exhibition space. The Artist-in-Residence room is also described as barrier-free. These measures make many public areas accessible despite the industrial building’s original design.

The main limitation is the toilet. Schaumbad states that an accessible toilet is still in development. Visitors who require one should contact the team before travelling and ask about the current arrangement. Event seating and crowd conditions should also be discussed in advance when necessary.

Because the building is a working atelier house, normal gallery etiquette is combined with studio etiquette. Do not enter closed studios, handle tools or photograph artists’ workspaces without permission. Public exhibition rooms can be documented according to event rules, but private production areas remain private.

Events may involve sound, performance, food, workshops or late-night activity. A visitor who wants a quiet gallery experience should choose published exhibition hours; someone who wants the social energy of the institution should attend an opening, Art Brunch, talk or festival event.

A first visit can be short, but the strongest experience usually comes from a programme that includes people as well as objects. Schaumbad’s identity is collective and process-oriented. Respecting that distinction prevents disappointment and makes the venue easier to understand.