Apprentice Creative Space provides a literary-focused coworking space

Coworking spaces are popping up everywhere as the new office for those who work from home, but tend to venture outside the house to do so. Some of Oak Cliff’s coworking spots (Switchyards, E-Creative Space and FLOCC) all sit within a two-minute drive. However, accessibility to those spaces can be difficult.

That struggle is what Apprentice Creative Space was designed to fill. Founded by Kaitlin Siebert and her partner Steven Monacelli, Apprentice is a nonprofit that aims to bridge “the gap between emerging talent and established creatives” by providing a literary, third space to bring everyone together.

“There’s not really a need to compete as much as there’s a need to create spaces that can be catalysts for everybody to do more,” Monacelli says, “and to collaborate and to meet each other in situations that they might not otherwise have the opportunity to engage in.”

The idea for Apprentice came out of necessity, Siebert says. The couple grew tired of both working together within their home.  At the time, Siebert was finishing up a master’s in library science and Monacelli works from home as a freelance journalist.

“We wanted (a workspace) to exist that maybe wasn’t a coffee shop, where we had to pay money to be there, and maybe wasn’t a coworking space because that wasn’t really something we could afford at the time,” she says. “It seemed like a lot of coworking spaces that were available were pretty expensive. And for somebody that was still in school and somebody who’s doing freelance work, that’s not always the most attainable option.”

In between her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Siebert – who is an artist – submitted work to the Oak Cliff Art Walk that was held at the Oak Cliff Assembly building, a 17,000-square-foot Dallas Historical Landmark that formally housed Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church. There, she connected with Proxy Properties, who was renovating the building into 23 private studios and a theater venue, about the space opening up. That unit now houses Apprentice.

“We saw the opportunity to get (in); we didn’t think we could find a space like this anywhere else, especially if it was an existing landlord who would probably be uninterested in renting out a space to a brand-new nonprofit,” Monacelli says.

He also noted the events in the literary and creative arts scene couldn’t always accommodate the needs, whether it be the cost to rent a space was out of reach or the number of people would outnumber the capacity.

Danielle “Dani” Amassa-Gana, director of operations for Apprentice, met the founders in 2020 through trying to educate Dallas about community needs. Amassa-Gana is the community organizer for Say It With Your Chest DTX, a mutual aid group that runs local care package parties to put together resources for houseless neighbors and coordinates volunteers to distribute them.

The space Say It With Your Chest DTX previously used was a friend’s garage to host the packing parties. When that was no longer available, a direct message from the couple brought Amassa-Gana the opportunity to start hosting at Apprentice Creative Space.

“One of the biggest issues as an organizer that I always run into when I want to host an event and really gather community together is to find a space that is suitable for our needs,” she says. “And Apprentice just fit perfectly into what we needed. The amount of space is great because our care package parties have grown to have over 50 people now, and even if we were to still have that garage space, we still wouldn’t be able to keep up with the demand of all the people who want to help and support the cause.”

Amassa-Gana was then brought on to work with Apprentice in handling the coordination of the space, from memberships to event rental.

“I will say, from an organizing perspective, I do think that what Apprentice is doing is what more creative workspaces should be doing,” she says. “If we really want to put our money where our mouth is, you should be using some of the profits that you make from coworking to subsidize and support people who may not have access or not be able to afford what you need. … I do hope that eventually more spaces also push toward accessibility.”

A majority of the events are open to the public and free to attend unless otherwise stated on their website. The membership options range in cost, from $300 per month for a 24/7 private office to the daytime flex plan that is $25 per month to access Apprentice for up to 10 days per month from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. There is also the co-op plan that grants 24/7 access for 10 days per month by giving back to the space through volunteering four hours a month.

“Having that flexibility and really focusing on, ‘How can we cultivate a community in Dallas that has so many voices in it, that it feels diverse, and it feels welcoming, and it feels inclusive, and it feels safe?’” Amassa-Gana says.

Within their suite at the Oak Cliff Assembly, Apprentice Creative Space provides a wall of donated books (including some from past author talks held in the space), two private offices that host the nonprofits Urban Arts Center and Four Palaces Publishing, a conference room and an array of tables, couches and chairs.

There are a variety of recurring events housed in Apprentice, including the Care Package Parties. There’s Apprentice First Fridays, a networking event that includes a different theme and collaboration within the community. Additionally, Apprentice hosts the weekly service of the congregation formerly housed in the building, Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church, every Sunday.

Future plans for the nonprofit third space include adding podcasting equipment, developing the kitchen to include free coffee and a communal microwave, providing additional printing equipment and utilizing the recently donated projector to host film screenings.

“We’re definitely growing and maintaining the community that has been built, like the foundation has been laid, and now we’re able to stack on top of that. More people are hearing about us. We get a lot of emails every day, forms. I’m sending out contracts and stuff, and it’s just really wild, but it’s great, and I’m really happy for y’all,” Amassa-Gana says to Siebert and Monacelli. “And I’m happy for Apprentice and just the community as a whole. We’ve needed this for so long.”