Art and Production

The industrial area in the Sittertal near St.Gallen is being increasingly opened up to art and culture. Since the closing of the former Sitterthal textile dye-works, an art foundry, a book workshop and a photo laboratory have established themselves here. As part of this new orientation, the Sitterwerk has also been developing over the last years. As an institutional center for art and production, it encompasses various projects that are being developed in parallel: an Art Library and a Material Archive are being assembled and made accessible to the public. In recognition of their work, artists are invited to stay and work in the Studio House. The Kesselhaus Josephsohn makes the work of the important sculptor accessible.

The establishment of the Sitterwerk Foundation in 2006 is a further milestone in this development: the Sitterwerk now has a broadly supported basis.

The extraordinary dynamic in the Sittertal is the impetus for the development and expansion of the center for art and production. Here artists, craftspeople, scientists and scholars in various disciplines and a broad public meet one another. Culture in development is understood here in a multifaceted sense. Art is created, produced or restored, and presented to the public. Cultural assets are explored here in the most varied of respects — from scholarly, technical or artistic perspectives. In the Studio House, the infrastructure and spatial dimensions allow guest artists to make expansive gestures. For the production of contemporary three-dimensional art, the ancient technique of bronze casting finds a natural addendum in the use of the most modern methods with new materials and technologies in the Kunstgiesserei. The unusual combination of an Art Library with a Material Archive opens up novel perspectives for research and experimentation. Here questions on art and its production can be clarified or architectural and monument conservation solutions developed. With a newly developed form of exhibition and storage of plaster models and bronzes, the Kesselhaus Josephsohn fulfils the manifold purpose of preserving and safeguarding the work of the artist, comprehending it for processing by scholars, and simultaneously presenting and mediating it for the public.

Cultivated hospitality enlivens the encounters of an interested public with the craftspeople, producers of art and researchers who work here. The refined architectural language resulting from the meticulous renovation gives the former industrial buildings a new unity that forms an appropriate framework.

The unique interplay of entrepreneurial enterprises and cultural institutions in the Sittertal opens up broad and creative potential for innovation. Unexpected synergies are developing between initially disparate activities. These synergies can be utilized thanks to the infrastructure of the Sitterwerk. Great cultural energy, which also encounters interest outside of the cultural world, can thus be generated here. The Sitterwerk has in the meantime come to have a model character for the most varied of managers. The Sitterwerk has been developed over many years based on private initiative. Above all the Kunstgiesserei has, despite limited resources, done a great deal of work and invested funds, and continues to do so today. The decision was made to tackle the project although no financing could be found for it as a project on paper — and it was thus supported alone by the confidence that teaming up with persuasive unity can achieve what might to many seem incompatible.

Now additional means are necessary to support what has already been established and to further develop the center for art and production. The public sector, various foundations, and private sponsors have already generously committed themselves to the Sitterwerk. Various companies have also provided recognition of what is being developed here and expressed themselves through sponsoring. The Sitterwerk Foundation is an ideal vessel for this. With the Art Library and the outstanding infrastructure of the Studio House, Material Archive and the Kesselhaus Josephsohn, the Sitterwerk has great potential. In order to be able to use this potential optimally, the Sitterwerk requires additional capital.

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