upcoming artists of the city roma patel and jigna guadana have experienced that painting is not an easy daytoday task like other artists their canvasses also lie bare for months on end till the moment of inspiration arrives that is why we believe coming to the smart art hub is the most significant thing that happened to us it has given us the freedom of space time and creativity roma and jigna echoes each other the smart art hub is a twostoried bungalowturnedindependent studio in paldi owned by siddheshwar kanuga a diehard art lover and visha kanuga herself a painter they have offered this bungalow to five artists from the city free of cost the only condition is every six months the kanugas are given a painting each by the artists jigna and roma share the hub with artists rakesh patel ronak sopariwala and jignesh patel each of them has his h e r o w n room with a storage area for paintings and attached loos it houses a neat kitchen have internet facilities and beautiful balconies but more than all this it offers what they really crave for freedom to be creative being attached to a gallery can offer financial security but there are many restrictions you need to speed up your output and the sword of time hangs on your head says artist rakesh patel who has been working in the hub for one year now the art market in ahmedabad is tilted towards established artists moreover the galleries also fail to encourage upcoming artists so you need to chalk your own path and such an independent studio lets you wear your creative freedom on your sleeve says ronak sopariwala ronak who is currently preparing for a solo show even spends his nights in the studio the hub has already conducted two smart art shows in the last two years where upcoming artists based in ahmedabad had showcased their works curated by ronak the shows had generated much buzz among art enthusiasts this young brigade is not worried that marketing themselves in a steeply competitive atmosphere without any godfather is not easy vipul rathod who is part of another independent studio run by navneet foundation in the citys law garden area says people who have followed art for sometime can recognize the quality of an artists work easily so you need not worry about not selling for long vipul who took his exhibition to delhi in december this year has artists prashant sitapara radhika dave and jignesh panchal sharing this studio with him all these young artists have at one time or the other worked with institutional studios or at their homesthe limitations were clear such studios in the city offer space for limited time