yes.
the deal is....artists have been absolutely screwed by this coronavirus. they sell their wares by going to weekend craft bazaars and other in-person shows. So when ALL of those show got cancelled last spring, they basically could not sell anything. Some sold nothing for the christmas season--usually their biggest season.
some transitioned to etsy or other online sales, but they have to pay a commission to those places, AND it is really hard to get seen.
So basically, many artists became homeless overnight. Despite Boston supposedly being a "center for the arts", there is pretty much no support for individual artists. the museums could not give a shit about local artists, they only want to display famous artists.
So a place like this Lowell maker space, where there are very affordable studios....and an established way to sell their art (thru shows and open studio weekends) is really great for them. What is even better are the artists lofts where there is living space coupled with their studios, so they are not homeless, or on the verge of being homeless any more.
i do not know who set up that lowell studio, but i bet it was some rich person who wanted to support the arts.
if it were in Boston or Cambridge, that same sort of old mill building would have been turned into condos and sold to rich people long ago.