chashama, which is always spelle with a lowercase 'c', is a non-profit arts organization based in New York City. One of its primary functions within the arts community is to provide low or no cost real estate for artists to create or present their works. chashama began in 1995 as a performing arts group, and has since expanded to include visual arts as well. Anita Durst, daughter of Douglas Durst (of the large New York real estate company The Durst Organization) founded chashama in 1995, and currently acts as its artistic director.