CONTEXT: Artscape was founded in 1986 in response to a space crisis in the Toronto arts community. Gentrification and changing real estate market conditions were uprooting artists and arts organizations and driving them from the neighbourhoods that they had helped to enliven.
Artscape has responded by pioneering new not-for-profit real estate developments and advancing the tools of the trade. We have worked against the odds and turned intractable development challenges into unstoppable ideas. With more than 300 tenants in 6 multi-tenant centres in Toronto, Artscape’s work has played a key role in building and sustaining the city’s creative capacity.
VISION: By 2011, Artscape will help Toronto become recognized for building an infrastructure for creativity with greater purpose and conviction than any other city in the world. The city will become one of the best places for artists and creative entrepreneurs to live and work. Artscape’s portfolio of properties will grow by hundreds of thousands of square feet and extend into neighbourhoods outside the downtown core. Existing and future Artscape developments will become hotspots of creativity that contribute to the health, vibrancy and resiliency of their communities.
STRATEGIES: At the beginning of 2007, Artscape had seven major capital projects in development. New opportunities arise by the month. Provided that the capital funding and financing can be found to take advantage of these opportunities, Artscape is poised to become a powerhouse in developing and managing space for the arts and creative sector in Toronto and beyond. We will do so by:
- 1. Broadening the understanding of infrastructure needs and market conditions within Toronto’s creative milieu
- 2. Expanding access to creative environments in Toronto
- 3. Enhancing the dynamism and sustainability of existing Artscape assets
- 4. Building the capacity of communities outside Toronto to develop and manage creative communities within buildings
