Artscape’s relationship with our stakeholders distinguishes us from most private sector urban development organizations. Simply put, community leaders, neighbourhood activists and creative sector stakeholders trust Artscape to be concerned with more than the bottom line, to creatively integrate a broad set of interests in our work. Our unique position as a trusted and respected intermediary is one we work diligently to maintain.

Community Leaders

Politicians, businessmen and women, and community leaders are instrumental in helping Artscape undertake new projects. The complexity of the relationships between tenants, partners, investors, and other stakeholders makes community leadership support essential to a project’s viability.

Community leaders help Artscape connect with others to solve the myriad issues and challenges involved in making projects happen. We depend on them to garner support from governments, corporations, foundations, and individuals. Of Artscape’s many champions, there is perhaps no better example than Councillor Joe Mihevc, without whose tireless efforts the completion of Artscape Wychwood Barns would not have been possible.

Neighbourhoods

People who live or work in close proximity to Artscape projects have a stake in our success. With each new project, we commit to engaging local stakeholders, believing strongly that utilizing a community’s embedded assets and resources is the best way to create culturally rich and authentic projects.

Having benefited from the input of a community advisory committee throughout its development phase, Artscape Wychwood Barns exemplifies our ability to weave the aspirations and values of local stakeholders into a viable and sustainable operating model. Long-term community stewardship of several aspects of the Barns’s operations is managed by the Wychwood Barns Community Association, which Artscape helped to organize.

Creative Sector

Toronto’s creative sector is made up of core arts practitioners, cultural industries (film, television, and publishing), and services such as architecture and design. Collectively, this sector contributes $9.2 billion to the local economy annually, and is emerging as a driving force behind Toronto’s economic growth. Over the past several years Ontarians have seen the manufacturing sector lose 140,000 jobs, while the creative sector has gained 80 000 new ones.

Artscape is keenly interested in the creative sector’s interrelationships, as well as the utilization of place-based strategies to leverage and grow its capacity. We explore these issues at major conferences like Creative Places + Spaces and research initiatives like the Creative Convergence Project, as well as collaborations with the Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto International Film Festival, Canadian Film Centre, MaRS Discovery District, and Evergreen.