Artscape is a not-for-profit organization that
makes space for creativity and transforms communities.
Artscape is a not-for-profit organization that
makes space for creativity and transforms communities.
Artscape YOUNGplace (formerly Artscape Shaw Street Centre) will repurpose the existing historic Shaw Street School, bringing new life to this grand Beaux-Arts heritage building. Located at 180 Shaw Street, the building lies in the heart of the West Queen West alternative arts district, just steps from Trinity-Bellwoods Park and the galleries and restaurants of the lively Ossington Avenue strip.
A number of work studios at Artscape YOUNGplace are still available for purchase by professional artists and non-profit arts and community organizations at below-market rates. Available studios range in size from approximately 500 – 1,500 sq. ft. and may be used for production, exhibition, education, programming and administrative purposes.
Once complete, Artscape YOUNGplace will offer a theatre training facility, a centre for dance and performance, papermaking skills programs, community-based multi-media workshops, arts training for marginalized youth, music education for amateurs and professionals, family resources to support the local community, screenings, openings, performances, exhibitions and events.
Artscape YOUNGplace will be a multi-dimensional facility designed to build capacity for creativity and innovation and bring people and ideas together under one roof. The Centre will house a diverse mix of creators working in a variety of disciplines, as well as arts, community and social mission organizations.
Artscape is making a significant investment to restore the 75,000 sq. ft. structure, with the scope of work estimated to be greater than $13M. The Artscape Foundation, Artscape’s charitable arm, is fundraising to support the philanthropic goals for the Centre. Project design is currently underway, and will include a number of environmentally sustainable components. The design of the renovation will be led by Teeple Architects with construction managed by The Dalton Company. Artscape Shaw Street Centre is expected to open in Spring 2012.
Artscape YOUNGplace builds upon Artscape’s self-sustaining development model by offering ownership and rental opportunities for artists and not-for-profit organizations at below-market rates. Artscape achieves the below-market purchase price on ownership studios by providing a 25% no-interest, payment free second mortgage. This mix fills an important need in the arts community by offering some artists and organizations the opportunity to purchase their work space permanently while allowing Artscape to continue to address the needs of the arts community for long-term affordable rental space.
Artscape
Established in 1986, Artscape is a not-for-profit, urban development organization that revitalizes buildings, neighbourhoods and cities through the arts. Artscape projects provide affordable space for creativity while generating positive cultural, economic, social and environmental impacts. Artscape has transformed a portfolio of underutilized buildings across Toronto into dynamic community assets that serve to enable innovation and creativity, including the award-winning Artscape Wychwood Barns and multi-tenant arts facilities in the Queen Street West, Liberty Village, Toronto Island and Distillery Historic District neighbourhoods. Collectively, Artscape manages 10 buildings for 863 artist and cultural worker tenants and owners in 417,000 square feet of space.
In addition to Artscape YOUNGplace, Artscape recently opened Artscape Triangle Lofts, a 56,000 square foot below-market live/work residential condominium project for artists and non-profit arts professionals in the West Queen West neighbourhood and is currently developing Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre, a 60,000 square foot. new-build project located in the heart of the Regent Park community revitalization project.
While Artscape’s development work is focused on Toronto, it has shared its expertise with over 60 communities across Canada through its Knowledge Exchange program which includes workshops, conferences, research, online resources and mentorship programs.
Teeple Architects
As one of Canada’s top architectural firms, Teeple Architects is known for projects of exquisite spatial, material and textural composition. While the firm is well recognized for its iconic projects, these evolve from the initial drive to provide practical solutions that respond to the client’s needs and aspirations. Innovation, creativity and sustainable design expertise are complemented by exceptional service that encourages a participatory design approach and a commitment to the entire construction process. The result is buildings of true architectural and environmental excellence which are efficient to operate and well adapted for day-to-day inhabitation. www.teeplearch.com
The Dalton Company
The Dalton Company Ltd. provides professional building services, which include all the functions needed to manage a project from start to end. Celebrating over 70 years in business, Dalton specializes in the commercial and high-end residential sectors with a focus on academics, broadcast, community, corporate, cultural & heritage and private clubs. Award-winning work includes Artscape Wychwood Barns, Toronto Botanical Garden, the National Ballet of Canada, Roy Thomson Hall and the Granite Club. www.daltonbuild.com
The Artscape YOUNGplace model reflects Artscape’s goals and values for new community development and creative city building, as well as the expressed desires and priorities of local neighbours, community members and parents of children that attend the adjacent Givins Shaw Public School that have been voiced and recorded at several community meetings conducted by Artscape since 2005.
For the design and construction phase of the project, Artscape has established a Community Advisory Committee that consists of representatives from the Artscape Board of Directors, the local residential neighbourhood, the greater West Queen West community, Artscape tenants and the Toronto arts community at large. This committee has helped inform the design and vision of the Artscape YOUNGplace, assists in selecting purchasers and tenants and participates in sharing information with the community on the Centre’s progress.
The 1915 Shaw Street School building is located within the Trinity Bellwoods neighbourhood, adjacent to Trinity Bellwoods Park, just north of Queen Street West on Shaw Street. While the school operations formerly located within the Shaw Street School building continue within the adjacent Givins Shaw Public School, the heritage building was declared surplus to the educational needs of the Toronto District School Board in 2001 and has remained vacant since that time.
In 2006, Toronto District School Board hired Artscape to conduct a feasibility study of the potential reuse of the former school, which included extensive community consultation. The study demonstrated strong community support for repurposing the site as a centre for arts and community programming with a focus on youth.
In December 2010, Artscape purchased the Shaw Street School from the Toronto District School Board.
The area is recognized as one of Canada’s most important neighbourhoods for artists and creative workers, attracted by the dense concentration of cultural venues and creative businesses located throughout the community. Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (MOCCA), Theatre Centre, the Gladstone Hotel, Drake Hotel and Camera illustrate the richness of the area. While creatively vibrant, the area is also experiencing significant gentrification pressure as the pace of upmarket residential redevelopment challenges the affordability and diversity of the community’s cultural organizations and individual artists.
