SpaceFinder Toronto reaches 400+ listings!

405 spaces listedIt’s been an exciting first few months for SpaceFinder Toronto since our launch in November 2014. SpaceFinder Toronto has reached over 400 listings with a variety of spaces for artists and creative types across the city – from theatre spaces to unique galleries to a pirate ship. But the best news of all is that this online venue finder is being used by our artists and is earning our spaces additional rental revenue.

To celebrate this milestone, we are sharing some of our most exciting stats about this tool to date.

SpaceFinder Toronto has generated over $15,000 in rental referrals for venues using the online space request form!
That means the 21 venues who have adopted the online booking feature – and offer this convenience to renters looking to discover space – have received collectively over $15,000 worth of rental requests…and that’s not counting all the phone calls and email requests!

Spaces are taking advantage of listing features

All of these additional features were designed to get our spaces more rentals, so be sure to check them out today! ArtsBuild would be happy to discuss these features with you. Feel free to contact Lindsay MacDonald, Director or Programs at lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.

SpaceFinder Toronto has currently over 200 spaces listed in the following arts disciplines

  • 291 Theatre spaces
  • 272 Music spaces
  • 260 Dance spaces
  • 244 Film spaces
  • 206 Visual Art spaces

Other neat facts about SpaceFinder Toronto users

  • SpaceFinder Toronto gets 10,000+ page views a month
  • Largest referral sources are Facebook and Twitter
  • Users typically spend an average of 5 minutes on SpaceFinder Toronto

WorkInCulture’s video tip series can make your rental practices even better
Watch WorkInCulture’s video series for tips and tricks on how to optimize your space for rent and what you need to consider. Learn more about rental agreements as well as legal and insurance practices with WorkInCulture’s resources.

Videos: ARE YOU READY? Rental Readiness Tip Series
Rental Agreements: Examples
Legal and Insurance: Resources

SPACEFINDER TORONTO IN THE NEWS
SpaceFinder Toronto had some great media coverage over the last few weeks! In case you missed them, here are the articles featuring Toronto’s very first online venue finder for creative types in the city.

Toronto Star: SpaceFinder site – called Airbnb for artists – comes to Toronto
Yonge Street Media: SpaceFinder Toronto launches an Airbnb for Toronto artists
Toronto Is Awesome: heART TO: Find a Home For Your Art with SpaceFinder


Why the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts works

1034f_microlending_000Every organization has unique needs when it comes to making their facility more sustainable. Anything from leaky windows to an outdated roof can end up costing your nonprofit more the longer problems like these go unresolved. Using the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts as capital for small building projects lets you invest in the sustainability of your creative space, organization and the environment.

Our microloan program helps support projects, plans and reports that make your creative space more energy efficient. Participation in our loan program can have lasting positive effects on your organization, including reduced energy costs which can save your nonprofit money over time.

Here are a few reasons why we think the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts is useful opportunity for our creative organizations.

Nonprofits helping nonprofits. We’ve partnered with Community Forward Fund who specialize in nonprofit lending and financing. They take applications under careful consideration based on both their eligibility and unique financial story. Read more about them here.

Low interest rates. ArtsBuild is pleased to be able to subsidize the rate of interest by 4.5%, so nonprofit organizations only borrow at 3.5% compared to the regular 8% rate.

Supports small projects. Need your attic insulated? How about a new HVAC system? As long as your project is energy efficient and contributes to the overall sustainability of your facility, it qualifies. For more project ideas, read 6 Project Ideas for Energize Microloan for the Arts.

Reduce annual utility costs. The neat thing about the Energize Microloan program is that organizations not only establish greener practices, but can also save on overall operational costs. Money saved can be put right back into your creative programming and organization.

Use it with saveONenergy incentives. These incentives are available province-wide and distributed through your local utility provider. If any apply to your nonprofit, contact us and we’d be happy to help. Check out what incentives are available here.

APPLY TODAY!
Connect with our Director of Programs, Lindsay MacDonald at 519.880.3670 ext 102 or lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.

Other information about the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts:

To learn more, visit our web page.


“An Airbnb for artists”: SpaceFinder Toronto matches artists with under utilized rehearsal and performance space

For more information contact:
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@pkpr.com
Mark McArthur, mark@pkpr.com
PKPR, 212.627.8098

“AN AIRBNB FOR ARTISTS”: SPACEFINDER TORONTO MATCHES ARTISTS WITH UNDER-UTILIZED REHEARSAL AND PERFORMANCE SPACE

Created by U.S. arts org Fractured Atlas, SpaceFinder network to also expand to Hamilton, Ontario in fall 2015

New York, NY (April 30, 2015) – Similar to how AirBnB has opened up a new marketplace for accommodation rentals, a new service is matching Toronto artists with more than 375 under-utilized and alternative rehearsal and performance spaces throughout the city and is poised to launch in a second Canadian community – Hamilton, Ontario – in fall 2015.

Developed by Fractured Atlas, a New York-based organization dedicated to helping artists build sustainable careers through technology, SpaceFinder serves 11 markets throughout the U.S, offering venues a powerful tool for marketing spaces that would otherwise go unrented. The official debut today of SpaceFinder Toronto and the upcoming launch of SpaceFinder Hamilton (Fall 2015) mark the first international expansion of a Fractured Atlas program.

Any venue with rehearsal or performance space in Toronto can promote their rentals on SpaceFinder by creating listings that include a synched calendar to display up-to-date availability, rental rates, photos and equipment inventories. Artists can then easily discover available and alternative space that fits their budget, and creative needs.
Many Toronto venues using SpaceFinder during the beta testing period over the past six months reported significant increases in rental referrals and revenue.

“SpaceFinder Toronto has increased our rentals by 25% in only a couple months and connected us with new renters from various artistic disciplines,” said Kate Nankervis, co-artistic director of Hub14, an artist-run dance studio co-op. “SpaceFinder Toronto’s greatest asset is its fluid administration system, which has helped us cut back on our work load and allowed us to focus on what we do best – serving the artists of our community.”

The SpaceFinder program was brought to Toronto thru a collaboration of ArtsBuild Ontario, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, and WorkInCulture, with initial launch funding provided by the Metcalf Foundation.

Adam Huttler, Founder and Executive Director of Fractured Atlas, said ArtsBuild Ontario has also partnered with Fractured Atlas on the expansion of SpaceFinder throughout the Ontario province including the fall 2015 launch of SpaceFinder in Hamilton, with local leadership from Hamilton arts nonprofit CoBALT CONNECTS who launched their own creative directory map in 2012 which has grown to over 700 listings and will be the source of initial venue data.
“ArtsBuild is thrilled that SpaceFinder has been embraced by so many so quickly in Toronto, and we look forward to the same success in Hamilton and beyond,” said Karen Stintz, executive director of ArtsBuild Ontario. “This affirms our belief that innovative approaches are keenly desired and that smart collaborations are the way to go.”
Huttler applauded ArtsBuild Ontario’s vision for leveraging SpaceFinder to serve Canada.
“Rather than Canadian communities having to build an expensive service from scratch on their own, we are thrilled to partner with ArtsBuild Ontario on empowering those communities to deliver a valuable service with proven impact,” said Huttler.

Fractured Atlas is in talks with communities, such as the City of Calgary, with cultural plans created with input from local citizens, who identified inventory and discovery of cultural spaces as necessary to the growth of the creative economy and retention of creative talent.

The Canadian launch of SpaceFinder builds on Fractured Atlas’s track record of providing artists with technology tools that help them raise money, insure themselves and their work, manage their careers, and grow their audiences. Its major initiatives include Artful.ly, a free, cloud-based software system that enables small arts organizations to easily sell tickets and raise funds, as well as its fiscal sponsorship program, which helped more than 3,500 arts projects raise over $17.6 million in 2013-2014.

About Fractured Atlas
Fractured Atlas is the largest arts service organization in the U.S., reaching a network of more than 250,000 artists. Dedicated to empowering artists with the support they need to work effectively and thrive, Fractured Atlas provides funding, insurance, technology, education, and other services critical to building sustainable careers and organizations. Founded in 1998, Fractured Atlas is headquartered in New York City. For more information, visit the Fractured Atlas Media Center at http://www.fracturedatlas.org/site/about/media.

About SpaceFinder
For artists, the process of finding available and affordable work space is frustrating and inefficient. Meanwhile many spaces are tragically underutilized, even as rental revenue
continues to be critical for sustainability of creative venues. SpaceFinder is an innovative solution for both artists and creative venues.
For cultural policy-makers the decision making process around building projects, subsidizing venues, or re-purposing space for cultural use often presents a serious challenge. The data collected through SpaceFinder about where spaces are and what artists are looking for can help cultural policy-makers make more informed decisions.

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6 project ideas for the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts

lighting 2Does your arts facility need better insulation? Could it use a new lighting system? Maybe even a new roof? Making energy efficient upgrades can save your arts organization money and help it become a greener space.

The Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts program is designed to support projects, plans and reports that save on energy costs and reduce energy consumption. Taking on one of these projects can save your organization money which can go right back into your creative programming.

  1. Energy efficient lighting systems. Lighting is a major source of heat and big electrical energy consumer. On average, about 25% of utility bills are spent on lighting. Switching to an energy efficient lighting system can reduce the amount of energy spent on lighting up to 70%.
  2. Low flow toilets. Two key advantages to installing low flow toilets are water conservation and cost savings. New designs of low flow toilets use approximately 1.6 gallons per flush compared to older models which can use from 3.5 to 7 gallons. Reducing water usage can drastically impact your annual water expenses.
  3. Better insulation. Many older buildings are relatively drafty and lightly insulated, which can result in greater heat loses and higher energy bills. Space heating makes up a good portion on energy bills, so when a well insulated building requires less heating in the winter and less cool air in the summer, your organization can save a lot.
  4. Roof upgrades. The heat caused by your building’s roof makes your air conditioner work twice as hard in warmer months. By replacing your roof with a cool one or retrofitting your current roof with heat reflective materials, your arts organization can save on energy costs that go towards cool air in the summer.
  5. Window improvements. While they provide warmth, light and ventilation, windows can negatively impact overall energy costs. If your building has very old or inefficient windows, it might cheaper to replace them energy efficient ones, which will eventually pay for themselves. They lower heating and cooling costs and sometimes even lighting costs. But you can still make upgrades to your current windows by adding storm windows, caulking and weather stripping.
  6. Replacing any system or component with an energy efficient system or component. You read that right. If you need a new fridge, replacing it with an energy efficient one is an eligible project. Need a new HVAC system? Replacing it with an energy efficient one would qualify. How about a new door? As long as it saves on energy costs and contributes to the sustainability of the facility, it works.

Interested in applying for the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts? Contact Lindsay MacDoanld, Director of Programs at 519.880-3670 x 102 or lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.

For more information on the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts, visit the program page here.


Announcing the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts 

Microloan logo horz clr

ArtsBuild Ontario and Community Forward Fund are excited to launch the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts to support efforts to make arts facilities more energy efficient.

WHAT IS IT?
Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts provides arts nonprofits with the opportunity to apply for small loans from $2,500 to $5,000 at an interest rate of 3.5% to be used for funding projects, reports or plans that make their creative spaces more energy efficient.

Through our partnership with Community Forward Fund and generous support from TD, the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts will help our arts facilities make needed improvements that will save them money each year on utility bills.

WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
Energy efficiency upgrades can save an organization money on their annual utility costs. We want to make sure our arts organizations are able to take advantage of these opportunities. ArtsBuild is piloting this small loan fund so arts organizations can be supported in small projects/plans/reports that help them maximize the opportunities and energy incentives available to them.

Examples of projects:

  • Installation of energy efficient lighting systems
  • Installation of low flow toilets
  • Insulation
  • Replacement of any system or component with an energy efficient system/component
  • Replacing windows or roofs

 

WHO CAN APPLY?
Nonprofit arts organizations in Ontario responsible for the maintenance of their facilities and pay for their own utilities, have annual revenue up to $5 million, and who are addressing environmental, energy efficiency or conservation challenges in their creative spaces. Read more about eligibility requirements here.

There are 12 loans available. Applications will be accepted until all spots are full. 

HOW TO APPLY?

1. Click here to download the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts Application Form.
2. Send your completed application form and attachments to lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.
3. Mail your $250 application fee (made payable to Community Forward Fund) to:

ArtsBuild Ontario
79 Joseph Street
Kitchener, ON N2G 1J2

HAVE QUESTIONS?
Please do not hesitate to contact Lindsay MacDonald, Director of Programs, at 519.880.3670 x102 or lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.

Feel free to visit our website here for full details about the Energize Microloan Fund for the Arts.