Register today for the ABO Learning Series: Hub Culture and Spaces for the Future Webinar on May 2nd, 2024 from 1pm – 2:30pm EST.

In recent years, the concept of “arts hubs” has gained popularity in creative communities. As space for artists and arts organizations becomes increasingly scarce, shared space models have emerged as a cost-effective and sustainable solution. A hub model not only provides affordable space solutions but also creates a sense of community and promotes environmental stewardship through resource sharing.

Let’s look at some of Ontario’s successful creative hubs, with Gonzalo Duarte, Director of Coworking Design & Operations at CSI Spadina, Nevine Sedki, Resource Mobilization Director at SKETCH Working Arts, and Brianne Franklin, Executive Director of the Tett Centre for Creativity and Learning to discuss how they have created a community-centered model while offering engaging programs and supporting their tenants, clients, and artists with space. What strategies have these creative hubs implemented to keep their community engaged and thriving? How have they managed to foster a supportive and collaborative environment for their artists and tenants, and what plans do they have for the future?

Join ArtsBuild Ontario for this free webinar and register today!

Join Dr. Terri-Lynn Brennan alongside ArtsBuild Ontario, for a working session dedicated to the intersection of allyship, Indigenous creative spaces, and self-determination. Held at the Native Earth Performing Arts Aki Studio, in Tkaronto (Toronto), on March 25th from 1pm – 4pm, this session welcomes all arts organizations to rethink their organizational structures toward building relationships as an ally and creating safe and enabling spaces rooted in Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.

Informed by Paddling Upstream and principles platformed by the Two-Row Wampum as guides, we will explore how to actively support and amplify Indigenous voices, address systemic challenges, and foster environments of equally empowered collaboration. We will unpack how Paddling Upstream can be used to support spaces in learning to navigate conversations with Indigenous artists and community, and embrace an approach to developing deeper respect and humility toward Indigenous ways of thinking, being and living.

As the final component of the Indigenous Creative Spaces Project, this workshop marks the culmination of a four-year journey. This project has been instrumental in bringing together Indigenous artists and leaders from across Ontario, creating a relational framework and network to support the work that happens in these very important self-determined spaces. Led by the Indigenous Advisory Circle and supported by ArtsBuild Ontario, the project has fostered an ecology of knowledge informed by and for Indigenous communities. Through a combination of recorded and oral documentation, the project exists to support the inter-related development of Indigenous creative spaces throughout the Province. As we move forward, we must create new models and enhance current Western approaches to build a brighter future.

Generously supported by the Department of Canadian Heritage and Canada Council for the Arts.

Join ArtsBuild Ontario for an information session on the Ontario Trillium Foundation’s Capital Grant on Thursday, January 25 at 2pm EST with Program Managers Hélène Duquette and Natalie Normand as we talk about OTF’s new grant investment framework, eligibility criteria, and other Capital Grant related questions. 

Ontario Trillium Foundation Capital Grants provide funding to help organizations respond to the needs of Ontario’s communities.

Capital Grants help organizations:

• Maintain or increase access to a program or service
• Extend the life of a facility or space (updates to buildings or enhancement of spaces)
• Purchase equipment
• Improve a facility or space to make it more accessible

Ontario Trillium Foundation will be accepting applications for their Capital Grant stream, with applications available from February 7, 2024 until the deadline of March 6, 2024 at 5 PM ET. 

Learn more about OTF’s Capital Grant, and register today! 

2023 has been another busy year for ABO! Let’s look back at all the activities we did this past year.

In January we welcomed a new member to our team; Helena Ciuciura who joined as the Marketing and Community Coordinator at the beginning of the year to support our marketing, communications, and 44 Gaukel creative hub.

Creative Spaces Mentoring Network

In February, the ABO team traveled to Calgary for the Creative Spaces Mentoring Network 2023 Kick-Off Workshop in partnership with Calgary Arts Development and cSpace Marda Loop. We welcomed 34 participants from Calgary! We hosted the Ontario Kick-Off webinar in March also with 34 particpants,with projects ranging from visioning a new space to being mid-way through construction.

As the year comes to a close we are looking forward to the Wrap-Up webinars with both the Calgary and Ontario cohorts, to hearing from the pairs how the program has helped them develop as leaders in the sector, and to see where their projects are in comparison to the beginning of the program. We are excited to meet the new mentees from Ontario and Calgary in the new year.

The Indigenous Creative Spaces Project

2023 marked the third year of the Indigenous Creative Spaces Project. We wrapped up the New Moon Dialogue series between March and June with four discussions; Looking Towards the Next 50 Years, Debahjemuhjig Theatre Group: Developing the Creation Centre, Creating and Maintaining Culturally Safe Creative Spaces, and Culturally Based Training and Indigenous Spaces.

The New Moon Dialogues touched on themes including uplifting the relationship to land, Indigenous sovereignty, and systemic barriers in developing Indigenous creative spaces.

In June, Paddling Upstream was released. This document shares the journey that summarizes the work of the Indigenous Creative Spaces Project (ICSP) over the past three years. If you have not yet read the document, you can access it now on the ICSP project page! This document presents how this project came to be, the journey of discovery and knowledge, and four Bundles of Knowledge that offer guidance for building sovereign and sustainable Indigenous creative spaces. ABO supported the Paddling Upstream: Indigenous Creative Spaces Project Webinar in August with author Dr. Terri-Lynn Brennan, CEO of Inclusive Voices, and collaborators, JP Longboat, Artistic Director of Circadia Indigena.

The work of Paddling Upstream continued throughout the year as the ABO team hit the road to continue the conversations from the project’s initial travels in 2020. The Return to Community Gatherings focused on the Bundles of Knowledge in Paddling Upstream with the conversation self-determined by each community. The sessions revolved around the evolution of organizations and their spaces since the beginning of the project and their plans for the future. The gatherings were held with Aanmitaagzi in North Bay, Debajehmujig in Manitoulin Island, Agnes Etherington Art Centre in Kingston, and Friday Creeations in Temagami. We look forward to visiting the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford and Native Earth in Toronto in the new year. We will also be hosting an in-person workshop, The Ecology of Indigenous Creative Space & Allyship in March 2024. Subscribe to our e-news for registration details in January.

Webinars and Professional Development

We hosted a number of webinars and workshops over 2023. In April we were joined by Tara Mazurk and Elizabeth Seip from PAA Advisory | Conseils for a conversation on Green Infrastructure Initiatives for Arts Organizations and the latest federal funding investment in green buildings. We spoke about the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings Program, the Deep Retrofit Accelerator Initiative, and outlined how these supports can integrate with existing programs such as the Canada Cultural Spaces Fund.

We partnered with STEPS Public Art for the Mentorship in the Arts Panel, a free virtual panel with Elle de Lyon, Bruno Canadien, Quentin VerCetty, and Bruce Pitkin in which we explored the importance of mentorship and the different types of mentoring seen in the arts.

In addition, our Executive Director, Alex Glass, participated in Ontario Presents’ Cedar Tea Break and the Arts Network Ottawa for the Community Engagement Session: Empowering Voices: Indigenous Relations and Self-Determination in Arts Organizational Development both with Artistic Director of Circadia Indigena JP Longboat.

We rounded out the end of the year with our sixth online auction in partnership with the KW Rotary Club. We had some amazing donations and thank all who supported us by donating and bidding on ABO’s items.

 

This busy year comes to a close with several exciting projects on the horizon in the New Year. ABO would like to thank all of the project partners, donors, and arts organizations that we have formed relationships with in 2023 for making this year an incredible success. And thanks to our network for your continued support. We wish you all the best this Holiday Season!