ArtsBuild Ontario and our partners at the Accelerator Centre and the City of Kitchener officially opened the doors of 44 Gaukel this month during Start Up Open House Waterloo Region.

ArtsBuild Ontario has moved into 44 Gaukel along with local theatre company Green Light Arts, Kitchener-Waterloo Little Theatre, Kitchener-based film collective Film Factory, Hive Waterloo Region and Viral 360 Digital Media. Sharing the space is Accelerator Centre’s newest hardware innovation lab, with Alert Labs, InkSmith and MyShop Makerspace being just some of the tech start-ups calling 44 Gaukel home.

During our Open House, arts and technology tenants alike opened their doors to welcome the public, showcase their work and discuss the opportunities that abound in this new working space. ArtsBuild Ontario hosted demonstrations for SpaceFinder Waterloo Region, which officially launched to renters in conjunction with the event. Next door in Gaukel’s new rehearsal space, Green Light Arts’ Matt White led rehearsals for Eurydice to an enthralled audience. The film gurus of Film Factory showed off their high-tech camera equipment and Hive Waterloo Region demonstrated their coding prowess. On the tech side, MyShop Makerspace used their in-house vinyl cutter to make custom t-shirts and InkSmith had their 3D printers buzzing so visitors could check out the process up close. It was a great chance to mingle with new neighbours and chat with the public about the space.

44 Gaukel is a first-of-its-kind pilot project designed to bring together the worlds of arts and technology, spark creativity and promote cross-sector collaboration and opportunities. Previously underutilized, this former post office is now an example of creative place-making, providing both administrative and maker-space as well as a bookable community rehearsal space.  With 15 tenants, more than 50 employees and over 360 hours of rehearsal space booked for 2016, 44 Gaukel meets an immediate need for creative space and highlights the opportunities that abound for collaborative work space.

 
The City of Toronto has announced its 2017 Culture Build Investment Program. The Culture Build Investment Program provides matching funds to assist the City’s not-for-profit cultural sector with funding for state-of-good-repair and minor capital projects for their facilities.

 Applicants to the Culture Build Investment Program must meet the following eligibility criteria:

1.    incorporated as a not-for-profit organization;

2.    located in the City of Toronto;

3.    have been in existence for a minimum of three years;

4.    own the facility or have at least five years remaining on their current lease at the time of applying to the program; and

5.    are not City-owned facilities.

Funding for feasibility studies may be provided to those organizations that meet the existing eligibility criteria. The program does not support regular building maintenance costs and cost of purchasing or building a facility and the maximum allocation available and recommended through the Culture Build Investment Program is $100,000.00

In all cases, the City’s grant will not exceed 50 percent of total capital costs with matching funds coming from other levels of government, private sector and/or in-kind contributions.

 The next submission deadline is February 3, 2017.

Applications and information about the Culture Build Investment Program is available by contacting Lori Martin at 416-392-5225 or lmartin2@toronto.ca or Konrad Skorupa at 416-392-9863 or kskorup@toronto.ca.

Asset Planner for the Arts is back! Asset Planner for the Arts is an acclaimed asset management tool that makes it easier for you to keep your facility in good repair. ArtsBuild has partnered with Ameresco to provide organizations with this remarkable cloud-based system that tracks the condition of your facilities and the cost of needed major repairs – and ArtsBuild is making it more affordable for you!

Thanks to the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, we were able to offer 15 more affordable spots for arts facilities but they are filling up fast!

There are only nine spots remaining! Contact us for a quote today!

 ABOUT ASSET PLANNER FOR THE ARTS
ArtsBuild has partnered with Ameresco, a recognized leader in the field of asset management and sustainability, to provide arts organizations with very affordable access to Asset Planner for the Arts – their acclaimed asset management tool. Walter Fedy, a multi-discipline design and construction firm based in Kitchener-Waterloo, will be leading the facility assessments.

ASSET PLANNER FOR THE ARTS LETS YOU:

• Track the physical condition of  your facilities
• Calculate the costs for the replacement of key building components
• Prioritize needed capital improvements and identify funding gaps
• Provide detailed 30-year capital forecasts, with a focus on the next five years
• Develop data-driven facilities management plans, budgets and cases for funding
  • Generate reports for boards, funders and staff to demonstrate need
• Identify opportunities for efficiency and cost savings.

WHAT IS INCLUDED?

1. Site walk-through and building inventory by Walter Fedy
2. Online training (via webinar) on the Asset Planner software with Ameresco and ongoing support for two years
3. Two year operating license*
4. Access to the ArtsBuild Learning Series

COST
Cost for this program is based on square footage of the facility, facility type and location (due to travel cost). The Ontario Trillium Foundation has provided funds to reduce these costs to make it more affordable to our arts organizations.

View our Program Infographic

For more information and/or for a quote, email Lindsay Golds

This program is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The leading grantmaking foundation in Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities.

Ontario has launched its first Culture Strategy, which establishes goals and actions to promote participation in arts and culture, build on the sector’s economic impact in communities across the province and help Ontarians tell their stories and express themselves. The Honourable Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, made the announcement July 20 at Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario.

The strategy reflects the input of nearly 3,000 people who provided feedback during 2015’s Culture Talks — a three-month public engagement process on the value of culture in people’s lives. The Culture Strategy sets out four overarching goals for the next five years:

• Promote cultural engagement and inclusion;
• Strengthen culture in communities;
• Fuel the creative economy and;
• Promote the value of the arts throughout government.

These goals reflect a commitment to removing barriers and increasing opportunities for cultural participation. They balance the important social and economic benefits of culture and reinforce the vital role artists and arts organizations play in communities, in the creative economy and in helping to build a more inclusive society. Each goal includes strategies and actions.

Key actions include:

• Helping to conserve heritage buildings with energy efficiency improvements through Ontario’s Climate Change Action Plan
• Enhancing technical and business skills training for workers in the culture sector
• Developing a new fund to support cultural activities in Indigenous communities and supporting youth cultural camps that build leadership and promote awareness of traditional knowledge.
• Supporting the use of more Canadian authors’ content in schools

The Ontario Culture Strategy reflects the diversity of cultural expressions and experiences heard through the Culture Talks engagement process. It will guide the government’s support for culture over the next five years.

Download the Ontario Culture Strategy here

The Honourable Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport and the Government of Ontario have officially launched the Ontario150 funding programs as part of the celebrations of the 150^th anniversary of the province’s place in Canada in 2017.

The Ontario150 program is a series of events and initiatives that will stretch to every corner of our province, showcasing Ontario’s innovative spirit, our culture and our community diversity.

There are three application-based Ontario150 grant programs. They include:

• The Community Celebration Program —a $7 million fund to help communities celebrate this historic year (application period opens July 6 and closes September 2, 2016).
• The Partnership Program — a $5 million program to support new partnerships and collaborations that engage, enable and empower youth as the next generation of Ontario leaders (application period opens July 6 and closes September 30, 2016);
• And the Community Capital Program — a $25 million fund to renovate, repair and retrofit existing community and cultural infrastructure to increase access, improve safety and maximize community use (application period opens July 18 and closes  September 14, 2016)

The Community Capital Program is a one-time $25 million program of the Government of Ontario that is administered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) and will award one-year grants that range from $5,000 to $500,000 to support local capital needs.

This program will strengthen communities by repairing, renovating and retrofitting existing infrastructure to better address the diverse needs of Ontario communities while fostering economic growth.

The application deadline for the Ontario150 Community Capital Program is September 14, 2016 at 5 p.m. ET.

Organizations that are already registered with OTF and verified as eligible to apply for OTF funding will automatically be eligible to apply for the Ontario150 Community Capital Program.

Organizations that would normally be eligible for OTF funding but are not registered yet can register with OTF now.

Beginning July 18, 2016, applications will be available through the registrants’ portal in order to submit an application by the September 14, 2016 deadline.

Please visit www.otf.ca/Ontario150 to learn more about the program, read the application guide, access the calendar of outreach activities as well as the application form questions before the online application system goes live on July 18.