RECAP| LEARN IT BUILD IT MANAGE IT comes to a close

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After two years and ten communities, ArtsBuild has wrapped up our province-wide LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshop series, finishing in Pickering last month! The workshops were a huge success, with 234 participating arts administrators who learned more about building, financing, managing and engaging their community with their creative spaces. Participants came from different sectors across the non-profit landscape in Ontario, including social services, sacred spaces and community services.

What participants had to say about the workshop:

  • “Amazing ground work for starting this journey. Each element was very helpful, especially the Community Engagement.”
  • “Many lessons learned here, great session on Alternative Financing!”
  • “The most important aspect is going into a major project armed with new knowledge.”
  • “I will use the knowledge gained from this workshop to build critical relationships and ultimately take ‘ownership’ of the project.”
Pictures of 10 comms

 

Every workshop produced new ideas and fresh collaborations for the organizations who attended the two day session. Thanks to all our community hosts and participants who joined us for the workshop! This workshop series acknowledged organizations province-wide needing additional expertise and knowledge especially during special projects such as renovations, new builds and capital campaigns. The interest in the workshop series demonstrated the need for ongoing professional development in the area of facilities for our arts organizations.

Energy Conservation Grant now closed to applications

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Update: ArtsBuild is no longer accepting energy grant applications. The Energy Conservation Grant was offered on a first come, first serve basis and we have reached our limit in application submissions. Thank you to all who applied – applications will be reviewed in the order they were received until all spots have been granted.

ArtsBuild Ontario is pleased to provide a limited number of one-time grants of $2,500 towards the cost of a new renovation or project that will result in lowering of your organization’s monthly energy bill. This grant is part of ArtsBuild Ontario’s Energy Conservation Program, which endeavors to provide energy conservation training and resources to arts organizations that support efforts to reduce yearly energy consumption.

WHO CAN APPLY?

Nonprofit arts organizations in Ontario responsible for the maintenance of their facilities and who pay for their own utilities.

PROJECT REQUIREMENTS

Eligible projects must be in a nonprofit arts facility in Ontario. Examples of eligible projects include but are not limited to:

  • Installation of energy efficient lighting systems
  • Installation of low flow toilets
  • Replacing windows and/or roofs

The projects should:

  • Reduce your monthly energy expenses
  • Contribute to the sustainability of your facility

Priority is given to projects that:

  • Demonstrate the estimated energy savings (through a letter from the supplier or engineer that includes the estimated savings)
  • Will be completed by September 2016 (approximately)
  • Will commit to participating in a case study following the completion of their project AND provide data that supports the reduction in energy consumption.

HOW TO APPLY

Please complete the Application Form and email or call Lindsay Golds, Executive Director, ArtsBuild Ontario at 519.880.3670 ext 102 or lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

This is a one-time funding opportunity. This is first come, first serve, provided your organization can commit to the requirements and eligibility listed in the guidelines. Please submit your application ASAP!

Bricks&Mortar Update and Ontario’s Culture Strategy

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Bricks&Mortar
ArtsBuild Ontario is dedicated to capturing the needs and plans of our arts facilities across the province and using this information to improve our facilities.

We have spent the past year collecting important facility related data and housing it in our database Bricks&Mortar. This system allows for the constant updating of your information so that it remains current.

As of June 2015, we have collected information from 302 organizations province-wide which includes the needs and plans of 640 facilities across all disciplines.

Culture Strategy
As all of you know the sector has been asked to participate in the Culture Talks that are occurring, so that the Province of Ontario can develop their first Culture Strategy in 2016.

Last week ArtsBuild meet with Assistant Deputy Minister Kevin Finnerty and Director, Culture and Strategic Policy Branch, Dawn Landry, to;

  1. Present the findings in Bricks&Mortar, that supports and quantifies the need for investment in arts infrastructure from the province
  2. Remind MTCS that ArtsBuild is busy collecting facilities data that can/should be used in important processes like Culture Talks to inform funders
  3. Encourage future discussions moving forward on how this valuable data can be used collaboratively by the sector, to everyone’s benefit.
ArtsBuild was encouraged by the conversation and by the strength of the data that we continue to collect.
Next Steps: In addition to ArtsBuild participating in a town hall ArtsBuild will be submitting a brief via their online forum that summarizes our very lengthy report to better capture the hard numbers that they are looking for (as recommended).We hope to continue the conversation about infrastructure as the process continues. As you attend your local Town Hall, be sure to mention the needs of your facility!!ArtsBuild continues to collect your data on an ongoing basis. If you have not completed your Bricks&Mortar profile or wish to do so, please contact gina@artsbuildontario.ca or lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca.Click here to view infographics that highlight key pieces of data from Bricks&Mortar that were presented.Organizational Highlights              Facility Highlights              Facility Needs               Facility Plans

One year of SpaceFinder Toronto!

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Anniversary

It has already been one year since the launch of SpaceFinder Toronto and we are thrilled to see Toronto’s creative sector benefiting from this valuable tool. To celebrate SpaceFinder Toronto’s one year anniversary, we thought we would share the site’s exciting progress over the past year.

SpaceFinder Toronto has generated over $24,000+ in rental referrals for venues using the online booking request form!
That means the 32 venues who have adopted the online booking request form have collectively received over $24,000+ in rental requests.

More venues are taking advantage of booking features:

SpaceFinder Toronto currently has 427 spaces listed! Here is how many spaces we have listed in each arts discipline:

  • 270 Dance spaces
  • 283 Music spaces
  • 308 Theatre spaces
  • 264 Film spaces
  • 227 Visual Arts spaces

Other neat facts about SpaceFinder Toronto users:

  • Over the last year, SpaceFinder Toronto had 170, 000 pageviews
  • The site has been visited by 15,663 users
  • Users spend an average of 5 minutes on SpaceFinder Toronto

Thank you for making SpaceFinder Toronto’s first year so great – we look forward to many more years working with you!

Presenter Profile: Derek Ballantyne

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Derek-Ballantyne-April-2013-300x300Finding alternative financing options for nonprofits is always a challenge. Derek Ballantyne, CEO at Community Forward Fund, offers new ways of funding your building projects and managing your facility in the Alternative Financing Options for Creative Spaces module of the LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshop. Derek will present and discuss financial review and assessment tools to help your organization understand alternatives for financing facility projects.

With a solid financial background in managing real estate investments and working with mutual funds, Derek brings deep knowledge of the nonprofit, charitable, social entrepreneurship, cooperative and foundation sectors at the local, provincial and federal levels.

Derek was Chief Operating Officer of Build Toronto, where he assisted in the establishment of the corporation, development of the first business plan, and execution of several large transactions and development initiatives. Prior to this, Derek was Chief Executive Officer of Toronto Community Housing, a large rental housing provider, with over $6 billion in real estate assets in Toronto. He led organizational and financial restructuring of the company, and the recapitalization and redevelopment of a significant portion of the portfolio (including the Regent Park community) as well as the commercialization of non-core functions.

Derek was a founding Director of a $430 M mutual fund and continues to participate in two investment committees for nonprofit organizations. Mr. Ballantyne sits on the board of the Laidlaw Foundation.

Watch Derek’s take on alternative financing options for nonprofits:

Derek will be presenting on Alternative Financing Options for Creative Spaces in London and Pickering at our LEARN IT | BUILD IT | MANAGE IT workshops.