“Problems multiply when short-term solutions are applied to facilities problems. The problems persist and more often get worse.”

“We need evaluations to observe and tell us what a building might need in the future, operationally, including the amount of money needed to maintain it, as well as other project costs.”

Sound familiar? These were just two conversations from our community engagement sessions that addressed the need for lifecycle and maintenance planning for facilities across the province (these examples came from Thunder Bay and Kitchener-Waterloo).

These are also exactly the questions and concerns that Asset Planner for the Arts is here to answer. With a personalized onboarding process that loads your information directly into the software, asset forecasting for the next 30 years (with a focus on the next five years) and a site visit from a qualified building assessor, setting a facilities management plan in motion has never been easier – or more accessible.

Here’s why The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is participating in Asset Planner for the Arts:

“The Asset Planner for the Arts will improve our current system of inventorying equipment and improve scheduled maintenance cycles. In addition, Asset Planner is able to assist with developing short term and long term financial goals both expenses and savings for the Gallery. We are interested in preventative maintenance opportunities to maximize the longevity of the equipment and the Asset Planner is a tool that will assist us in achieving that success. By joining this program we are receiving continual technical support for the Asset Planner while maximizing its ability to work favourably for the Gallery.”

ArtsBuild’s subsidy for Asset Planner for the Arts saves you 50% off this two-year program. You can’t afford not to learn more. Contact Lindsay to book your free Asset Planner demo.

As ArtsBuild has traveled to different parts of the province and has been engaged in more and more conversations about arts facilities and your needs, we have really begun to recognize how much support is needed to help our organizations manage their facilities.

We have been trying to understand who is responsible for maintaining arts facilities, who is responsible for capital improvements and who pays the bills! In most cases the answer isn’t cut and dry. There is more than one player and at the end of the day it is the organization that needs their facility alive and well for the art.

Most municipalities have a system that monitors the life of their infrastructure and if the municipality owns and takes care of your building then the life of your building is tracked through this type of system.

But what happens if you are responsible for your facility? How do you afford such a system and how do you begin to find one? And, is this the right tool for you? We took these questions and began talking to those in the field of Asset Management to find a system that:

1. Would be affordable to arts organizations and

2. Would provide organizations with training and expertise.

Ameresco, an environmental sustainability company, introduced us to their system and we knew immediately that this could be the solution for our sector. This program provides arts organizations with an affordable solution, that tracks all the components of your arts facility (yes – this includes your lighting grids and temperature control systems and other such unique components).

This asset management program will help you prioritize what needs to be done to your building, when and for how much. It will give you charts, reports and data without you having to click through numerous excel sheets (and it will house all those facility documents you have lying around too).

With support from other arts service organizations Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts, Ontario Association of Art Galleries and Ontario Museums Association, we are hosting two demonstrations of this system that we believe will take some of the burden off of our arts facilities managers (whether they be Executive Directors, Artistic Managers or Curators) and help with keeping our arts facilities in good repair. We have invited Ameresco’s VP of Asset Sustainability, to answer all of your questions and give you a walk-through of how you can use this system. These sessions are free and important for anyone that operates an arts facility. Graciously hosted by OMA, OAAG and TAPA – please let Lindsay MacDonald lindsay@artsbuildontario.ca know if you would like to attend.