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COMMUNITY ADVISORY
October 29, 2008
City to award live/work studios to Vancouver artists
Local artists who demonstrate artistic excellence and financial need are encouraged to submit their applications for consideration to the City of Vancouver’s Artist Studio Award Program.
Deadline for applications to the Artist Studio Award Program is Friday, November 21, 2008. The successful recipients will be announced in mid-December; occupancy for the four studios will begin February 1, 2009.
Initiated in 1996 and coordinated by the City’s Cultural Services Department in collaboration with the Contemporary Art Gallery, the program has this year doubled the number of available live/work studios to four. Three of the four rental studios are offered at below market rent and one is offered for free.
Artists interested in applying for the Artist Studio Award Program are invited to tour the four studios on Saturday November 1, 2008, from 10:30 – 2:30 pm. For Studio Open House details and further information on the program, visit: vancouver.ca/oca and click on “Awards.”
Media contact:
Corporate Communications
604.871.6336
Backgrounder:
Vancouver is alive with arts and cultural events. More than three million people attend live performances, screenings, exhibitions, festivals and special events every year in the city.
The City of Vancouver recognizes the importance of the creative sector to citizens’ health and well-being, to the city's livability and to its economic future. A healthy arts and culture community helps the city attract knowledge-based businesses, workers, and tourists, all of which contribute positively to the local and regional economy.
The City encourages and supports arts and cultural activities through a variety of programs and services. Currently, about $10 million are awarded annually to non-profit arts and cultural organizations through a number of grants programs
The Artist Studio Award Program is aimed at assisting local professional artists who face a challenging and rapidly changing real estate market, low vacancy rates and high rental costs.
- Award recipients are pre-screened for financial need and then selected based on artistic merit by an independent jury of local arts and culture professionals.
- Of the four studios available in the program, two were created through rezoning and are owned by the City of Vancouver; the other two, owned by a developer, are leased to the City at a nominal fee of $1/year.
- Locations of the studios: Studio 1 at 272 East 4th Ave, Studio 2 at 428 West 8th Ave, Studio 3 at 485 West 8th Ave, and Studio 4 at 1202 East Pender.
- Occupancy of the units is for a non-renewable term of three years less two weeks.
- Selected artists are required to pay for hydro, cable, telephone and any other user-related costs.
- Occupancy terms for all of the studios will commence February 1, 2009.
- Past recipients of studios in the program have included Teresa Marshall (1996), Steven Shearer (1999), Myfanwy MacLeod (2002), Rhonda Weppler and Kevin Schmidt (2005).
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