Park Board launches new creative hubs for local artists, food and environmental groups

The Vancouver Park Board is pleased to welcome 11 exciting new cultural residencies in parks across the city as part of its much-loved Fieldhouse Activation Program. 

Since 2011, the Park Board has repurposed former caretaker suites into spaces that engage the community. The program now includes 17 residencies, which form a vibrant network of arts, culture, local food and environmental stewardship programs in parks and neighbourhoods across Vancouver. 

The new residencies are: 

• El Mashup Collective at Clinton Park Fieldhouse  
  Made up of emerging and established Latine artists, El Mashup Collective is an eclectic mix of people and artistic disciplines including experimental film, poetry, animation, performance, sound and more. Join them for hybrid media arts and creative writing workshops.  
• Sankofa Sanctuary at Falaise Park Fieldhouse 
  Sankofa Sanctuary is an African-inspired cultural conservation project that aims to collect and safeguard traditional knowledge, history and practices that exist within Vancouver communities. Every month a member of the community can lead a culture sharing session. 
• Patchbay at Elm Park Fieldhouse  
  Stewarded by composers Charlie Cooper and c. o. valenza, at Patchbay people of all ages and abilities can gather to learn and share skills in music technology and creative expression; to discover new ways of listening; and to experiment with music and sound in a supportive environment.  
• Enoki Knoll at Hadden Park Fieldhouse  
  Enoki Knoll is the new satellite mushroom structure emerging from Hypha Artists’ Association. Enoki Knoll facilitates events and workshops that invite the public to actively engage in sonic gong baths, jazz improvisation, circle singing, physical theatre, imaginal plane exploration, and healing arts.  
• Community Arts Council of Vancouver at McBride Park Fieldhouse 
  Community Arts Council of Vancouver provides a free and low barrier space for artists in Vancouver to connect with community through the arts. Artists are invited to activate the fieldhouse as an artist studio space, an exhibition space and a public projects/ workshop space.  
• Amy Walker at Adanac Park Fieldhouse  
  Artist and facilitator Amy Walker hosts a free program focused on ‘the art of everyday life’ - building relationships while making useful, sometimes beautiful, items including clothing, textiles, baskets, lanterns and other functional objects. Amy will be available as a ‘maker’s helper’ to assist with your own projects. 
• Holding Ground at Pandora Park Fieldhouse 
  The artists, Cait Gentle (Gentle Geographies) and Sarah Comyn (Time & Times), are offering public programming in eco-processing. Members of the public are invited to practise alongside; to process plant materials, redistribute abundance, and work in rhythm with the seasons. 
• Earthseed Sanctuary at Moberly Park Fieldhouse 
  Earthseed Sanctuary is increasing community climate resilience, biodiversity and food sovereignty through culturally-rooted arts programming on the shared, ancestral and unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. With community, they will steward the Moberly Medicine Garden and build a medicine and seed library and medicine maker space. Join them for land-based events and eco-arts workshops like natural dyeing, weaving, writing, music, among others. 
• XINEMA at Norquay Park Fieldhouse  
  XINEMA [zin-em-a] is an artist-run experimental film collective that strives to deinstitutionalize experimental film practices. XINEMA's main priorities are to remain low-barrier, accepting free ongoing and unlimited submissions of any year or premiere status; prioritize underrepresented artists and media forms; and connect filmmakers and film-lovers of various backgrounds, disciplines and professional experience. 
• Patchwork Repair Hub at Slocan Park Fieldhouse 
  Patchwork Repair Hub is committed to fostering a culture of repair. Their mission is to empower community through hands-on workshops, skill-sharing events, and accessible resources. Projects include DIY mending nights, tool maintenance pop-ups, and large-scale group projects inspired by the people who walk through their doors. The repair hub promotes sustainability, reduces waste, and builds stronger social connections. 
• Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice at Maclean Park Fieldhouse  
  Yarrow Intergenerational Society for Justice supports youth and low-income immigrant seniors in Chinatown and the Downtown Eastside. Yarrow encourages intergenerational interaction and knowledge keeping. They invite the public to unlearn and relearn their relationships with green spaces and develop community gardening initiatives at MacLean Park that would bring together community members to provide support for food security actions.