Artscape, perhaps the most important provider of affordable spaces for artists in a city that just keeps getting more expensive, has announced it will be placed into receivership and “wind-down” the management of its spaces.
“While the receivership process will be disruptive to the operation of Artscape facilities, we are working hard with the city in an effort to have facilities remain operational,” reads a statement posted to its website Monday. The organization did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
For the last 30 years, the non-profit has worked with the city and developers to create relatively affordable live-work spaces for artists.
Phil Anderson, executive director of Gallery 1313, in Artscape’s Parkdale Arts and Cultural Centre, and a former Artscape board member, said the organization had its critics but was really the “only game in town” for creating below-market rent space for artists.
(There are other smaller space providers for artists in the city. Akin, for example, provides creative spaces for artists at below market rent).
The situation with Artscape “is definitely a loss for the arts community,” Anderson said.
“I’m sure a lot of artists are feeling uneasy as a result of it, and it’s a difficult situation looking forward into the future.”
He’s personally seen countless studio spaces turned into condos in Parkdale, and wishes more city councillors would advocate for live-work spaces for artists. His gallery and the other tenants are slated to move into the city’s Parkdale Community Hub, but that’s years away from breaking ground.
Artscape operates 14 projects in total, including live-work spaces and community hubs such as the old streetcar facility at Wychwood Barns, which is owned by the city but operated under a 50-year lease.
It owns four properties but mostly has long-term lease and operating agreements with the city, with 265 affordable rental and ownership spaces for artists and their families, 125 commercial tenancy spots, hundreds of residencies at Gibraltar Point on the Toronto Islands, and more than 500 event venue rentals a year.
Artscape’s statement said the organization took on debt over the years, and stretched even further during the pandemic with event spaces shuttered.
“While Artscape had begun to see success in rebuilding event venue space revenues, stabilizing operations and gaining grant funding for impact programs, the level of debt payments was not sustainable,” it says.
The plan was to sell the Artscape Daniels Launchpad property at 130 Queens Quay East, a hub for creative entrepreneurs, to repay debt to its primary lender, but it did not happen.
In July, city council agreed to guarantee a $1.5-million extension to Artscape’s existing line of credit with TD Bank. The bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
City of Toronto spokesperson Jaclyn Carlisle said in an email the city is “deeply committed to supporting the arts and recognizes that Toronto needs more affordable creative spaces for local artists and not less.”
The city will work with Artscape to find ways to “maintain most operations and reduce the impacts on local artists and arts organizations,” including developing an interim staffing plan so tenant services continue. She added the lender was looking to put more conditions on the loan, “beyond the scope approved by council, and as such, the city was unable to provide the guarantee.”
The launchpad is owned and operated by Artscape, and the Daniels Corporation does not have any financial ownership or control of it, the company said, noting it is named in recognition of financial and collaborative support.
In a statement, Daniels president and CEO Mitchell Cohen called the news “a profound loss to the arts and cultural landscape.”
“Artscape has inspired city-builders in Toronto and around the world. Their commitment to supporting artists and creating vibrant communities has left an enduring mark on our city,” he said.
Cohen added that what’s “surprising is that the bank, the city and Artscape were unable to chart a path to restructure one of the most important cultural organizations in the country.”
Yinnon Geva, a post-doctoral fellow with the University of Toronto’s School of Cities and urban planner, said the “immediate risk” is for Artscape’s tenants, although there’s less concern for those in buildings owned by the city.
“We’re going to see potentially a huge loss of space for the communities that Artscape serves,” he said.
“The spaces that are owned by Artscape, and that includes the Daniels Launchpad, I would assume would be lost unless the city or some other kind of party steps up.”
Geva said Artscape “pioneered” a unique model of creative mixed-use buildings, “working with the development industry in the world of real estate to create these spaces, as prices go up and land becomes more scarce in the city.”
But that model is also risky, especially when a non-profit starts borrowing money, and this news will bring more scrutiny to other affordable housing developers and non-profits in the real estate world, he added.
“They couldn’t expect a pandemic, and they couldn’t expect real estate prices to plummet and interest rates to hike, but then again, this is a cautionary tale, I think, for any non-profit working in this space.”
Editor’s note — Aug. 30, 2023: This story has been updated to include the fact that Akin provides creative spaces at below market rent for artists in Toronto.
To join the conversation set a first and last name in your user profile.
Sign in or register for free to join the Conversation