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A Place For Artists To Call Home
Toronto Artscape Inc. recycles a Toronto landmark into a unique artists' oasis
For nearly 100 years, the Toronto Island Public/Natural Science school has been an island landmark and a key piece of Toronto history. Thousands of children have passed through its doors after learning and exploring new ideas and inspirations. Faced with closure only a few years ago, its legacy of learning, discovery and collaboration are now alive and well thanks to the efforts of Toronto Artscape Inc., a unique not-for-profit organization that creates and sustains vibrant arts facilities within Toronto communities.
Through the assistance of funders like the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Artscape arranged to lease the school facility for 20 years at $1 a year and begin an ambitious renovation and rebranding project aimed at transforming the island icon into a place that artists could call home, the Gibraltar Point Centre for the Arts.
“I think it’s important to understand what this building meant to the island community,” explains Susan Serran, an Artscape employee. “This was a bustling community prior to the island becoming a park. In the past 50 years islanders lost so much of their architectural history. But they’re an extraordinary community, and their commitment to save the school building is part of the reason Artscape became involved. Our mandate is creating affordable live and work space for artists; we have several spaces in Toronto and this one made sense.”
A mix of professionals and volunteers were used for the renovations. Artscape also ran a design competition for Ontario College of Art and Design students. The challenge: to come up with a low-tech, economical plan to spruce up the school, inside and out. Particular attention was paid to the main entrance, the facades of both the main building and the portables, and the public corridors, common rooms and dormitories. Tearing up the asphalt and creating some green areas were also a priority.
According to Serran, the 30,000-square-foot, H-shaped centre has four streams of activity. The first is an international artist residency program where artists come from around the world to live and work for a 30-day period. The second is called Artscape Lodge, a short-term rental solution for artists who wish to work in a quiet retreat-like setting. There are 12 artists currently participating in the Artscape Blanche program. Artscape also manages a Retreat Centre, allowing the not-for-profit, education and government sector a way to utilize the facility. In the past year, hundreds of groups ranging from the Toronto Waterfront Generation Trust to the Ontario Coalition for Midwives and the Toronto Buddhist Church have used the facility.
“The Trillium Foundation was the first group, the first foundation, to come on board in support of this project,” Serran said. The $150,000 grant allowed us to make capital improvements to the building and to establish ourselves organizationally and operationally for the first three years. They’ve been absolutely instrumental to making this happen.”
“Partnerships are an important component of building any kind of dream. What is even more important are those partners who are willing to step up to the plate in the very beginning, who communicate with you and who consult with you and understand your vision. You dream of that type of cooperation, particularly on a project like this. Our experience with the Ontario Trillium Foundation was just that, a partnership.”
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