Artists, Makers, & Creators

About Us

ARTSPACE YXE is a non-profit organization dedicated to building a centralized gathering space where artists, makers, performers and cultural organizations can work, create, live and connect. ARTSPACE will be a place where our entire community will collaborate, learn and grow.

What will ARTSPACE be?

Cluster Development

ARTSPACE will be a central location where makers, organizations and communities connect, collaborate and create. The result of these synergies will be a vibrant cultural community.

Education

Be inspired and learn from professional artists. ARTSPACE will provide opportunities for exploration and growth through community workshops and public events.

Urban Renewal and Revitalization

Revitalization through arts and culture will give new life to historic and underutilized buildings. Artists are catalysts for the renewal of core urban areas.

Community Development

ARTSPACE will be a place where people of all ages, backgrounds and skill-levels can explore and pursue their passions for the arts.
ARTSPACE will build community identity and pride.

Economic Development

Cultural entrepreneurship fosters creative communities, Job creation and economic development is the result of vibrant creative communities.

Tourism

ARTSPACE will be a tourism destination, welcoming visitors to experience arts and culture in Saskatoon.

What will ARTSPACE offer?

Exhibition, Retail, and Commercial Space

ARTSPACE will provide exhibition spaces and performance venues for artists to showcase their works. Retail spaces will include coffee shops, restaurants, gift shops and art supply stores.

ARTSPACE will provide administrative homes and meeting spaces for cultural organizations. New synergies will develop between creative industries to stimulate exploration, collaboration and growth.

Access to equipment and expertise in the Makerspace will encourage the community to explore and create. ARTSPACE memberships will provide access to the space and the tools, with mentoring artists offering a wide-range of workshops and hands-on learning.

Surrounding mixed income and multigenerational housing will promote diversity within the ARTSPACE development. Affordable work-live spaces will provide sustainable living for artists and community members.

Location

ARTSPACE is exploring a number of development opportunities within Saskatoon. Our current focus is the former city bus barns, located on Avenue C North in Caswell Hill.
•The Caswell Hill area is a diverse community, home to many local artists and makers
•The former bus barn facility provides a unique historical space to retrofit for the ARTSPACE plan
•The available space allows for a mix of land use including mixed income housing, retail and shopping
The ARTSPACE concept aligns with the vision and goals of the 2010 South Caswell Concept Plan
and the City of Saskatoon’s desire to see the historic facility redeveloped into community assets.
The vision for the redevelopment of the Caswell Hill bus barns is to establish a unique mixed-use area within the city that will support the local arts community, provide additional parks and open space areas for residents, and provide affordable housing options for a range of people. -City of Saskatoon South Caswell Concept Plan.

Inspiration

See how similar projects have transformed communities

The Crucible is a nonprofit arts education organization in Oakland, CA, that fosters a collaboration of arts, industry, and community. Through training in the fine and industrial arts, The Crucible promotes creative expression, reuse of materials, and innovative design, while serving as an accessible arts venue for the general public in the Bay Area. Known for one-of-a-kind industrial arts education programs, The Crucible is also highly regarded for its innovative performances.

ADX Portland is a hub for collaboration where individuals and organizations make and learn. ADX’s makerspace, learning centre, and custom fabrication shop allow high-profile designers, students, retirees, novice builders, and entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life.

CSpace Calgary is an arts hub, innovative venue and coworking space. CSpace offers affordable, flexible and inspiring spaces that are responsive to the evolving needs of new artistic practices, missions and enterprises while delivering unique gathering places for all Calgarians

Operated by Artscape since November 2008, the Artscape Wychwood Barns is a community cultural hub in Toronto’s Wychwood neighbourhood. It includes spaces for 26 artist live/work studios, 15 artist work studios, 9 non-profit arts and environmental organizations and a 7,680 square-foot event venue!

Image used with permission from Artscape, photography by Ted Chai.

Testimonials and Support

We must put culture and place at the centre of building Canadian communities

External Advisory Committee on Cities and Communities (Harcourt) Committee
The SAA believes that the arts innovative and ARTSPACE's cultural hub would support creativity, artistic entrepreneurship, and collaboration across sectors. It would meet a need of Saskatoon artists and arts organizations and the benefit the city of Saskatoon by developing undervalued buildings as community assets, providing reasonably priced, permanent studio, rehearsal and performance space for working artists and arts organizations.

Kelley Jo Burke, President, Past President, Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
Canada’s artists and cultural workers have much higher levels of formal education than the overall labour force. Yet, their average income is 32% lower than other workers. Artists are also much more likely to be self-employed and to hold multiple jobs. Economic challenges are particularly significant for retiring artists, most of whom have been unable to save any money for retirement. In spite of these economic challenges, artists are broadly acknowledged as catalysts of revitalization and of place making.

Frédéric Julien, Co-Chair of the Canadian Arts Coalition
The advocacy body Americans for the Arts argues that cultural districts “help strengthen local economies, create an enhanced sense of place, and deepen local cultural capacity.” Canadian studies conducted by the Canadian Arts Presenting Association and Community Foundations of Canada found that cultural spaces and programming contribute to a sense of pride and a sense of belonging in the local community.

Frédéric Julien, Co-Chair of the Canadian Arts Coalition
In our estimation, ARTSPACE will not only be a hub of creative impulse, creation and exploration but will offer an efficient infrastructure that could reduce duplication, enhance productivity and bring together, under one roof, education, creation, exhibition, and retail. How exciting a place it will be.

Carmen Milenkovic, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Craft Council
Because of our close interaction with local artists on a day-to-day basis, we know that finding affordable working space is now a primary concern for many artists. Low availability and high rates for the few available spaces lead many artists to work from their home, thereby missing out on the tremendous creative energy that a vibrant and active shared space can generate. ARTSPACE's objective to provide affordable studio space would greatly contribute the alleviation of this problem.

Levi Nicholat, MFA, The Gallery/art placement inc.

OUR TEAM

BOARD MEMBERS

Betty Gibbon
M. Craig Campbell
Gabriel Churchill
Cass Cozens
Jane Harington
Kristina Hughes
Sandra Panko
Susan Pattison
Patricia Salat
Maia Stark

BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL

Anthony Bidulka
Dave Denny
Sandra Grismer
Reid Henry Dwight
Percy Douglas
B. Richardson
Patricia Roe
Brian Turnquist
Ken Wilkinson

PROFESSIONAL ADVISORS

Charles Olfert, aodbt Architecture
Dean Bartsch, Station Studios
Glen Grismer, BSC, MA, PPS Professional Planner
Kari Fox, The Commercial Group
Tourism Saskatoon
Edwards School of Business, U of S
Carmen Milenkovic, Executive Director, Saskatchewan Craft Council

VOLUNTEERS

Kim Fontaine
Peter Christensen
Ray Stephanson

ARTSPACE YXE is supported by many respected local organizations who have a vested interest in the growth of the Saskatchewan arts community:

Art Placement
CARFAC Saskatchewan
Dance Saskatchewan
Hub City Turners
Hues Art Supply
Ness Creek Cultural and Recreational Society
PAVED arts
Saskatchewan Arts Alliance
Saskatchewan Craft Council
Gordon Tootoosis Nīkānīwin Theatre
Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre
Saskatoon Cycles
Saskatoon TechWorks
Saskatoon Glassworker’s Guild
SCYAP
Spinners and Weavers Guild
Studio on 20th
Wet Paint Pottery
YMCA Saskatoon

Contact

Want to ask a question, get involved, or share our information? Please contact us! We would love to hear from you!

Contact Info

artspace@artspacesaskatoon.ca

Blog

We are Back!

May 6, 2018

Welcome to the new and fresh artSpace website! Thanks so much for staying tuned while we re-worked everything. So much…

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