Seven Arts And Social Enterprise Organizations Announced For Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre

TORONTO – Artscape, Toronto Community Housing, The Daniels Corporation, and the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre Community Advisory Committee announced today the list of seven arts and social enterprise organizations that will soon call the new Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre home.

The selected organizations include:

•    ArtHeart Community Art Centre
•    Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum
•    Centre for Social Innovation
•    COBA Collective of Black Artists
•    Native Earth Performing Arts
•    Regent Park Film Festival, and
•    Regent Park School of Music.

The new Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre is designed by Diamond and Schmitt Architects. The tenant organizations were selected for their proven ability to engage with communities, to encourage artistic creation, to advance learning and offer an inter-cultural experience. Currently under construction, the Centre will offer participating organizations 60,000 square feet of space located at Dundas Street East between Sumach and Sackville Streets.

“Working with the community and future tenants to re-imagine what an arts and cultural centre can be in a revitalized Regent Park has been fantastically interesting,” said Tim Jones, President & CEO of Artscape, the not-for-profit organization responsible for overseeing the development and ongoing operation of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. “As the vision and partnerships continue to come together, it is clear that the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will be among the most diverse and dynamic places in Canada.”

Toronto Community Housing, The Daniels Corporation and Artscape formed a joint venture to develop and operate the new Centre in consultation with the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre Community Advisory Committee. In addition, the governments of Canada and Ontario are each investing up to $12 million under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund program.

"Toronto Community Housing is pleased to donate the land for this project," said Tom Burr, Director Regent Park Development for Toronto Community Housing. "We understand the important role the arts play in the transformation of the community."

"The Arts & Cultural Centre will stand as a tribute to innovation and diversity,” said Martin Blake, Vice President of The Daniels Corporation, the development and construction partner for the entire 69-acre revitalization. “We are proud to be associated with the community organizations that will provide a wonderful outlet for this area’s exciting creative energy."

First Floor: “Experience”
The first floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre includes a 400-seat performance/event space and a large outdoor performance court managed by Artscape and two creation/performance studios operated by COBA Collective of Black Artists and Native Earth Performing Arts. This space is dedicated to music, dance and theatre performances, film screenings, cultural festivals, community events and dialogue on building great neighbourhoods and cities around shared experiences.

”Celebrating its eighteenth year of existence, COBA Collective of Black Artists has a profound appreciation for the blessing of a home in the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre,” said BaKari Segun Lindsay, Artistic Director of COBA Collective of Black Artists. “To have a vision, and then have it realized by a gesture of this magnitude is nothing short of a miracle that speaks volumes to the power of spirit and perseverance.”

Second Floor: “Learning”
The second floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre is devoted to developing talent in music, visual arts and film, building a sense of place and understanding the history of the local neighbourhood. Learning studios operated by ArtHeart Community Art Centre, Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum, Regent Park Film Festival, and the Regent Park School of Music, will ensure residents in Regent Park and surrounding neighbourhoods have opportunities to expand and nurture their creative potential.

"Being a tenant in this Centre is extremely important for ArtHeart,” said Adriana Beemans, President of the Board of Directors, ArtHeart Community Art Centre. “It will enable us to leverage resources, partner with innovative partners, be part of the exciting future of the Regent Park revitalization, and most importantly ensure that Regent Park residents are able to access and benefit from creative and high quality visual arts programming.”

Third Floor: “Innovation”
The third floor is home to 60 non-profit/social mission organizations and will be operated by Toronto’s Centre for Social Innovation. This space provides a platform for emerging and established social and arts entrepreneurs working to solve challenges in their communities and around the world.

“The Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre is an incredible opportunity for the Regent Park community and for the city as a whole,” said Eli Malinsky, Director Programs & Partnerships, the Centre Social Innovation. “Even more than creating a much needed arts and cultural facility, this project demonstrates how diverse partners can work together to revitalize a neighbourhood and build a better Toronto. The Centre for Social Innovation is honoured and excited to be part of this important project.”

Artscape is a not-for-profit, urban development organization that revitalizes buildings, neighbourhoods, and cities through the arts. Established in 1986, Artscape has transformed a portfolio of underutilized buildings across Toronto into dynamic community assets that serve to enable innovation and creativity, including the award-winning Artscape Wychwood Barns and multi-tenant arts facilities in the Queen Street West, Liberty Village, Toronto Island and Distillery District neighbourhoods.
www.torontoartscape.on.ca.

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Media Contact:
Liz Kohn
Director of Communications
Artscape
T: 416-392-1038, ext. 25
E: liz@torontoartscape.on.ca

BACKGROUNDER

A. About the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre Arts and Social Enterprise Organizations

First Floor: “Experience”
Regent Park is one of the most dynamic cultural neighbourhoods in Toronto, but historically has lacked the facilities to showcase its talent. The first floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will be dedicated to experience and will include a 400 seat performance/event space, a large outdoor performance court and two creation/performance studios operated by the COBA – Collective of Black Artists and Native Earth Performing Arts. Imagine music, dance and theatre performances, film screenings, cultural festivals, community events and dialogue on building great neighbourhoods and cities around shared experiences.

COBA Collective of Black Artists
COBA Collective of Black Artists was founded in 1993 and is dedicated to preserving and promoting the finest traditions in dance and music through research, education and performance. The Collective presents Traditional West African and Caribbean Indigenous Folk dance and music in the purest form possible for a theatrical stage, while also creating and innovating on an African movement aesthetic to create contemporary works that reflect social realities. Since 1995, COBA has offered dance and music training for performers of all ages through their open adult and teen classes, as well as their Children’s Dance and Drum, Youth Ensemble, and Apprentice Training Programs. Under the leadership of Artistic Directors Charmaine Headley and BaKari Segun Lindsay, COBA has also made a significant contribution to the Canadian dance ecology through the development of A-Feeree, a unique training method created by Lindsay, with an Africanist focus.

With 4,800 sq. ft. on the first floor, COBA’s new space in the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre is specifically designed for dance and drumming, offering a state-of-the-art facility for their performers and community alike. Establishing a permanent home in the Centre will allow the Collective to further develop their programs and build a sustained community and membership while they continue to advocate for African Diasporic Art.
www.cobainc.com

Native Earth Performing Arts
Native Earth Performing Arts is the foremost Aboriginal theatre company in Canada. It is dedicated to creating, developing and producing professional artistic expression of the Aboriginal experience in Canada through theatre, dance and multi-disciplinary work, new script development, apprenticeships and internships. Since it was founded in 1982, Native Earth has developed a community of artists, contributed to the development of a body of work, and participated in the development of a generation of artistic leaders who are recognized both nationally and internationally.

Native Earth has an established tradition of leadership and collaboration within their community. With 3,400 sq. ft. on the first floor and 1,400 sq. ft. on the second floor, Native Earth will offer collaborative Resident Company status to three other performance companies: Cahoots Theatre Company, fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company and Kaha:wi Dance. These companies are committed to exploring and expressing the ethnocultural diversity that makes up North American society and, indeed, is exemplified in the Regent Park community. This group makes a perfect match for the neighborhood in that they collectively reach out to their respective communities but also celebrate the diversity represented in the neighborhood. www.nativeearth.ca

“Having a place to call home after so many years is gratifying,” said Yvette Nolan, Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. “Sharing space in a community like Regent Park with our sister companies Cahoots Theatre, fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre and Kaha:wi Dance makes it truly feel like home.”

Second Floor: “Learning”
Arts-based learning is a proven way for people to discover themselves, build self-esteem, foster intercultural understanding and develop aptitudes that are essential in academic and professional pursuits. The second floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre is devoted to developing talent in music, visual arts and film, building a sense of place and understanding the history of the local neighbourhood. Learning studios operated by ArtHeart Community Art Centre, Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum, Regent Park Film Festival, and the Regent Park School of Music, will ensure that residents in Regent Park and surrounding neighbourhoods have opportunities to expand and nurture their creative potential.

ArtHeart Community Art Centre
ArtHeart Community Art Centre, a registered charity, is a community-based arts organization in Regent Park that provides visual arts education, programs and materials—free-of-charge—to children, youth, adults and seniors living in Regent Park and the surrounding neighbourhood. By using art as a vehicle, ArtHeart helps to develop self-esteem, creativity, life-skills and learning. Participants are empowered to improve their quality of life while putting their hands and imaginations to work.

ArtHeart Community Art Centre’s 1,800 sq. ft. new home at the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will continue to provide quality visual arts to individuals of all ages living in Regent Park and strengthen collaborations with other artists in order to enable their participants to learn and be inspired by a range of artistic mediums. They will work with other partners to show how arts are a vehicle for community engagement and community building.
www.artheart.ca

Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum
Founded in 2004, the Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum is a not-for-profit community museum dedicated to exploring, documenting and celebrating the history of one of Toronto’s oldest and most culturally-diverse areas from its earliest settlement to the present day. The Museum’s primary activities are operating a museum, developing exhibitions, hosting a website, recording oral histories, building artifact and archival collections, documenting history-in-the-making, and acting as an accessible and engaging educational resource for the entire community.

With almost 2,00 sq. ft., the move to the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre represents a major step forward for the Museum, providing a permanent home with expanded museum-quality storage and display space, and a great opportunity to increase cultural programming, educational and outreach activities.
www.crpmuseum.com

“The Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum is very excited about becoming a tenant in the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre that is poised to become the beating heart of a revitalized and energized Regent Park,” said Dinny Biggs, Executive Board Community Outreach Advisor of Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum. “For us, the move to the Centre represents a major step forward, giving us a permanent home and a better opportunity to attract the long-term funding necessary to increase our cultural programming, education and outreach activities. We look forward to strong, creative, reciprocal relationships with the creators and community members who will frequent the Centre.”

Regent Park Film Festival
The Regent Park Film Festival is a non-profit community film festival created in 2003 whose mission is to showcase local and international independent works that engage viewers and facilitate dialogue within and among the communities of Regent Park. The films presented reflect themes such as: immigration, cultural identity, inner city issues, and multicultural relationships. It is Toronto’s only free film festival that showcases diversity in film.

In addition to the annual four-day film festival held in early November, the Festival organizes year-round school and community screenings, panel discussions, exhibitions, educational activities and professional training for Regent Park youth in the film medium. The Festival’s new 1,700 sq. ft. space in the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will house offices, a screening room and affordable editing facilities for filmmakers. www.regentparkfilmfestival.com

“The Regent Park Film Festival is excited to be in the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre because we are finally coming back home!” said Richard Fung, Festival Manager of the Regent Park Film Festival.

Regent Park School of Music
The Regent Park School of Music aims to provide high-quality, affordable music education to marginalized youth in Regent Park and other areas of Toronto. Their mandate is to provide music education to youth who might not otherwise have the opportunity. The School offers both one-on-one and group lessons with an emphasis on quality, collaboration and creativity. They also operate satellite programs in other priority areas of the city where children receive extra-curricular music lessons in the safe and familiar space of their own community school.

The Regent Park School of Music looks to continue its legacy in reaching more youth in the Regent Park community by joining the collaborative team of like-minded organizations at the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. In their new 3,000 sq. ft. facility, they will better serve a larger core of students and will be well-equipped to deliver new programs, with an emphasis on group initiatives.
www.rpmusic.org

Third Floor: “Innovation”
Together, Regent Park and Toronto are home to thousands of small non-profit, social mission and creative organizations working to make our world a better place. As many as 60 such organizations will find a home in the third floor workspace operated by Toronto’s highly-acclaimed Centre for Social Innovation (CSI). By providing a platform for emerging and established social and arts entrepreneurs who are working to solve challenges in their communities and around the world, CSI Regent Park will be a catalyst for positive social change, discovery, growth, collaboration and transformation within Regent Park and beyond.

Centre for Social Innovation
The Centre for Social Innovation (CSI) catalyzes and supports new ideas that make positive change in the world. Its flagship project is a 23,000 square foot shared workspace in downtown Toronto that is home to over 200 members who are working to meet the needs of communities across the city and around the world. By providing access to shared amenities, community programming, and a positive work atmosphere, CSI enables its members to increase their efficiency and achieve greater social impact.

CSI is opening a 10,000 square foot shared workspace within the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. The new space will be a place where residents, artists, cultural organizations and entrepreneurs come together to share ideas, resources, advice and inspiration. CSI’s vision is a vibrant, dynamic community hub that meets the diverse needs of the community while pushing forward the possibilities that can be achieved by working together. CSI will be accepting expressions of interest for space throughout 2010-2011. More information is available at www.socialinnovation.ca/csiregentpark.
www.socialinnovation.ca

B. Additional Amenities at the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre

Large Performance/Event Space
The first floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will feature a 7,000 sq. ft. flexible performance/event space to host performances, community celebrations, festivals, lectures and conferences. The performance/event space is designed to be partitioned into three distinct smaller spaces. It will accommodate up to 400 seats and will be a fully-equipped (sound, lighting, seating and staging), free-span space with an approximate 25 feet floor to ceiling height. The performance/event space will also include an A/V booth, storage spaces and will be supported by a warming kitchen, green room and dressing rooms.

Outdoor Performance Court
The first floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will include a 4,000 sq. ft. outdoor community gathering, performance and event space accessible from the interior performance/event space and the newly created Street P to the east.
Public Lobby and Café
The first floor of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre will include over 4300 sq. ft. of publicly accessible space, comprising the main lobby and café. The double-height glass enclosed café will serve as a community hub and gathering place, and along with the lobby, will be where the public begins its interaction with the tenants and events happening in the building. The lobby and café will also function as a spill-over space for the performance/event space during intermissions and festivals.

C. About the Regent Park Revitalization
Toronto Community Housing is committed to providing affordable housing, connecting tenants to services and opportunities, and working together to build healthy communities. One key approach is Toronto Community Housing’s Community Revitalization Strategy. It's a comprehensive approach to revitalization in some of Toronto Community Housing’s oldest and largest communities.

The buildings in the Regent Park neighbourhood were built more than 50 years ago - they are showing their age. The neighbourhood is isolated from the surrounding community and the configuration of public space is poor. The public parks have no frontage or access from roads.

Over the next several years, Regent Park will be going through a remarkable transition that will mean big changes and exciting opportunities for both current residents and people interested in living in Toronto’s downtown. Revitalization provides a transformative way to invest in this neighbourhood and create economic opportunity.

A key tenet of the revitalization is including both rent-geared-to-income and market units – together in the same community. When Regent Park is completed in over the next 10 to 15 years, 12,500 people will live in 5,115 units across 69 acres of the largest publicly funded community in Canada. The plan includes the replacement of the existing more than 2000 units in Regent Park with new, energy efficient, modern units and the introduction approximately 3000 market units for sale.

Toronto Community Housing is reintegrating social housing with surrounding neighbourhoods to establish mixed income, mixed use communities and provide opportunities for affordable home ownership.

D. About the Partners

Toronto Community Housing
Toronto Community Housing is Canada's largest social housing provider and home to more than 164,000 tenants with low and moderate incomes—about six per cent of the City of Toronto's population. Toronto Community Housing employs 1,400 staff in a broad range of jobs, who deliver its mission to provide affordable housing, connect tenants to services and opportunities, and work together to build healthy communities. www.torontohousing.ca

The Daniels Corporation
Founded in 1982, The Daniels Corporation is one of Canada’s leading and most diversified residential builders and developers. Daniels has built more than 18,000 homes and apartments in a diverse range of award-winning communities throughout the Greater Toronto Area. Daniels has partnered with Toronto Community Housing as the developer and construction partner for all six phases of the Regent Park revitalization. Daniels has a long history of building homes to high-energy performance standards. In Regent Park, Daniels’ will set a new benchmark for environmental sustainability. The Daniels Corporation will manage the construction of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. www.danielshomes.ca

Artscape
Artscape will be responsible for overseeing the development and ongoing operation of the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. Artscape is a not-for-profit, urban development organization that revitalizes buildings, neighbourhoods, and cities through the arts. Established in 1986, Artscape has transformed a portfolio of underutilized buildings across Toronto into dynamic community assets that serve to enable innovation and creativity, including the award-winning Artscape Wychwood Barns and multi-tenant arts facilities in the Queen Street West, Liberty Village, Toronto Island and Distillery District neighbourhoods. In addition to the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre, Artscape’s current development projects include two facilities in the West Queen West neighbourhood; Artscape Triangle Lofts, a 56,000 sq. ft. below-market live/work residential condominium project opening in October 2010 for artists and non-profit arts professionals and Artscape Shaw Street Centre, a 75,000 sq. ft. creative convergence centre opening in Spring 2012.
www.torontoartscape.on.ca.

Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre Community Advisory Committee
Toronto Community Housing, The Daniels Corporation and Artscape are collaborating on the Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre with the support of a community-based advisory committee comprised of locally-based arts, cultural and community leaders:

Neil Clarke, Community Coordinator, Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative
Debra Dineen, Board Member, Regent Park Neighbourhood Initiative
Adonis Huggins, Program Director, Regent Park Focus Youth Media Arts Centre
Leslie Lester, Executive Director, Soulpepper Theatre Company
Lori Martin, Senior Cultural Affairs Officer, City of Toronto
Carol Moore-Ede, Chair, Cabbagetown Regent Park Museum

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