The Artscape Wychwood Barns
Yesterday I visited The Barns Art Market (BAM!) in Toronto,
http://torontoartscape.org/barns-art-market/about and loved the whole idea of it !!!
A wonderful combination of community,
art and sustainability, what’s not to
love ?
The Artscape Wychwood Barns( 601 Christie Street, Toronto) is one of a new generation of functionally
diverse multi-tenant centres designed to promote synergy and collaboration.
Unlike a traditional community centre, the Barns operate on a self-sustaining
model, without requiring ongoing operating subsidy after the initial capital
investment. Tenants of Artscape Wychwood Barns pay affordable rents and
contribute to the programming of the building and site.
Artscape Wychwood Barns is comprised of four programmed components: the
Studio Barn, the Covered Street Barn, the Community Barn and The Stop Community
Food Centre’s Green Barn.
The Studio Barn provides 26 live/work studios and 15 work-only
studios to professional artists as well as host a Community Gallery. The Studio
Barn provides an alternative to traditional housing and creates a sense of
community where artists can live, work and interconnect with their
neighbourhood. The Community Gallery component features the work of artists
living and working in the Barns and artists from the local community as well as
international artists.
The Covered Street Barn provides affordable community use
space, including year-round access for community events, exhibitions,
festivals, etc. The Covered Street Barn provides an area for vendors to create
a hub of economic activity in the neighbourhood while the artist studios and
community groups in the adjacent barns have their entrances open onto the
space.
The Community Barn provides affordable programming, rehearsal, office
and meeting space to not-for-profit community arts and environmental
organizations. Access to affordable, long-term and appropriate space is a key
capacity issue for not-for-profit organizations. The Community Barn enhances
the capacity of not-for-profit arts and environmental organizations.
The Stop Community Food Centre’s Green Barn is operated by The
Stop Community Food Centre and houses a year-round temperate greenhouse,
sustainable food education centre, sheltered garden, outdoor bake oven and
compost demonstration site. As a leader in sustainable food systems education,
The Stop Community Food Centre brings hands-on programming to the Green Barn
component of the Artscape Wychwood Barns. Children and community members of all
ages will learn about ecological growing practices and healthy eating through
classroom visits, workshops, community kitchens and volunteering in the year
round temperate greenhouse and sheltered gardens. It is a place where people of
all ages and backgrounds can grow, eat, celebrate and learn about healthy,
sustainable food
