Artscape announces pilot project Artscape Atelier
Artscape is thrilled to announce the birth of the Artscape Atelier with a pilot project in in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Artscape Atelier is a new initiative that aims to re-define the relationship between art and urban development by embedding creativity into the built fabric of developing communities as they are being designed.
Artscape is thrilled to announce the birth of the Artscape Atelier with a pilot project in in the Ottawa-Gatineau area. Artscape Atelier is a new initiative that aims to re-define the relationship between art and urban development by embedding creativity into the built fabric of developing communities as they are being designed.
Working with developers, municipalities and local artists, the Artscape Atelier will act as a social enterprise that invites artists to apply for the commissioning of a range of public realm works funded by the developer. Artscape will employ selected arts professionals to produce works of public art and design public space infrastructure such as benches, bicycle racks, tree grates, light fixtures, signage and wayfinding, all with the goal of creating streetscapes that reflect the unique local character, narratives and heritage of an area.
Artists will have access to artists’ workshop and production space on the build sites where they will help shape the surrounding built environment using all elements of the development as a canvas for their work. Once the development is built, Artscape sees the potential for artists to have access to affordable living space within the community, so that they can play an ongoing and official role in applying their practice to the surrounding environment.
“Artists have long gone unrecognized for the positive change they bring to neighbourhoods, animating both neglected and newly built communities with a sense of place,” said Tim Jones, CEO, Artscape. “We felt it was time to change that. With Artscape Atelier, we asked ourselves, how can the contributions of vibrancy, visual interest and diversity that artists bring to communities be fully realized, while enabling them to share in the value they create?”
Artscape Atelier is Artscape’s first attempt to engage with developers and municipalities to design multiple elements of an entire neighbourhood. To kick off and pilot this new urban development model, Artscape is partnering with the Zibi project, a community redevelopment project by Dream Unlimited Corp and Theia Partners in the Ottawa-Gatineau area.
The Zibi project aspires to combine nature, culture and local heritage to create a new kind of community. Located where the Ottawa, Gatineau and Algonquin communities converge, Dream Unlimited Corp and Theia Partners plan to transform this derelict land, previously slated for industrial use, into a blend of residential housing types of low and high rise condominium towers and townhomes, commercial and office space, unique waterfront plazas and outdoor squares and recreational facilities, whose modern design will respect and incorporate the heritage of the area. “Zibi”, the Anishinaabe word for River, was chosen for this redeveloped community to honour the river and the Algonquin-Anishinaabe people. This project offers a unique opportunity for Artscape and local artists to collaborate on artworks and art-making that is meaningful for the site’s First Nations heritage, such as honouring culturally and historically significant places, interpretive signage, themed places, and areas for contemplation.
Artscape invites interested artists living in the Ottawa-Gatineau region, particularly those from the Algonquin-Anishinaabe community, to submit an application to participate in the Artscape Atelier at Zibi project. For complete information about this project, visit www.creativeplacemaking/artscape.ca.
