Affordable creative workspace provision for a wide range of artists, makers, designers is at the core of Bow Arts, an educational arts charity in East London. They operate artist studios, run an education programme and manage The Nunnery, a contemporary art gallery in Bow. Their creative workspace environments are designed to be both a base for creative practitioners to work in, to meet other artists and access opportunities that come through being in an active supportive environment.
Recognizing both the needs and economies of recent graduates and emerging artists at the early stages of their careers, they provide artist studios and LiveWork accommodation. Their ethos is to create workspace environments that support artists’ careers and add value to the communities they are based in, and they welcome artists and makers who would like to be part of this growing Bow Arts community.

Since its beginning in 1986, Artscape works for creative placemaking, a practice that leverages the power of art, culture and creativity to catalyze change, growth and transformation in communities. Artscape achieves its mission through developing and managing 10 unique cultural facilities—including community cultural hubs, multi-purpose creative spaces and artist live/work projects—and by delivering programs and services that create the conditions for artists to thrive. 116 organizations and 2,300+ people work and/or live within their portfolio of buildings. Thirty-two public venues pulse with the energy of the 247,000+ people who take part in exhibitions and performances annually and the thousands more who participate in our programs, tenant-driven activities and city-wide events. Every year, we deliver a plethora of benefits including millions in economic savings to the community. Artscape is based in Toronto and Vancouver, Canada.

Upon noticing the lack of available and affordable working areas for the young designers and associations in Paris, the Collectif Curry Vavart has developped a nomadic activity: its project relies on the temporary opportunity of occupying disused premises waiting for rehabilitation in order to develop artistic and community initiatives in those spaces. A provisional occupancy agreement binds the Association to a private or public landlord and defines the legal framework of the occupation. Since there are few opportunities, and Parisian real estate is scarce and expensive, the Collectif Curry Vavart first developed its projects by squatting -i.e. occupying without any right or title – industrial premises that had been disused for many years. These activities have always been accompanied by a legal will.  2011 represents a turning point for the group, since many partners came on board the project. Two sites are currently under a provisional occupancy agreement until their rehabilitation: a space of the SNCF (French National Railways Company) in the 18th arrondissement and one owned by Paris City Hall in the 20th.

Artspace’s mission is to create, foster, and preserve affordable space for artists and arts organizations. It pursues this mission through development projects, asset management activities, consulting services, and community-building activities that serve artists and arts organizations of all disciplines, cultures, and economic circumstances. By creating this space, Artspace supports the continued professional growth of artists, and enhances the cultural and economic vitality of the surrounding communities.

The Artists Association of Finland (AAF) founded the Foundation in 1990 to take over the real estate operations of the Association. The purpose of the Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation is to secure and rent working facilities and studio apartments for visual artists at a reasonable price and to take otherwise part in enhancing their working conditions.

Chashama partners with property owners to activate unused real estate for artists to develop, create and present. Since 1995, chashama has revitalized over 80 properties, providing invaluable opportunities to more than 12,000 artists. chashama empowers artists at any stage of their career with affordable space to live, create and present. chashama also brings vibrant, artistic programming to audiences of all ages and backgrounds by annually presenting over 130 free, public events to diverse neighborhoods throughout New York City.

LaVallée aims to bring together a diversity of actors and expertise to encourage emulation of ideas, to share skills, fields of expertise, and equipment and also to increase opportunities of collaboration. Working in partnership, human value and participation are at the heart this project.

While artists contribute strongly to the development dynamism of the cities at the local and micro-local (neighborhoods) scale, their presence is increasingly weakened, particularly in the case of urban redevelopment operations. Hence the willingness of many cities, among them Montreal, to take on these challenges and to act in concrete terms in order to ensure permanent affordable creation spaces. The main challenge of this activity segment is conducting collaborations with the different levels of the public administration as well as with the private sector in order to guarantee long-term real estate projects for this public. Thus, the vision and the business models of Ateliers créatif Montréal, a non-profit real estate developer, give priority to public/private partnerships and a diversity of uses in order to implement structuring real estate projects for local development. The Toronto and London experiences will allow to share the models and tools developed in other urban contexts.