5050 Joyce Pop-up Studio

About

The 5050 Joyce Pop-Up Studio provided a space for local artists and organizations to engage in the artistic community and connect with the neighbourhood. The Pop-Up Studio was located at 5050 Joyce St, on the North-East corner of Joyce St. and Vanness St. right beside the Joyce Skytrain Station. Our intention was to use the space to welcome local artists and arts organizations to organize events, hold workshops, run activities – anything to continue to strengthen the arts community in our neighbourhood. The studio ran for 10 weeks, from August to October of 2017.

The Values

The space was first and foremost for local community arts and culture activities. We also welcomed people from outside this community to join in on our activities.

In the Renfrew-Collingwood Arts and Culture Infrastructure Plan, they identified 250 artists living in this community. When these artists did not have access to a space to create or engage with the local community, they would often have studio space outside of their home communities. This took the unique assets and strengths from this community and pulled them away from engaging with their neighbours and community groups. The Joyce 5050 Pop-up Studio was created to allow these artists to regain their connection and re-engage with community members.

Bookings were prioritized by the following criteria:

  1. Artists and community groups living and working in Renfrew-Collingwood
  2. Artists working on projects taking place in Renfrew-Collingwood
  3. Community groups in Renfrew-Collingwood or in surrounding areas (Metrotown, Cedar Cottage, South Van)
  4. Artists and community groups from around the Lower Mainland
  5. Other potential bookings, if they fit with the mandate of the space.

The Logistics

Community groups and artists were able to book in their events through our online calendar: https://goo.gl/CZb59H. Most of our events began when someone walked past the studio and emailed us with interest, attended a previous event at 5050 and got inspired to do a project on their own, heard about the opportunity from our pointed outreach, or was recommended from one of many connected individuals in our community. Most bookings involved a site walk with a coordinator to learn more about the history of the space, logistics of rooms, and available dates/times.

The People 

Having the 5050 Joyce Pop-Up Studio was an incredible asset; we were able to provide a space for collaboration and relationship-building through our focus on the assets of our community. We were approached by 36 people to run programming in the space, which included people organizing meetings for their community organizations, leading workshops for youth or community members, or setting up exhibitions for the community to enjoy. For all of the meetings, workshops, exhibition open hours, and events, we had 725 registered people come through the door to attend or participate in one of the activities. In addition, we had approximately 300 people drop in as they were passing by, for a total of 1,025 individuals reached throughout the tenure of the studio space.

EVENTS

It was inspiring to see what 36 people could create in a matter of only 10 weeks. During this time, the studio held 115 events, made up through 30 meetings. The meetings ranged from organizing meetings for the Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival, summer student staff check-ins with the Still Moon Arts Society team, organizing meetings for the Hua Foundation, and various other community meetings for youth, local organizations, and artists. 

There were 41 public events at the pop-up studio. The following were held:

  • Craft markets
  • Indian Mudras dance workshops
  • Art workshops to learn how to tie-dye, natural dye, create lanterns, and fold origami
  • Events to showcase local talent through music and performance
  • Public workshops to make art for the Wild Salmon Caravan parade and journey
  • Opening hours for the 6 art exhibitions installed on a rotating basis. These exhibits were:
  • “Migrations” by Carmen Rosen and January Wolodarsky
  • “Imaginature” curated by Yoko Tomita
  • “Migrante BC” curated by Bert Monterona
  • “Joyces on Joyce” by January Wolodarsky and Andrea Berneckas
  • “Salmon are Sacred” Gallery by J Peachy
  • “Memory Exchange” by Popcorn Galaxies collective

We also held 31 work parties and 12 art studio days. These included logistics planning for local celebrations, building exhibitions for the space, painting works for display, painting for the Berry Trail Mural, and also art builds to create salmon puppets and shadow crafting.

The 5050 Joyce Pop-Up Studio demonstrated the intangible benefits of community connection and creativity being displayed publicly. We witnessed hundreds of people dropping by and telling us that the art space should be a permanent asset to the community. This overwhelming praise proved that spaces like the pop-up studio are needed in the neighbourhood. It was energizing to see the public excited about the space, regardless of their self-identification as an artist or not.

We are appreciative to Westbank for supporting our work and allowing us to use the space for 10 weeks. We also appreciate Collingwood Neighbourhood House for supporting us in using this space and their Community Development team for helping to curate many workshops and events throughout the 10 weeks. We would also like to thank all attendees, workshop leaders, supporters, and coordinators for helping make the 5050 Joyce Pop-up Studio such a bustling location in the Summer of 2017.