"Time for Toronto to decide whether it wants to keep its artists" - Andrew Kennedy via the Toronto Star

Last week we were pleasantly surprised to read a very relevant and honest opinion piece in the Toronto Star by Akin Dupont member Andrew Kennedy. Continue reading for a brief excerpt or click the link at the bottom of this post for Kennedy’s full article.

In speaking about the modern ways of urban development and gentrification, the esteemed writer Fran Lebowitz once said “we do not like cities because they are noisy, crowded and dirty. We like them because they are interesting.”

I would wager a small sum that anyone of a certain age who’s lived in the city of Toronto for a good amount of time would agree with Lebowitz’s sentiment. And if we take her statement to be true, then this year’s Art Stats report from the Toronto Arts Foundation should provide a warning that the City of Toronto could be sliding towards a less interesting existence.

According to the report, 80 per cent of Toronto’s artists believe they cannot make a living wage and 73 per cent have thought about leaving the city. In other words, if artists in Toronto were creatures from the animal kingdom, they might be in danger of trending towards the endangered species list.

Toronto Arts Foundation's 2019 Arts Stats

Akin is concerned about how artists and arts workers are coping with the high cost of living in Toronto.

Toronto Arts Foundation, working with marketing and polling company Leger, will release Arts Stats 2019: State of the Artist in the fall of 2019. The survey asks artists about the high cost of living and working in Toronto. Are you considering leaving the city? Are you paid a fair wage? Are you optimistic about their future?

Click here to complete the survey. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary and all of your responses are anonymous. None of the responses will be connected to identifying information.

The results will act as an important advocacy tool. The time you put into the survey will be worth it. The deadline to complete the survey is July 8th. In an attempt to reach as many people as possible the Foundation has widely distributed the survey.

Round the Block with Akin's Oliver Pauk and Michael Vickers

Groundstory is a collective impact effort with a mandate to address the adverse effects of gentrification on the arts and other vulnerable, low-income groups in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. In episode 1 of Groundstory’s occasional podcast Round the Block, host Jessa Agilo discusses the untold effects of gentrification on the arts with Akin’s Oliver Pauk and Michael Vickers.

Groundstory will detail, and respond to, these evolving narratives with a focus on the Greater Toronto to Hamilton Area, while reaching communities across Ontario and the rest of Canada through a deep commitment to shared learning online.

Over the coming decade, Groundstory will bolster cross-sectoral responses to three systemic issues, including:

• Deepening income precarity and inequality

• Increasing lack of accessible and affordable shelter and spaces of work

• Growing socio-spatial displacement of vulnerable workers from rapidly densifying neighbourhoods.