During recessionary times, shops close down, rents decrease, and artists are hopefully able to take advantage of realities such as these in order to secure space for their work; be it creation, incubation, rehearsal, exhibition or performance. It is most often up to the artist or arts organizations themselves to take advantage of these leads. However, "the British government, worried about the economic, psychological and criminal hazards of retail vacancies, announced a $5 million “revival fund” for local governments in hard-hit areas to transform empty shops into something useful, like showrooms for local artists, and another $800,000 to help artists and arts organizations turn vacant high street shops into artistic spaces." Of course, countries like the United Kingdom and France have historically exhibited exceptionally strong governmental support for the arts, (however divergent their reasoning behind that support is i.e. divergent views of nation-building). Canada takes a more nuanced approach to arts funding and could be said to have some sort of hybrid between our European counterparts and our American neighbors (where arts funding comes primarily from state and local governments, foundations and philanthropy and at the federal level support comes in the form of tax exemptions to not-for-profits).

Canada has not taken similar measures as Britain’s with respect to the maintenance of core commercial districts in cities but has instead opted for shovel-ready cultural infrastructure funding. But this is beside the point.

There is room for action at the local level for artists, arts organizations, and organizations such as the Calgary Foundation, Calgary Arts Development and many other local organizations and initiatives. When buildings become empty it is up to the citizens of Calgary to imagine and pursue arts uses. It is through networks and communication that opportunities can be identified and acted upon. For example, there are nine Business Revitalization Zones (BRZ’s) in Calgary that are located in core and developing commercial districts in Calgary such as Inglewood, Marda Loop, Kensington, and Bowness. The leaders of these BRZ’s and community leaders can identify opportunities to fill empty spaces left by failed businesses. Arts and culture brings diversity and vitality that every neighborhood – core commercial district or not - can benefit from.  

As Arts Space Program Coordinator at Calgary Arts Development I am tasked in helping artists and arts organizations identify, develop and expand arts spaces and so I have been out meeting with the Directors of the BRZ’s in Calgary. The goal is to tighten up communication networks so that we will receive notifications when space opportunities open up. Having received these potential opportunities we hope to be able to find artists or arts groups who may match the space. If you frequent the Calgary Arts Development web site, you will notice that we have added a Spaces tab to our main page. Once in the Spaces section there is a web form that individuals and groups can fill out so that we have an inventory of space needs that we may be able to address as space opportunities are identified.

While recessionary times do present some opportunities for creative space development, there are many qualifiers. As the New York Times article below states, just because there is the opportunity to open spaces in affluent neighborhoods, this doesn’t mean that people are buying the work. It is important for creative space to be sustainable if that is the intention of the potential tenant. While rents may relax during downturns in the economy, the reverse is also true. Rents increase during recovery and tenants must plan for this. Of course many arts spaces are temporary by design and recessionary times can provide many space opportunities for these kinds of space needs as well. 

  Here is a related article from the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/arts/design/01stores.html?_r=3&ref=arts   And a related article from the Guardian UK: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/apr/23/artists-take-over-empty-shops