Beaver Hall Artists' Co-operative

Floor plans of Studios

2011-12-05T00:08:00.000-05:00

Floor plans of the Studios of Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op at Google Docs

Our History

2009-03-09T16:10:00.000-04:00

The Beaver Hall Artists' Co-operative was founded in 1988. Located in the heart of Queen Street West's art and entertainment district, this housing co-operative was designed to meet the needs of working visual artists.

Throughout the the 1970s to the mid-1980s, Toronto's downtown core was heavily populated by artists, giving birth to a vibrant, cultural community within the heart of the city. As the result of increased gentrification, redevelopment and escalating real estate costs, more and more artists were forced out of this community that they had worked so hard to build.

In order to secure affordable living and studio space, artists Colin Campbell, Lynne Fernie, John Greyson, Johanna Householder, Rick Amis, Tanya Mars, and George Hawken (with the assistance of Lantana Non-Profit Homes) devoted several years to arranging, financing, and developing a 24-unit, live-work building for Toronto artists.

Named after the Beaver Hall Hill Group — an association of artists who shared studio space at Beaver Hall Square (Montreal, circa 1920s) and sought to educate the public about Canadian art — the Toronto co-op became part of a nation-wide movement to secure live-work spaces for artists across the country.

IMAGE: Queen Street West by JERZY GALECKI

Artist Membership Criteria

2009-02-09T12:22:00.000-05:00

Beaver Hall has a mandate to remain an artist-run cooperative in order to provide the particular housing and studio needs of artists. For this reason, the co-op seeks dedicated and committed artists as members. This document describes the general guidelines that the Membership Committee uses to decide whether or not a particular individual is a working artist for co-op membership purposes.

MANDATE:
Beaver Hall accepts for membership, working artists who practice independent production and are committed to cooperative living responsibilities.

WORKING ARTIST:
A person who has seriously committed themselves to professional arts production for at least three years and has achieved some form of recognition (e.g. exhibitions, performances, screenings, grants, publications, reviews, commissions, or peer recognition). Disciplines may include, but are not limited to: painting, sculpture, installation, performance art, video and film production, photography, animation, new media and alternative arts.

STUDENTS:
Status as a student does not necessarily help or hinder one's application for artist status at Beaver Hall. The same level of accomplishment is required from a student applicant as a non-student. NB: Many students have already reached this level of commitment in their careers.

ARE YOU A PROFESSIONAL WORKING ARTIST?
Beaver Hall recognizes that most artists have part-time or full-time jobs not directly related to their art. This is not a factor in determining one's status as an artist. What the co-op looks for is evidence of professional commitment to the arts. For example, we might ask:

What length of time, and with what regularity, have you been producing art? (Minimum three years required.)
What efforts have been made to exhibit or present your work?
What training or instruction in the arts have you undertaken?
To what extent have you involved yourself in the arts community through volunteer service, artist-run centres, etc.?
Do other working artists acknowledge your commitment?

For more information about becoming a member of Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op, please contact the Membership Committee: beaverhallmembership@gmail.com.

IMAGE by KD Thornton

How to Apply for Membership

2008-12-23T00:07:00.028-05:00

To apply for membership to Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op, all applicants:

Must meet our Artist Membership Criteria
Are required to apply to both Toronto Social Housing Connections (TSHC) AND Beaver Hall Artists' Co-operative
Must attend our annual Orientation Session

APPLICATION PROCEDURE

The following is the full application procedure for the co-op's waiting list:

1. Send your resumé/CV
Send your resumé/CV and a cover letter with contact information to Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op as an expression of interest to:

ATTN: Membership Committee
Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op
29 McCaul Street
Toronto, ON
M5T 1V7

2. Attend our annual Orientation Session
A member of the Membership Committee will contact you (e-mail preferred) to invite you to an orientation session. You must attend in order to receive an application. Orientation sessions are held annually.

3. Complete both Beaver Hall and TSHC application forms
You attend the orientation session, and at that time you will be given an application for the co-op and an application for Toronto Social Housing Connections (TSHC). If you have already applied to TSHC you do not need to reapply. Complete both forms. Send the TSHC application to them or apply on-line, and supply to them the required supporting documents.

4. Mail application, $10.00 fee and TSHC number
Mail the co-operative our application including the application fee of $10.00 by cheque or money order, made payable to "Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op" along with your TSHC application number. NB: Your Beaver Hall application will not be processed until we receive a TSHC number from you.

5. Attend interview with Membership Committee
Once your application process is complete (letter of interest, application, application fee, TSHC number, contact information), someone from the Membership Committee will contact you for an interview. At that time you should bring samples of your work (please read "Artist Membership Criteria" for details).

If you have been approved by the Membership Committee and the Board of Directors, we will perform a credit check, and a Confirmation of Applicant Eligibility will be sent to TSHC. At that time you will be put on our waiting list (map #750) with TSHC.

When a unit becomes available, it will be filled by completed application date order and according to the type of unit available. If the available unit is the type/size required for your household, you will be contacted. You are entitled to two refusals. After your third refusal you must reapply to Beaver Hall Artists' Co-op to be put back onto our waiting list. If you cannot be reached for confirmation, the unit will be offered to the next person on the list and you will be considered to have "refused" the unit.

If you have further questions regarding membership at Beaver Hall, please e-mail the Membership Committee at beaverhallmembership@gmail.com.

IMAGE: Cozumel by Michael Alstad