For the first time since I started painting, I've been able to find studio space out of the house. This is a big deal. For the sake of my vanity, it means oil paint and construction won't be slowly destroying anything in my house with a finish nicer than a cement mixer. But really, it's about getting up and going to work! I get to leave the house, interact with the world and set myself down where I can concentrate on the task at hand.
Kitchener, Ontario, has had a hard time recovering from the massive recession of the early '90's that saw a big chunk of manufacturing businesses relocate elsewhere. The manufacture-based towns around Toronto (not unlike the rust belt in the U.S.) have been trying all sorts of strategies to recover. Kitchener is attached to the city of Waterloo. In the 80's, Waterloo began investing in tech. Flash forward - that town, once just an appendix to Kitchener is now it's powerhouse. Kitchener in turn, has been investing in tech as well, plus the arts. It has been paying off.
The city funds an 'arts accelerator' at a nifty former post office downtown. A number of arts groups have set up in it - and more engagingly, a good number of artists as the building provides subsidized studio spaces. It took months, but I finally got in.
So far, the experience has been great.
I feel very fortunate. Thanks, Kitchener!
