Sudbury Arts Council wants housing centre for creative workers

A Sudbury group is hoping to build affordable housing in the city that's geared to the city's painters, filmmakers, and musicians.

The new housing proposal would provide apartments that are less expensive, and a place for artists to come together and create.

The Sudbury Arts Council is behind the idea, which the group has dubbed "Arts Junction."

The new 55-unit housing project in downtown Sudbury would see more than half of the apartments earmarked for low-income artists.

The project would help entrepreneurs like Shawn Kosmerly, who is trying to build a career as a freelance videographer and editor in Sudbury. The 23-year-old says he is currently living in Val Caron with his parents because he can't afford his own place.

"Rent is too expensive for myself right now. I have to cover my own expenses, I have to cover camera equipment."

The arts community in Sudbury is booming, Kosmerly said, but the artists themselves are struggling financially.

"I have friends who are artists. They scrape by every month," he said.

Encouraging Sudbury's 'creative economy'

The housing project is modelled after similar ventures in Toronto, according to Paddy O'Sullivan, a local painter heading up the proposal.

"Emerging artists or even career artists sometimes have a hard time making ends meet," O'Sullivan said.

O'Sullivan said the space would help deal with the general need for low-income housing in the city.

According to the City of Greater Sudbury, there are more than one thousand households waiting to get into one of about 4,800 low-income housing spots in the city.

O'Sullivan said the space would also help bolster the region's growing arts industry.

"We're at a tipping point creatively and artistically," he said. 'This could assist Sudbury in pushing forward its creative economy."

O'Sullivan said he hopes the space would attract more artists to stay and work in the region.

"If you create housing, then there is a place for artists to stay and create," he said. "That's a need I think has not be been met in the north yet."

In addition to residences, O'Sullivan said the building would foster the arts community, with extras including a small visual art gallery, administrative offices, an incubation space for people to work on projects, a rehearsal space or even a dance studio built in.

He said anyone with a creative interest would be able to apply for a spot.

"Any of the research that looks at how you increase vibrancy of downtown, it's all about getting more artists and creative people," he said.

$10 million needed

O'Sullivan said he has a building downtown and a developer identified to create the space, but first needs city council to agree to back $1.5 million towards it. After that, he said he'll be looking to provincial, federal, and private donors for the remaining $8.5 million.

As for Kosmerly, he said low-income housing would allow him to move into the city where he could have easier access to other artists.

"There is a huge separation because we're so spread out," he said.

"All the artists want to help put Sudbury on the map, but they're still struggling for a means of living," he said. "I feel like we're on the edge of something new happening."

"I feel like this housing thing would be really crucial if we wanted to maintain honest art in this community."