Eastside arts grant

Good morning,

Nate with you again today. Granville Island has been coming up in a lot of my conversations and thoughts lately, in part after looking into its industrial history for a story earlier this week. 

I spent an inordinate amount of time on the “Island” as a kid – not only was it my mom’s favourite place to shop, it was where my dad worked in the summer. For decades, my dad was a frequent busker there, drawing big crowds for his street shows in the triangle across from the Net Loft and in the courtyard behind the Public Market. 

After a 40-odd minute routine of juggling and physical comedy, he’d gather a crew from the crowd under the pretext of helping him get on his 12-foot unicycle. But in the process, he was also lifting their watches for the show’s big finish. He’d ride around to everyone’s delight before revealing the watches to the unwitting participants, who would only then notice what was missing from their wrists. “This is how I make sure I get down safe,” he’d tell them. 

As a kid, it was my job to come out of the crowd and catch the watches he’d throw down to me. No pressure, right? But it was exciting to be involved, and the Island was such a fun place to spend time as a kid. Seeing my dad doing what he loved, surrounded by admiring onlookers, always filled me with pride too. He’s retired from street shows now, but whenever I see a busker doing their thing I make a point to stop and watch.   

We’re working on another story about exciting developments on Granville Island and hope to share it soon. But for now, let’s get to today’s story!

— Nate Lewis, Vancity Lookout

As always, you can send your tips, leads, and story ideas to Nate at [email protected].

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WEATHER

Friday: 6 🌡️ -2 | ☀️

Saturday: 4 🌡️ -2 | 🌤️

Sunday: 4 🌡️ -2 | 🌤️

Monday: 4 🌡️ 0 | ☁️

VANCOUVER BRIEF

Here are some of the biggest and most interesting stories you need to start your Friday:

1. A big toilet deal: The Downtown Eastside is notorious for a lack of washrooms. Now, a new public washroom called the Portland Loo, named after the city that created it, will go up at Main and Powell, along with one in Gastown at a later date. The washrooms are designed for safety, cleanliness, and resistance to vandalism. The hope is that it will reduce the ahem public disposal of waste in the area, and comes as the city considers a new public washroom strategy. Read more. [Business in Vancouver] 

2. City council looks to help tenants: Both Nate and I are renters, so we’re closely following the news that council unanimously voted to look into better protections for tenants in Vancouver. It comes after complaints about landlords aggressively evicting tenants or illegally subdividing rooms with cardboard dividers. The city is considering creating a business license for landlords to ensure minimum maintenance standards and other requirements, with a focus on larger corporate landlords. Read more. [The Tyee]

ARTS AND CULTURE

Eastside Arts Society wins big with new city grant, while another grant sits dormant in the city’s budget

Read the story online.

Earlier this week, the city made a big investment in a prominent local arts organization, approving a $2.65 million grant to the Eastside Arts Society (EAS) for the group to purchase its own building.

“This is truly epic,” Esther Rausenberg giddily told Vancity Lookout. “It's just been a bit of a whirlwind.” Rausenberg is the longtime artistic and executive director of EAS, the non-profit society that organizes the popular Eastside Culture Crawl each year.

“I've been in the arts community for 40 years, and I've anticipated things and then they've never come to fruition. I've advocated for all kinds of artist spaces over many, many decades, and nothing has come out of that that's been as wonderful as this particular situation,” Rausenberg said. 

The multi-million dollar investment from the city allows EAS to purchase the small building at 716 East Hastings Street where the society has had its offices since 2015. Alongside the society’s offices, the building will serve as below-market artist studios for at least ten artists, as well as a gallery space. 

“This one-time investment would secure affordable artist studio and programming space as a public benefit, while using a community-owned approach, without creating long-term financial obligations related to facility maintenance and renewal for the City,” staff wrote in the grant recommendation.

The building purchase also provides the organization with certainty of tenure. “We don't have to be constantly moving from one place to another, trying to find something that we can work with,” Rausenberg said.

The building’s existing zoning allows for “hard to house” artistic production practices, such as sculpting or woodworking, which are loud, dirty, or dusty. “It's difficult for those artists to get space because it's not allowable in a number of areas within the city, for obvious reasons,” she explained. 

“I have always believed that in order for the arts to continue to survive, we have to own our own buildings,” Rausenberg said, noting that as a non-profit owner EAS won’t have to pay property tax on the building and will be able to pass those savings along to tenants. “That's a huge win right there,” she said. 

The purchase will also allow EAS to expand its programming and visibility too, Rausenberg said, describing how they run a workshop program for elementary schools in and around Strathcona and the Downtown Eastside, which until now have been hidden from public view. 

“We'll have this exhibit space … and we can show the public the art that these kids have made, because now we have a space that we can do that,” Rausenberg said.

An unpredictable funding model

The grant was approved and announced as part of the city’s first arts and culture grants of the year, but the money for the society’s building purchase didn’t come out of the same budget that supported the projects and operating costs of the other 164 organizations which received city funding. 

Rather, the society’s new home was funded through development contributions collected by the city since 2017 as part of the rezoning and approval process for new buildings in the False Creek Flats. 

EAS now joins a select number of arts non-profits that have received major investments from developer contributions collected by the city. Those include organizations like Western Front in Mount Pleasant and the Dance Foundation on behalf of the Dance Centre downtown. 

“These funds were positioned years ago through [the city’s] cultural services [department] for the Eastside Arts District, but we weren't sure how and when it could be used,” Rausenberg explained, underscoring how the selection of an organization for this sort of major funding, and the timing of when it comes through isn’t always straightforward. 

“The amount of money that [the city] had, the cost of this building, it just all seemed to come together and worked out,” after EAS found out the building was up for sale last March, Rausenberg explained. 

Nancy Lee told Vancity Lookout they are happy for Rausenberg and EAS to have gotten the building grant. Lee is an interdisciplinary artist, artistic director and chief curator of Chapel Sound Art Foundation, worked on the city’s Culture|Shift plan, and is a former board member at VIVO Media Arts Centre.

But based on their experience at VIVO, Lee sees “a lot of room for improvement” in the city’s framework for distributing developer contributions to arts organizations.  

In 2012, the city rezoned a half-block at Broadway and Kingsway for The Independent, a major 21-storey mixed-use development by Rize Alliance properties. The rezoning came with a negotiated $4.5 million contribution from the developer to support arts and culture in Mount Pleasant. 

After an open call for submissions to access the money, the city chose four neighbourhood organizations to support with funding for arts production spaces. That’s how Western Front got $1.5 million to buy its current building on 8th Avenue, according to CBC. 

VIVO, partnering with the Vancouver Creative Space Society (C-Space), were chosen to receive $2.3 million in funding to purchase a new shared building in the area. But “due to complications around partnership development, organization capacities and lack of affordable suitable space,” the money was never given out, according to a 2023 report from C-Space. 

Lee wasn’t on the VIVO board at the time, joining the organization after its 2014 move out of Mount Pleasant, but described the lack of access to the grant as a “constant issue” that came up during their time on the board. More than a decade later, that $2.3 million still appears as a line item in the city’s 2025 budget, earmarked in name for VIVO and C-Space, but neither organization seems able to access it.

To Lee, who is no longer on VIVO’s board, it’s an example of how the city’s framework for dispensing these amenity contributions has failed to support some of the organizations the funds were intended to benefit. 

As we reported last fall, VIVO is in serious financial distress, cancelling its 2026 programming and temporarily laying off staff due to significant rent increases in the city-owned building it's occupied since moving out of Mount Pleasant. 

The jubilation for Rausenberg and Eastside Arts Society and the promise of an expanded home base is a tangible example of the positive impact these major civic grants can have. However, amidst that celebration, it’s worth remembering the situation where the same model has fallen short. 

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THE VANCOUVER NUMBER

1st

It’s not something to celebrate in this situation  — it’s the position Vancouver ranks in terms of worst traffic in Canada, according to a recent study by TomTom GPS. We’re fourth in North America, after much bigger cities like Los Angeles, Guadalajara, and Mexico City. [Urbanized]

THE AGENDA

🚘 Imagine this – You’re driving an Evo or riding a bike in the evening, you round a corner, and suddenly you’re blinded by a car’s bright LED lights. It’s becoming a common occurrence, but luckily city council is on it – or at least making an effort – by unanimously passing a motion to ask the federal government to bring in limits on headlight brightness. Read more. [CityNews]

A man was fatally stabbed near Commercial-Broadway station on Tuesday night. It’s the first confirmed homicide of 2026. Read more. [CBC]

A new drug called medetomidine is circulating throughout the unregulated drug supply in the Lower Mainland. The drug is a veterinary sedative, and not an opioid, which means it doesn’t respond well to traditional naloxone overdose treatment. Read more. [Vancouver Sun]

🚧 After many public complaints over the impact of Broadway Subway road closures, BC’s Transportation Minister Mike Farnsworth has agreed to meet with local businesses. There’s hope the province will provide some monetary support for lost revenue due to construction, but the province’s policy is not to provide compensation for construction disruption. Read more. [CityNews]

📉 While still expensive, rent in Vancouver just keeps falling. The average price for an unfurnished one-bedroom in Metro Vancouver dropped $9 to $2,111 for January, and has fallen $182 since January 2025. Read more. [Vancouver is Awesome]

🚨 The Vancouver Goldeneyes put together their best game of the season on Thursday night, dominating the Toronto Sceptres en route to a 5-0 win. Sarah Nurse scored twice against her former team, while Kristen Campbell, affectionately known as Soup, registered her first shutout of the year. Read more. [TSN] 

WEEKEND EVENT GUIDE

Vancouver International Wine Festival | Vancouver Convention Centre + more venues | March 7-14 | The wine world awaits you at the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Canada’s premier wine show features seven days of parties, seminars, lunches, dinners, and tastings | Get tickets [Sponsored]

90's Tribute night | The Cobalt, 917 Main St. | Jan 24 8 p.m. | 1st Tribute night of 2026!! 4 Degrees, playing the music of Tool, Them Bones rockin’ Alice In Chains, Big Brown Beaver slappin’ some Primus, and Derek Lundblad honoring Chris Cornell | Get tickets [Sponsored]

Street Food City | šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square – West Georgia St. | Jan. 22-25 | Catch all the best food trucks in town | Free entry

Moulin Rouge! The Musical | Queen Elizabeth Theatre | Now until Jan. 25 | Catch the touring show featuring music from the movie | Tickets $195+

Taste Around Abby | Various restaurants | Now until Feb. 4 | 15-day festival out in Abbotsford, similar to Dine Out Vancouver (which is also happening now)

Little Weird Weekend | Little Mountain Gallery | Jan 23-25 | Annual comedy series focused on alternative indie comedy | Various prices

Lord of the Rings Extended Trilogy Marathon | Rio Theatre | Jan. 31. 11 a.m. | Yes, exactly as it sounds. It might start in the late morning but be prepared for it to go late | Tickets $33

Legends of Georgia | Centennial Theatre | Jan. 30, 7 p.m. | Ancient stories and timeless beauty of Georgian music and dance | Tickets $30+

Fireside Chat with National Team Coach Jesse Marsch | SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts | Jan. 31, 2:15 p.m. | Exclusive discussion with Canadian men’s soccer head coach | Tickets $42

Submit your event and it could appear here and reach 29,000+ Vancouver locals.

PHOTO OF THE DAY

Photographic proof of a happy young Nate on Granville Island in the ‘90s ☺️

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Check out this new direct flight to Japan’s ski region of Sapporo. At around $2,500 for a round-trip flight, it’s about the same price as a week of lift passes in Whistler [Vancouver is Awesome]

• Ever wondered why there are glass blocks on Vancouver sidewalks? Here’s why. [VanMag]

• There’s a massive new Emily Carr exhibit coming to the Vancouver Art Gallery starting on Feb. 6. 

• Here are all the Oscar nomination connections to Vancouver. [Vancouver Sun]

• Check out this new Peruvian Cevicheria arriving soon in Chinatown. [Scout Magazine]

• Want to have your announcement featured? Learn how here.

VANCOUVER GUESSER

Unfortunately, more than 50 of you knew (many from personal experience, I’m sure) that last week’s Guesser was the city’s vehicle impound lot in False Creek Flats, operated by Busters Towing.  

For this week’s challenge, can you tell me which park is home to this sculpture?