Client

Overview

STEPS believes public art has the ability to challenge the systemic inequities that exist in public space, but Canada’s public art collection does not currently reflect its diversity. This is the inspiration that led STEPS to launch the CreateSpace Public Art Residency, a national program designed in consultation with advisors from coast to coast, to provide emerging Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis), and racialized artists with the skills, relationships, and practical experience needed to take their public art practice to the next level. Since the program began in 2021, the program has supported 30 artist and artist teams across the country and provided free programming through virtual panel discussions open to the public.

Goals

The CreateSpace Public Art Residency supports artists and artist teams in their pursuit of public art practices. CreateSpace strengthens solidarity amongst artists working in diverse contexts and builds connections between these artists and their communities. This residency also encourages conversations of social equity in city-building, design, and placemaking.

This program includes skill-building and mentorship opportunities to develop and grow public art practices and discourse. The skills learned and experiences gained throughout CreateSpace leaves a lasting impact within the arts sector, enabling a new generation of creatives to share the value and power of public art programming with others, furthering collective knowledge and creativity.

Process

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the inequalities that exist in cities, particularly in public spaces. The CreateSpace Public Art Residency amplifies the work of under-represented artists by fostering socially engaged public art practices that directly affect communities. These new public artwork activations by CreateSpace artists elevate not only their work, but also activate and engage each community across Canada in which the artists are working.

Community members across Canada are given the opportunity to engage in the CreateSpace artist’s work in all stages; during the research and development process, the creation, and the unveiling. As artists develop conversations with various communities about their artworks, meaningful engagement occurs. Communities learn more about their neighbourhoods, the histories behind them, the people within them, and find new ways to navigate and celebrate them. These moments of engagement between the artist and community build strong and lasting connections to cultivate important dialogue around social equity in city-building and design. Each of these unique public artworks further strengthen community connections and demonstrate public art's ability to reimagine and foster equitably designed communities.

Additional Information

Artists have a critical role to play in shaping cities and our Artist Capacity Building Programs are designed to amplify the work of Black, Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, Métis), Persons of Colour, female, LGBTQQIP2SAA+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, two-spirit, asexual, allies, along with additional sexual orientations and gender identities), and newcomer artists in public spaces. In support of this important work, CreateSpace is a portfolio of STEPS programming that: foster inclusive public art practices; build the capacity of artists who are underrepresented in Canadian public art; and demonstrate the power of art to reimagine equitably designed cities. The CreateSpace Public Art Residency began in 2021 with nearly 100 calls for artist submissions across the country. As of 2024, the program continues to support artists across the country.