Artscape Daniels Launchpad, a hub for creative entrepreneurship, opened today in Toronto.
The Artscape Daniels Launchpad is designed to support creative experimentation, learning, connection and collaboration in a hub that provides access to an ecosystem of support. The goal is to attract makers, visual artists, media creators, and designers into one space. A limited number of memberships will be made available to innovators in technology, science, and manufacturing.
It will also serve as a home base for Artscape’s specialized creative entrepreneurship programs, services, and resources. Like other Artscape projects, Launchpad will operate as a not-for-profit social enterprise.
“The value of everything today is more and more about creative ideas and less and less about materials and labour and yet many artists and designers are finding it harder and harder to make a living,” said Artscape CEO Tim Jones.
Artscape Daniels Launchpad is supported through a partnership with Artscape and The Daniels Corporation, with support from the John and Myrna Daniels Foundation and WJ Properties. Additional support came from the governments of Canada, Ontario, and Toronto, and other donors and sponsors. Launchpad will celebrate its official opening on November 26, 2018.
“Launchpad provides the unique opportunity for creators to engage in a space that has been designed to meet their needs and provide the tools, systems and resources to be competitive in today’s marketplace locally and globally,” said Karim Rahemtulla, the managing director of Artscape Daniels Launchpad. “We are supporting artists, designers and creators to build their entrepreneurship skills, collaborate and innovate with liked-minded creatives across our creative studios and spaces, as well as providing the opportunity to plug into a creative eco-system with support from our many partners.”