We are a self-sustaining model. We've proven that we can hold ourselves up within the community that we serve, without funding. I think the theme of the artists who come to us is that they're done waiting. They don't want to wait for grants either. It's too much. They're here, they're ready, and they want to do their art now. Nothing is going to stop them, and we can help them through that.
Kasey spoke to the need for more education and encouragement for artists to see themselves as creative entrepreneurs and have the education so that they can succeed faster, and fail less by trial and error, with a little bit more experience that can come from a training program or places where there is knowledge that can come from other sectors. Really, that is how we flourish, when the artists are able to do that. Our obstacle right now is that we are unfortunately running out of time in Toronto, with the gentrification and real estate market on a very fast track to pricing us out. In the meantime, while we're trying to get these artists to move faster into what they're inevitably working toward, perhaps there could be support for the spaces. Something the government could do would be tax credits and rent control offered to landlords willing to rent to small independent cultural hubs.