Happy National Philanthropy Day!

It’s National Philanthropy Day and we wanted to take this opportunity to thank our donors, supporters, and community for another year of uplifting Akin! As we recover from the last 18 months of a global pandemic, we are thankful to be surrounded by a community that comes together to ease the burdens of artists and art workers in the city of Toronto.

During this time, we began our Akin Rent Relief Fund which has raised over $23,000 and supported over 100 artists and counting. 66% of all funds raised came directly from artists, designers, writers, and creatives within the Akin community. We were supported through forgiveness of property rents by our partners Castlepoint Numa, Kultura, Percy Ellis, QuadReal, Toronto Arts Council, and TAS, allowing us to reduce our studio membership fees for four months in 2020 and to sustain ourselves through these difficult times.

These donations and relief also helped us maintain an important connection with our communities through our programming initiatives such as Taxes for Artists, Work in Progress Show & Tell, Card Making Party, and our Indigenous Community Consultation.

These past couple of years have provided us with more evidence than ever that there is a need for organizations like Akin to advocate for artists and the need for artist spaces in our city. We’re so grateful you believe in us and the mission we continue to carry each day.

Thank you for donating to us, sharing our news, volunteering with us, and even cheering us on from the sidelines. We could not be doing any of this without you!

Akin is coming to Regent Park!

Toronto, ON - November 11, 2021. Akin is thrilled to announce that we are opening a brand new studio location, Akin Regent Park. We are looking forward to creating a space for our artists in Canada’s largest and oldest public housing neighbourhood.

Akin Regent Park studio members will have access to the space for a minimum of 3 years. There will be approximately 6 Shared Memberships available for $71/month, which includes access to shared working areas, shared storage, kitchen, and bathroom. There will also be approximately 16 Dedicated Memberships available (your own studio) with studios ranging from 30sf for $191 / month - 112sf for $485 / month. There are no completely private studios at this location, or studios over 112sf. 

Located at Akin Regent Park at 658 Dundas Street East which is on the Dundas 505 streetcar or Dundas 505 bus route and near  the 501 Queen streetcar route, 65 Parliament bus route, 365 Parliament Night bus and the 301 Queen Blue Light Night Route. 

The closest wheelchair accessible stop is Dundas St East at Regent Park Blvd, Stop ID: 15873, which is 210m  from the studio and the closest Dundas St East at River St, Stop ID: 2126 which is 110m from the studio.

You can view a map of the location at this link: 658 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON

After years of planning, Akin Regent Park will be opening in the heart of a community that is known for its creativity and its resilience. While Akin’s nomadic nature has served it for many years, we are excited to occupy a new space where Akin artists are at the forefront of the planning process from the space’s very conception. 

A Toronto map of Akin studios in grey lines in the background. In the foreground is text that reads in black, "Deadline: Nov 25, 2021" In red text it reads, "Community Survey." with a large dot leading to a cylinder shape with a black outline and text that reads, "Akin Regent Park." On the bottom right is Akin's logo; a decagram star shape with the word akin in its centre.

In efforts to create a space that compliments the community that will occupy it, we’ve created an Akin Regent Park Community Survey to inform us of the needs of the artists that this space will be serving. We want to hear artists’ thoughts about spaces, programming, and other essentials: What do YOU want to see? What kind of programming will enrich your future community and excite you into building this new creative studio? Please fill out our Akin Regent Park Community Survey by November 25 to help us create the best space possible! 

We cannot wait to hear your thoughts and needs in our survey and we are looking forward to sharing this space with you soon! 

You can share our survey on our Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. 

For any questions please contact info@akincollective.com for more information.