By: Maya Barillas Mohan, Staff Writer
Notoriously expensive with an undeniable creative pulse, Vancouver is still able to create affordable working spaces for full-time artists, thanks to David Duprey. In an interview with Duprey, the founder of artist-forward Narrow Group, The Peak learned more about the upcoming artist lodge Cosmo and his philosophy behind affordable spaces for Vancouver’s diverse artists. Mount Pleasant’s newly-opened Cosmo building occupies a former industrial building on West 4th. Duprey doesn’t “change walls or staircases,” he just reads the flow of a particular space.
“Arts and culture is just fundamental,” Duprey started. “We all have it around us every day. It’s design, it’s stuff we look at online, it’s the soundtrack of our lives.” He is motivated “to create a vibrant and exciting art scene,” from his artistic background as a photographer, which was later combined with his interest in business. He has opened up “affordable places for people to work and thrive” over the past 20 years. Units range from 90 to 968 square ft with prices ranging from $275 a month to over $2,000. These “Artopia” working spaces are possible because Narrow Group makes “deals with landlords for empty buildings they couldn’t find a use for.” These savings are passed onto the artist so “people can afford to be there and afford to create.” Duprey expressed that there is a “broad reach of what is considered art, but as long as it’s something creative that you’re doing, then you’re in.”
Artopia offers a creative use for empty buildings, but bylaws, zoning, and permits can be “incredibly difficult.” Some buildings from 50 years ago are not “up to today’s building codes,” so finding flexibility in the City of Vancouver’s bylaws is a recurrent challenge. “A staircase 2 cm too small, we should really be letting things like that go,” Duprey reflected. In the spirit of giving artists the “capacity to build their own infrastructure” within Artopia buildings, Duprey uniquely offers freedom that other spaces in Vancouver don’t. Some put restrictions on oil painters or ceramicists due to the precautions required for solvents or kilns, but it’s not a problem for him as long as “it’s up to safety standards.”
According to Duprey, some cities like Calgary or Victoria support artists by relaxing bylaws in artist-occupied buildings. “I’d love that to happen in Vancouver, where we’re working with the city and the permitting department,” he reflected. Bylaws are different from working around larger projects like the Broadway subway expansion, though. “That’s way above my paygrade,” Duprey laughed. “I do appreciate that nothing lasts forever. I have buildings that have been filled with artists for 20 years, and others that are going to last three or four.” He continued that he will make any space work because “the nature of everything is that it’s change [ . . . ] but we’re going to get value out of it, we’re going to create some stuff, and make it affordable. I think that’s what’s most important.”
When I went to the Artopia City Centre Artist lodge, I was impressed by the way the space hosts a great variety of artists who were all ready to chat with each other and myself. I believe that it is spaces like these that push artists into the view of the public. It’s inspiring to see what these existing spaces have done and what upcoming spaces will do to continue to serve the city’s arts scene.
