Whether she likes them or not, Jill Whitford has just about had enough of avocados.
She’s standing in the midst of a sprawling 20,000 square-foot warehouse that has been completely transformed over the span of two months.
What was once home to a produce wholesaler and more recently an avocado factory will soon become Vancouver’s newest arts and culture space.
Eastside Studios is moving away from pits and produce to party time on June 1.
“When it does come together and it does work, and you have so many people provide so much immense support, it makes all the effort worth it,” Whitford told the Courier. “And it makes it happen really easily once you do secure that space.”
Whitford and a team of four others took over the Malkin Avenue warehouse in East Vancouver in April. Split between two floors, the top level is a mix of both private and co-op art spaces. The lower level covers at least 10,000 square feet and includes rehearsal spaces, photo suites and huge performance area that will play host to gigs, markets, speaker series and more.
Whitford’s group is also behind the wildly-popular Eastside Flea Market that gives creative types a place to sell their wares. Securing a space to create content that’s sold within blocks of one another is a natural fit.
“We have something that I don’t think anybody else in the city has, which is the community already built around the East Side Flea,” said Alberta Randall, who covers off on the operational side of the warehouse space. “Some of these people have been working with us for the past five-plus years and they’re our family, so we already this army of local makers and vintage pickers who will support us and who need us to support them.”
Like most others in the Vancouver arts scene, finding the space was an exhaustive process that spanned months. Whitford looked throughout the East Side, combed Craigslist every day and worked with multiple realtors during the three-month search.
Once she found it, word spread instantly. No advertising was needed, save for a couple Instagram posts. Every private artist suite was filled within 24 hours.
“We got flooded with emails, inquiries and questions from people who wanted to see the space that day,” Whitford said. “People were trying to leave deposit cheques then and there. They were telling us ‘I’m a professional artist, I have nowhere to create and it’s affecting my livelihood.’ They were so desperate.”
The flood of attention wasn’t surprising to Whitford. She says it’s a fact of life that’s permeated across virtually every artistic discipline in Vancouver.
“It’s nothing that we didn’t already know,” Whitford said. “Working in the small business and creative communities, we’re constantly hearing there’s a lack of space to sell your goods, make your goods, to store your goods or to do anything that is independent. The space doesn’t exist and when it does exist they are insanely expensive.”
The studio’s life could be a short one. Whitford has a two-year lease and there’s talk of developing the area. Plans are also afoot to relocate St. Paul’s Hospital into the neighbourhood.
“Our lease will be up and we’ll definitely struggle to find another space — it’s only going to get harder from here,” Whitford said. “It will come to an end eventually, and it will be sad but that’s OK. You just make it last as long as you can.”
Eastside Studios’ opening day bash on June 1 will include a food truck, craft beers, an outdoor patio area, DJ sets and performances by Necking, Monsoon Moon and Babe Corner.
For info, see www.facebook.com/events/1912068975535023.
