CBC: Destruction of Winnipeg warehouse highlights dearth of cheap studios
The loss of a North End warehouse used by nearly 30 Winnipeg artists underscores a shortage of safe, affordable studio space in the city, artists say.
“They lost space in a town that is running out of space,” said Cliff Eyland, a Winnipeg artist who teaches at the University of Manitoba.
A massive fire broke out at the former mattress factory at 274 Jarvis Ave. in the early hours of Monday morning. It burned to the ground and everything inside — including decades of artwork and studio spaces for 27 artists — went up in smoke.
In the wake of the disaster, artists grieving their lost work are left searching for space in a market that Eyland and other artists described as dwindling, as rising rent across the city and in the Exchange District leaves few affordable options.
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