Edmonton's Harcourt House Under Threat

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Harcourt House, an artist-run centre in Edmonton, says it is facing "a do-or-die situation" with news that the provincial government will not renew its lease, which expires Nov. 30 after more than 30 years of continuous occupancy.

The centre has launched a crowd-funding campaign as it works to raise $3.5 million to purchase its facility in central Edmonton, to "make this home permanent and stable," the centre's board of directors wrote in a recent message to the community. 

The centre says the government gave no reason for its decision not to renew the lease.

The funding, to come from various sources, includes a GoFundMe account with the goal of raising at least $35,000 in smaller contributions to demonstrate grassroots community support. By Monday afternoon, less than a week into its campaign, donors had pledged about $18,000.

"This broad community support for this important community project is needed in our ongoing negotiations with all levels of government, prospective corporate sponsors, and other institutions, to secure the rest of funding to make Harcourt House permanent and secure," the board writes.

Board president Edmund Haakonson told Taproot Edmonton, an online news site, that a move would have a "devastating effect" on the Harcourt community.

“Harcourt House is an incredibly unique space within Canada," said Haakonson. "Not just Edmonton, not just Alberta, but within Canada. It is certainly the largest collective of studios west of Toronto. It’s something that is valuable not only to this city or the province, but it’s valuable to the country.”

Harcourt House was established after a group of artists came together for fundraising relief in 1987 for victims of the Black Friday Tornado in Edmonton. More than 200 artists donated work for an art auction fundraiser, with profits going to the Red Cross for emergency relief.

After the auction, organizers decided to set up the Where Edmonton Community Artists Network Society and with the help of Ernie Isley, then the provincial public works minister,  the society moved into the complex of buildings it still calls home. 

Harcourt House presents exhibitions by artists from Alberta and beyond, as well as offering educational programs and renting artist studios. If Harcourt has to relocate, 42 artists will be forced to find other places to work, the board says.

"The community that exists at Harcourt House is a vital component of the institution and a move will scatter it to the wind," the board's letter says. "The art landscape of Alberta will be greatly diminished by this turn of events, should it come to pass. We at Harcourt House are not prepared to give up on our community."

Source: Harcourt House, Taproot Edmonton