1. Thomas Berkun
CMNS 190
April 20 , 2016
Vancouver artists struggle through housing issues
Natasha Lands sit alone at The Imperial bar side. Surveying the growing crowd of
young people it’s clear she has hit financial quota, yet she proclaims out loud “I hope
this event works” and although her statement isn’t a cry for empathy, it’s something
she seems used to saying despite having frequent success with past events.. The
Imperial is hosting the first Free Association event; a multimedia broadcast for
young artists involved in fashion, jewelry and music production. The Imperial is a
premier private event venue located in the heart of the poorest postal code in
Canada, a contradiction towards the event’s demographic. As the fashion show
begins, the audience migrates into social clusters that look like cliques in a high
school cafeteria and the criticism quickly begins. With the price of living being so
high in Vancouver, it makes it easier to critique for free than be the one being
critiqued.
Natasha Lands or known in the art community as “Cherchez La Femme” a French
phrase for “look for the woman” is notorious for her work in event planning.
Working as a DJ, a promoter, a gallerist, a label owner and now owner of Free
Association this has made her a strong figure among Vancouver artists. She hopes to
join artists together to fight the price of living involved with the Vancouver lifestyle.
As lands previously stated in her feature article on the Province “I want to get
creative kids paid and allow them to do what they want and not leave the city” an
arising problem as the cost of living increases.
Wendell Cox, an American urban planner and CEO for Demographia rated
Vancouver the third most unaffordable city in the world, falling to third place
under Sydney and Hong Kong; two cities, which have twice the population of
Vancouver. As the price of living increases within Vancouver, the average young
adult can experience tension when purchasing paintings and supporting local artist
as the rent checks are consuming most of the income. Gentrification is sweeping
artists and they’re being left studio homeless, an issue Lands faced as she was
evicted from her studio space due to spikes in housing prices.
As of 2016, it has never been more unaffordable to own a single home and
apartments are up next. Tattoo artist Nina Chewlos shares a Chinatown studio with
5 other artists making her rent 200 a month, a price she pays to share a chair with
another tattoo artist where she only tattoos 2 days of the week. Chewlos supports
herself as a line cook in the however like most artists Chewlos reassures art is her
main passion and career focus not the 9-5.

2. Thomas Berkun
CMNS 190
April 20 , 2016
Vancouver artists struggle through housing issues
The Vancouver art community thrives regardless of the economical discomfort issue
growing. Vancouver’s famous art university Emily Carr plans to house a new
campus with studios for ceramics, woodworking and classroom theatres. Vancouver
also hosts art shows for local and out-of-town artists, which can be seen at spaces
such as Fortune Sound Club. Vancouver has beautiful scenery, a mixture of cultures
and constant creative flow. The live music scene is colorful and reaches to almost
every genre known from live reggae to industrial “noise” music. Chapel Sound is a
collective of musicians contributing numerous genres stemming from trip-hop to
down-tempo and other heavy bass influenced sub-genres. 8 members formally lived
together in an Mt Pleasant household where music was produced as the months
went by and parties were thrown. Sadly gentrification had taken over the producer
household and the house is now being torn down. Only a quarter of the rent was
being paid with gig money. Member Futon Don doesn’t see the cost of living
affecting the fans however, as “the support thing doesn't really get affected in my
opinion because cover charges and stuff doesn't move with inflation, you know?”
Statistics show a high number of foreign investors correlating with the housing
prices, due to the governments lack of taxing foreign exchange the market was
quickly swiped and bought up by immigrant buyers. When asking Land’s her
opinion on this study, her tone quickly changes, “this city is corrupt it’s worst than
the TV show “ The Wire”, look at the docks and how much drug money is laundered
through there.” This statement may seem outlandish and possibly just fueled
through frustration however this has been reported last year by the prestigious
National Post, “Hells Angels and criminal gangs came to control much of the
Vancouver docks” factoring this into Vancouver’s crisis for artist defiantly adds
flame to fire if true however is nothing to point the finger at.
As the housing market rises, young adults will feel economically pressured to move
to other cities to showcase their talents, leading Vancouver into a creativity desert.
Musician Tommy Genesis despite a Vancouver upbringing showcases her “fetish
rap” through Atlanta’s Indie-Rap scene under “Awful Records”; she is now planning
a world tour, a major leap from being a local Vancouver performer.
The lucrative profit fueled selling technique known, as shadow flipping may appear
as a suitable way to point blame at this issue. Shadow flipping is where someone
buys a house, they sit on it with or without vacancy, the property price raises then
it’s resold which then leaves the real estate agent and the original homeowner with
a hefty profit in their pockets. After this is repeated a few times, the real estate
agents can generate large commission. Combine this technique with the large
increase of foreign buyers and this adds insult to injury. However simply blaming
this issue on immigrants will not help artists creative flow, as the NDP MLA for Point
Grey David Eby stated “There are always a few racist morons out there, but there

3. Thomas Berkun
CMNS 190
April 20 , 2016
Vancouver artists struggle through housing issues
are way more people who say B.C. was built through the efforts of immigrants and
more immigrants are great” when questioned on this immigrants fueling the
housing market in the Globe and Mail last November 2015.
As Mercer named Vancouver the best place to live in all of North America, the
population will only continue to grow; attracting more buyers from overseas or not.
The artists of Vancouver that were raised in the historic neighborhoods are pushed
to the side due to unrealistic rent prices combined with lack of profit. Land’s
believes through Free Association, artists will be able to come together in unity and
finally find a solution to the housing market. The tight legislation with event
planning however makes events like Free Association a financial risk as many
independent events are shut down by police due to fear of violence arising despite
these events being calm, sanctioned events for young artists. Lands also states the
cities strict drinking laws contribute to event planning be a complicated procedure.
Which ultimately makes this career a major struggle as artist bookings can take a
major decrease in audience numbers as the 19 plus age cap is enforced heavy. If a
minor enters a 19 plus venue, the server, the minor and the venue can face heavy
fines and liquor server de-licensing. This law leads venues to go 19 plus for all
events despite artist demographic because the cost of de-licensing for one night is
too much of a financial risk. An outlandish law as music can be enjoyed despite
liquor being served.
Land worries for the financial and artistic state of Vancouver. Her event-planning
portfolio stretches far and wide from booking mini ramp skate parties to drag
performances, which matches her personality; the pink hair is just the icing on the
crazy cake. However she cannot ignore the crisis Vancouver is facing and neither
can the rest of Vancouver’s artists. The purpose of Free Association is to broadcast
Vancouver’s artists ultimately bringing them all together creating support for one
and other. Until now, Vancouver is leading itself into being an economic ghost town
as artists begin to relocate. However if this issue is brought to mainstream attention,
Vancouver will be able to remain the best place to live in North America.