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Kalli Niedoba, Big Beige Eyes (detail), 2014. Photo by Dennis Ha
About
Office
100-221 E Georgia St
Vancouver BC V6A 1Z6
Canada
Unceded Territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam),
Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh
(Tsleil-Waututh) Nations
hello@221a.ca
+1 604 568 0812
Mission
221A works with artists and designers to research and develop social, cultural and ecological infrastructure.
Vision
221A envisions a pluralistic society in which people have the means to access and make culture.
Organizing Values
Self-determination
Artist-run
Responsible to community and neighbours
Experimental
Non-market autonomy
Question design
Artists paid fair wage
Contemporary art and design
Brief History
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Ron Tran, The Kitchen Garden at Home/Store, 2015. Photo by Dennis Ha
Beginning as a student-led initiative in 2005, the organization was initially animated by an opposition to the division between contemporary art and design. Leaving the university grounds in 2008 to establish its first public exhibition space, the organization would be shaped by the history and upheavals of its new home in Chinatown, the embattled neighbourhood itself a microcosm of a global economic recession and the transformation of Vancouver before and after the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Current Fellows
Amy Nugent, 2018–2019
William Dereume, 2018–2019
Past Fellows
Yu Su, 2017
Josh Gabert-Doyon, 2017
Juli Majer, 2018
Jenn Jackson, 2018
Fellowships
221A works with artists and designers to conduct research over a period of 3 to 24 months. Each fellow receives a monthly stipend and open research office at Pollyanna where they are expected to lead new research on potential social, cultural or ecological ‘infrastructure’. Staff work alongside Fellows to resource and translate research into operational plans towards infrastructure.
Board of Directors
Russell Baker, Secretary
Ross Gentleman, Treasurer
Alex Grünenfelder
Am Johal
Laura Kozak, President
Linus Lam
Jenni Pace
Sadira Rodrigues
cheyanne turions, Vice-President
Staff
Michelle Fu Head of Finance & Equity
Courtenay Mayes Operations Coordinator
Madison Mayhew Admin Assistant
Brian McBay Executive Director
Jesse McKee Head of Strategy
Tessa Tomlinson Collections Librarian
Stephan Wright Head of Facilities & Production
Sungpil Yoon Tenancy Relations Coordinator
Contractors
Rosemary Heather Editorial Director, Blockchains & Cultural Padlocks
Jay Barker Project Manager
Buckley Dodds Parker LLP Auditor
Joji Fukushima Craftsperson
Christy Nyiri Designer/Developer
Quantum Accounting Bookkeeping
Artists' Fees & Living Wages
221A’s policies require the payment of artists at rates above the CARFAC national average and the compensation of all staff, including summer students, at a minimum of $32,500 per year or $21/hr or equivalent total salary and benefits. 221A aims to improve the reciprocal health of the organization, its constituents, and our ecological context.