About

Kalli Niedoba, Big Beige Eyes (detail), 2014. Photo by Dennis Ha

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

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

Juli Majer, 2018
Amy Nugent, 2018
Jenn Jackson, 2018
William Dereume, 2018

Past Fellows

Yu Su, 2017
Josh Gabert-Doyon, 2017

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
Laura Kozak, Chair
Jenni Pace
Sadira Rodrigues, Vice-Chair
Naomi Sawada
Miyo Takeda
cheyanne turions

Staff

Hannah Dempsey Collections Librarian
Michelle Fu Systems Designer
Brian McBay Director
Jesse McKee Head of Strategy
Vincent Tao Librarian
Stephan Wright Technical Lead
Sungpil Yoon Coordinator, Infrastructure

Significant Contractors
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.