The private sector plays an important role in the welfare of the arts community, often providing much needed financial support, and sometimes creating the space for culture to prosper. West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative caught up with philanthropist, property developer and cultural champion Nancy Jain to learn more about her support of creative industries and, of course, her love of Inuit art from Kinngait.

You have a very interesting history that bridges arts and culture and academic involvement with your business interests. Maybe we can begin with a biography, in your own words, and tell us generally how that all coalesces to inform your involvement in the creative realm?

I’ve always loved the arts, a passion inspired by my mother, so that’s the very fledgling roots of my interest. I love to travel too, and have always felt that the best way to understand the soul of a place is to experience its art, so I’m always exploring the architecture, museums, cathedrals, fairs and galleries when I’m visiting somewhere new. Later in life, as I learned more about the milieu, I became increasingly intrigued by the intersections of business and the arts, that is to say, how the business sector can support and enrich the cultural sphere, and vice versa. I truly believe the arts and culture are an integral part of a healthy business ecology.

But as far as my bio is concerned, I originally trained as an Industrial Engineer and have a Masters of Business Administration from INSEAD France, the formal side of my art studies came much later, when I decided to pursue a Masters in Contemporary Art in the United Kingdom, while running my real estate development business in Canada. Absolutely crazy, I know! Along the way, I’ve managed to work on three continents, which gives me a unique and international perspective on the arts and the various conversations that happen within creative communities. Most recently, my academic and work experiences have culminated in my role as Adjunct Professor at OCAD University, teaching senior students how to vet their creative ideas for products and services and bring them to market. Something I’m particularly excited about, I co-developed the OCAD University Interdisciplinary Business Program, a progressive strategic pilot that is now being incorporated into the university’s core academic curriculum. I think that you’re likely seeing that the collision of commerce and culture is a narrative that plays itself out in many aspects of my professional life.

Let’s talk specifically about your interest in creative residencies – you completed a Masters of Arts on the subject. Can you tell us about what motivated you to engage in that course of study and what are some of the discoveries you made?

Yes, so as I mentioned, I do have a Masters in Contemporary Art from the University of Manchester in London, and I focused my research on the intersection of business, art and philanthropy, as I have a passion for all three, and took a deep dive into analyzing private and public institutions of the UK, Europe and beyond to understand how the international creative community supports the arts and their artists. My dissertation, “The Art of the Residency”, was an examination of the feasibility and best practices of artist residencies previously unscrutinized through an academic lens. Artist residencies continue to be an important, but somewhat under-appreciated building block for the arts community and artists. Artist residencies are shadowed by preconceptions because little narrative exists about them – they are a private, in some ways an almost secretive world, representing a microcosm of the art world. As you might imagine, I learned a great deal about what worked, and frankly what didn’t, by speaking with artists, curators and analyzing a broad cross section of residencies from around the world.

After graduating, a number of organizations became interested in learning more about my findings – both OCAD University and the Toronto association Partners In Art approached me about the research. I worked closely with then OCAD University President, Dr. Sara Diamond and a team comprising some of the top curators in the country to develop the largest curatorial residency of its kind in Canada, the OCAD University International Curatorial Residency. This initiative not only creates educational opportunities while promoting innovative curatorial methods, but equally important, it showcases the work of participating Canadian artists on the global contemporary art stage. Partners in Art generously supported the first iteration of this ground-breaking initiative for which we have Berlin-based Cameroonian, Dr. Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung. Hailed as one of the top curators in the world, he has worked with the Biennale de Venezia, documenta 14 and is the Artistic Director of SAVVY Contemporary in Berlin. Currently, Dr. Ndikung is working with Canadian and international artists in the development of a major exhibition scheduled for 2022 at Onsite Gallery. That show, along with the participating Canadian artists, will then travel to Berlin. Happy to share more details about the exhibition as they become available!

As an entrepreneur, your activities are primarily as a property developer in Toronto and you’ve been able to leverage that real estate in support of the arts and non-profit sector. Can you tell us more about that?

From a business perspective, I co-founded a real estate development and management group that focuses on retro-fit projects, basically revitalizing and repurposing old buildings to make creative spaces for local entrepreneurs. In 2005, we acquired the 100,000 square foot property in Victoria Village South – at the time, it was an abandoned pharmaceutical plant. Granted lots of developers are undertaking similar projects, but I’ve attempted to use my international experience and art education to inform my business model – another good example of arts and culture leading my commercial endeavours.

Over time, at 100 Sunrise Avenue, we have conscientiously developed a vibrant, mixed-use facility that is home to many unique and vital Canadian enterprises, both established and start-ups. For example, Sandra Ainsley Gallery, a globally recognized dealer of fine art glass has her showroom at the facility, and more recently, we assisted a young entrepreneur to launch a start-up called Immersion Room, which is a state-of-the-art virtual film production studio.

I’m equally motivated by civic concerns at the neighbourhood level. I was watching closely, the challenges of COVID19, as they started to take an extreme toll on both the business and not-for-profits sectors. One of our tenants, the Ontario Para Network, an organization that offers opportunities for para-athletes, became especially vulnerable to the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Much of the organization’s usual support was greatly reduced, so we made it a priority to ensure continued access to vital athletic and court space, which was critical for the health and wellness of those athletes. In fact, at 100 Sunrise, we were one of very few landlords in the country to offer Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance to our tenants, which made all the difference for our diverse community.

Frankly, I truly believe art is cathartic, and can help express emotions and reduce feelings of isolation, which is especially crucial now, with the onset of a global lockdown. So despite the pandemic, we also launched our Sunrise Studios and Gallery106 initiatives over a year ago, which offer 2,500 square feet of subsidized working studio spaces to support diverse, under-represented artists and a range of creatives at all stages of their careers. Sunrise Studios has been providing a sanctuary – space, time and freedom to experiment, express and create relationships among peers, other interdisciplinary creatives, supporters and patrons, and the community. For many of our artists, Sunrise Studios have been a pathway to inspiration and revelation. I’m very proud of what our artists have achieved in a short time, in fact, two of them were selected to participate in the 2021 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, one artist will represent Canada in the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 2021 in Dubai in October, and yet another has work that found its way to the United Kingdom in this year’s London Art Biennale. And adjoined to the studio facility is Gallery106, which has become an important exhibition space and cultural hub in Toronto – nothing of its kind exists in the area. Not only are the resident artist able to exhibit their work, many have even been able to sell pieces for the first time from their shows. As we all know, one of the most pervasive barriers for the creative industries is access to affordable, quality space. I’m envisioning a building where there’s not only quality space, but the opportunity for ongoing exchange between the tenants and the venue becomes animated by a program of exhibitions and events.

Of course, the pandemic has created new challenges that are still surfacing, but it’s also given us an unusual moment of reflection. For me, I can go back to my guiding tenet of how, now more than ever, the private sector can support the arts community at a grassroots level. Now that this studio program is in place, I’m excited to welcome our first residency participant, who will receive a fully paid studio space and a materials budget. I hope to create safe and productive spaces where exchange and collaboration are at the core. I know this begins on the micro-scale, it takes focus and patience, nurturing one starfish at a time.

Shifting gears, perhaps we can discuss your interest in Inuit art? You’ve been to Kinngait in Nunavut and spent time with artists in the community. What brought you to the milieu and what are some of your observations about the art of the North?

I was born and raised in the Canadian South but had limited access to information and images from Indigenous communities, and those mostly were through my connections in the art world, certainly not from school. It’s only recently that I became aware of the rich and problematized history of the Canadian Arctic. I needed more education and a better understanding about the communities in our North and their creative expression, which is so unique and important. As a former board member of The Power Plant, I sought to support exhibitions of work by female artists, my first was Indigenous artist Maria Hupfield. After that experience, I signed on as a supporter of the “Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds” exhibition, and during the run of that show, I met the artist. It became a particularly important contribution for me because I had the privilege of visiting Nunavut and to meet Shuvinai again, this time as she worked in Kinngait Studios there. And of course, you, William and the West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative were instrumental in helping me organize that trip, which wasn’t just for me, but 19 Canadian female art patrons, members of the Partners in Art group, were also part of that adventure to Kinngait, formerly Cape Dorset, and Iqaluit. Such a profound experience meeting the talented and generous Inuit creators and discovering more about this artistic enclave. That visit North was a weighty experience for everyone, and I am certain that it created 20 more ambassadors who are all now promoting the Inuit art of Kinngait! I do want to mention a specific art acquisition! After my visit to Kinngait, I started to collect Shuvinai Ashoona’s drawings, I just love her work. One of my recent acquisitions, “Earth’s Superheros” evokes many symbolic metaphors for me, and that work was on loan last year to the Centre for Contemporary Arts in Glasgow for her very first solo exhibition in Europe. Such a terrific feeling when a work of art can be so satisfying for so many different reasons!

Let’s close off the discussion with your thoughts on upcoming plans for your participation in cultural community and if any those initiatives include Inuit artists or Inuit art from Nunvut?

As I mentioned earlier, I’ve got lots of plans! And I’m very keen to continue my support of Inuit artists in Kinngait – in fact, I’m planning to go back North to reengage with the all the remarkable creators that I met. And of course, I’m really looking forward to working with West Baffin Eskimo Cooperation again. I’m hoping the first artist in residence at 100 Sunrise will be a creative from Kinngait. That would be such a terrific way to launch the program! I know that it hasn’t been officially announced, but I really thought it was worth mentioning. I’m very excited about that program particularly, it’s a true extension of my exploration into international artist residencies as part of my Masters in Contemporary Art, and continues to marry my real estate development ethos with cultural compassion and philanthropy. More importantly, local initiatives like this can help break down existing notions and barriers of the ‘other’ and help start the healing process in a grassroots way. It’s very gratifying for me to see everything come together like this, and I look forward to what else might be possible, working with so many talented people, and in my own small way, helping to foster the growth of creative entrepreneurship.