Nonprofit organization 221A announces the first official asset in the Cultural Land Trust
A bequest from the estate of the late SFU professor Evelyn Pinkerton, the 1920s house will provide community housing for the arts
(Left to right) Francis Gibson (Natalie Wright’s husband), Natalie Wright (Evelyn Pinkerton’s stepdaughter), Tassillie Dent (Evelyn Pinkerton’s friend and executor), Brian McBay (221A executive director), and Monica Morgan (Community Land Trust executive director) pictured in front of the Pinkerton Estate house. Photo by Kayla Isomura
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION 221A in an announcement today revealed the first property of the Cultural Land Trust. A gift from the estate of the late SFU professor Evelyn Pinkerton, the property is a 1920s-built wood-frame house located near Camosun Bog and Lord Byng Secondary School.
A bequest made possible through the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC and 221A, the Pinkerton property will be used as community housing for the arts, but it will first require repairs and stabilization for safe occupancy and longterm use.
As Stir reported in 2024, 221A conceived of the Cultural Land Trust as a response to rising property costs across the arts and cultural sector, with the aim of acquiring and stewarding real estate for creative communities. Its purpose is to provide artists and cultural groups with predictable rental costs, secure longterm tenancy arrangements, and opportunities to build ownership over time. Similar approaches have already proven effective in cities such as London, Seattle, and Austin.
The organization set an ambitious target of acquiring 30 properties across B.C. by 2050. As Brian McBay, cofounder and executive director of 221A told us in 2024, the organization aimed to raise an initial $15 million through support from federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government in B.C.
The concept of the Cultural Land Trust gained momentum following the release of the Eastside Arts Society’s 2019 report, A City Without Art? No Net Loss, Plus!. That study revealed that more than 400,000 square feet of artist workspaces, music and performance venues, and gallery space had disappeared from the Eastside Arts District during the preceding decade. It also found that studio rents had climbed by 65 percent over the same period. The loss of cultural spaces has continued in the years since, with the pandemic further intensifying those pressures.
(In January of this year, incidentally, the City of Vancouver announced that its Making Space for Arts and Culture Capital Grant would provide the Eastside Arts Society with $2,665,000 to support the purchase of its long-standing home at 716 East Hastings Street, “securing nearly 6,000 sq. ft. of affordable artist studio and cultural programming space”.)
With an assessed value of $2.77 million, the Pinkerton house is the Cultural Land Trust’s first official asset, and it has “a legacy of community housing and as a home for music and creative expression,” Community Land Trust BC Executive Director Monica Morgan said in today’s announcement.
“We are ecstatic to see this property become the catalyst for the creation of the Cultural Land Trust as they join the Community Land Trust movement in BC, alongside DTES Land Trust, False Creek South Community Housing Trust, Hogan’s Alley Society, and other land trusts forming across the country,” Morgan said.
“Receiving the Pinkerton house is a momentous step for the CLT,” 221A Head of Cultural Spaces R&D Carmut Me said in the announcement. “This meaningful donation will seed the growth of the CLT and actualize our goals of 30 buildings by 2050 for long-term cultural and housing stability. We are encouraged to see that the community is resonating with our vision and placing their trust in our work.” 
Related Articles
