221A and Ethọ́s Lab open new cultural innovation hub for youth and artists in Mount Pleasant
Owned by the City of Vancouver, the newly retrofitted Cultural Amenity Space at 177 East 3rd Avenue includes a multipurpose performance studio, art studio, and sound booth
Ethọ́s Lab space on the Cultural Amenity Space’s mezzanine. Photo by Ashley Kim
A 2,700-SQUARE-FOOT cultural hub in Mount Pleasant has reopened after a major $739,000 upgrade, giving youth and community artists a new home for creativity and innovation.
Located at 177 East 3rd Avenue, the shared arts facility is owned by the City of Vancouver and operated by nonprofit 221A in collaboration with youth academy Ethọ́s Lab and the Community Land Trust of BC.
Paired with 221A’s artist housing next door, the Cultural Amenity Space brings together students from Ethọ́s Lab’s STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Applied Arts, and Math) program, artist residents of 187 East 3rd Avenue, and community partners including Hogan’s Alley Society and UBC Geering Up.
“It’s not enough to just be able to connect to our arts and culture and hold it meaningfully—we need space,” said 221A Board Chair Nathan Grandjambe at the project’s ribbon cutting this morning. “Together, the housing and cultural amenity space provide both affordable homes for artists and dedicated arts production space for community members. It demonstrates what an integrated cultural project for longterm art and culture use can look like.”
On the lower level of the building, an art studio fitted with industrial sinks and a spray booth is connected to a multipurpose performance room. An office space with computers and a lounge area with a small kitchenette are also open to shared use with residents of 221A’s artist housing.
Inside Ethọ́s Lab’s makers’ space, everything is hands-on; youth have access to 3D printing machines, virtual-reality sets, and more. Beside the stairs leading to the academy’s original space is a sound booth, and students’ colourful artworks now decorate a brightly-lit mezzanine that’s now mainly used for digital projects.
In 2021, 221A launched its first artist-housing project at 187 East 3rd Avenue, with 30 units of nonmarket housing. The new cultural space located inside the building is part of a larger effort to support local artists amid rising costs and financial barriers.
Ribbon-cutting at Ethọ́s Lab. Photos by Ashley Kim
The Sound Booth at Ethọ́s Lab.
The opening arrives just months after City of Vancouver council members unanimously passed a motion to create a Cultural Land Trust to offer artists and small arts organizations affordable, longterm leases, and pathways to ownership—in a city where an estimated 400,000 square feet of artist workspace has been lost over the past decade.
Ethọ́s Lab has occupied the building’s mezzanine since 2022; now serving as the community manager of the Cultural Amenity Space, the Black-led nonprofit innovation hub for youth in grades 5 to 12 will manage day-to-day use of the shared facilities. The $739,000 funding for the upgrade came from the federal, provincial and municipal governments.
“This project represents what it looks like when all levels of government can come together to keep artists in the city and to support cultural production and provide economic security,” says Ethọ́s Lab’s executive director Anthonia Ogundele. “While a ribbon cutting is usually representative of the end of a project, it is really the beginning of a new journey and a new way of being.” 
Related Articles
