MBiz

left: the exchange district, home to a robust arts and culture scene in winnipeg. above: michael legary (seccuris inc.), thom sparling (aCi manitoba) and brian bellamy (number ten architectural group) share ideas at a recent bold breakfast. Exchange District photos by Shane Henderson Group photo by Darcy Finley "The museum could create a free open space that could be a community commons or a neighbourhood community club. It could provide opportunity not just for performance and great coffee, but also for dialogue and for people working in creative industries to come together," Leclerc says. "We would love to be one of those hubs where the community can come and gather. It's safe and easy to get to, with easy bus access. You can't say that about many places. We have such prime real estate and we have huge capacity. Maybe we could be that safe haven for people to come together." The Exchange District is already home to creative business incubator AssentWorks, founded by Michael Legary, incoming chair of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce. The non-profit workshop provides access to equipment and tools for entrepreneurs ranging from inventors to artists. "We wanted to develop a facility where entrepreneurs of all types could get access to start new businesses, new ideas, and create sustainable ways of living and growing in Manitoba," Legary says. "Almost a third of our members are artists in some form. We have to find different ways to bring tools for artists and creative folks to be self-sustaining." He extends a call to action for all Winnipeggers to help develop the creative city brand. "When you see creative things locally, make sure to promote that. One person can capture that image or retweet that quote. They can express their gratitude for that great play or story," Legary says. "This community promotion of our local creative folks truly is global now, but it starts at home. Everyone has an influence on whether or not the creativity will continue to thrive and to motivate the growth here." Brent Bellamy, design architect with Number TEN Architectural Group, compares creativity to the growth of vines on a house. "The first thing you do is you build a trellis. That's the infrastructure investment that a city can make, like investing in art galleries," he says. "Those types of quality-of-life infrastructure investments attract creative people." The next step is to fertilize the soil to get the vines to grow. "If you look at cities across North America that are branded as creative cities, they're authentic urban neighbourhoods. They're dense. They're human scale," Bellamy says. "Parlour Coffee on Main Street is a great example of how that happens," he adds. "It's become the real focal point of the creative community in Winnipeg. Creativity doesn't get inspired in a ubiquitous suburb. It happens in an urban environment where people actually talk to each other." WINTER 2013 'peg biz | 13

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