ABOUT
Our Mission
To provide safe, inclusive and accessible spaces for young people of all backgrounds to find the resources they need to feel supported in building and maintaining careers that are considered unconventional.
Our Vision
A connected local community of diverse creatives who are supported by accessible mentors and experts, along with pathways to new opportunities and a dedicated space to collaborate, learn, grow and create together.
We believe young people who are supported can embrace who they are, define their future, and change the world.
Our story started in 2019 as OPEN.space Inc but after months of pitching a rallying we soon realized we were trying to run before we mastered the walk. Our mission has always been to create 'space' for the creatives, youth and entrepreneurs of Durham Region- a technologically advanced art facility that will cater to those just starting out. Those that have the passion and drive but need the mentorship opportunity to create a sustainable career out of what they love. Those that don't have the opportunity to purchase their own equipment or need to learn more about creative careers.
It was very important for us to continue providing value to our growing community of creatives while we were reworking the plan on how we will achieve our mission. After much internal deliberation and attending OTF seminars, town community events, pitching to various community groups, Mayors and Councillors - one thing was very clear. The only way we could do this the right way was to incorporate a nonprofit organization.
Before 2019 was over, our nonprofit OPEN.innovate Creative Arts Incubator of Durham Region (yea that's a mouthful) was born. We believed in our mission so deep that we were able to get our nonprofit status within 2 weeks because we were able to articulate the need in our community and have the passion and support to fight for it.
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As of today,
OPEN.innovate has hosted LIVE panel discussions about diversity in film, virtual business planning and financial literacy programming (thanks COVID), vision boarding and town halls to ensure we are constantly listening to our community . MORE...
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OPEN.space will be operating a small pop-up location in Ajax. We know our community is tired of travelling downtown (especially during COVID era) to use space for their branding photos, product shots, Youtube videos and content creation. We decided to start with a small photo and kitchen studio that includes backdrops and lighting for content creators and marketers.
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Our vision for the future OPEN. space includes:
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Sound & music recording studio
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Film/photography studio
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Co-working space
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Social enterprise print shop/cafe
