The Arts Incubator Winnipeg and Art Borups Corners Society are building a connected, place-based arts ecosystem that links our programs: an urban digital media hub in Winnipeg with a rural creative land lab in Northwestern Ontario.
This initiative supports Indigenous youth, remote creators, and northern communities by expanding access to creative tools, digital media training, and collaborative arts programming. Our focus is not only on incubating arts sector capacity, but on strengthening long-term social and cultural infrastructure in both urban and rural contexts.
We are currently inviting partners, organizations, businesses, and community collaborators to join us in building this ecosystem through shared resources, expertise, and long-term relationship-building.
A Connected Urban and Northern Arts Ecosystem
Our model operates across two interconnected sites.
In Winnipeg, we maintain our urban arts incubator program, focused on creative entrepreneurship, storytelling, and media production. This space supports mentorship, youth engagement, and experimentation with emerging tools such as digital media workflows, AI-assisted creation, and immersive storytelling.
In Northwestern Ontario, our program operates as a rural living laboratory for community arts. This space supports land-based practice, intergenerational storytelling, and community-driven food security programming, including the activation of public spaces such as recreation halls and community facilities.
Together, these two sites form a distributed arts infrastructure model that bridges urban innovation and northern resilience.
Why Our Work Matters
Northern and rural communities in Canada continue to face barriers in accessing creative infrastructure, including professional equipment, training opportunities, and sustainable arts programming.
At the same time, many young artists and Indigenous creators are forced to relocate to urban centres in order to access education, tools, or career pathways in the arts and media sectors.
Our work responds directly to these challenges by focusing on: reducing creative out-migration from rural and northern communities; expanding access to digital media and creative technology; supporting Indigenous youth-led artistic development; strengthening community-based cultural infrastructure and enabling place-based storytelling and arts practice.
This is about building the conditions for creative work to exist where people already live.
Partnership and Sponsorship Opportunities
We are currently seeking collaborative partners who are interested in supporting this work through resources, expertise, programming collaboration, or long-term relationship-building.
Rather than focusing solely on financial sponsorship, we prioritize building meaningful, practical connections that strengthen our shared capacity.
Equipment and Technology Support
Access to professional creative tools is one of our most immediate needs. Equipment contributions directly support youth training programs and community-led media production in both Winnipeg and Northwestern Ontario.
We are actively seeking support in the form of equipment and technology, including: photography and video production equipment; audio recording and podcasting gear; laptops, editing systems, and creative software access; lighting, streaming, and digital media tools; VR, immersive media, or experimental technology resources.
Community and Program Partnerships
We are also open to partnerships that support shared programming and community engagement, including: co-developed workshops artist-in-residence programs and creative residencies; youth arts programming and training initiatives; collaborations with schools and educational institutions; municipal and community organization partnerships; shared use of community spaces and cultural facilities.
These partnerships help expand the reach and sustainability of arts programming across both urban and rural settings.
Who We Are Looking to Work With
We are actively building relationships with: artists and creative practitioners; Indigenous organizations and community leaders; educators and youth program coordinators; technology and media professionals; cultural institutions and nonprofit organizations; local businesses and community stakeholders.
If your work intersects with creativity, education, community development, or cultural infrastructure, we welcome connection.
Start a Conversation
We are not simply seeking sponsors. We are building long-term partnerships rooted in shared purpose. If you are interested in contributing equipment, expertise, programming support, or collaborative development, we invite you to get in touch.
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