2019 has been a monumentally erratic year for the Okanagan School of the Arts and its Shatford Centre home.
Media headlines have ranged from "OSA saying bye to Shatford" and "Okanagan School of the Arts wrapping up operations" in February to "New president, new outlook for Okanagan School of the Arts" in May and "Cutting ties: Okanagan School of the Arts to consider a future without the Shatford Centre" in November.
Most recently, the press got wind of a November 25th letter OSA prez Keith MacIntyre sent to members of the organization. In it, MacIntyre spoke generously of 2019's positive developments - more on that later in the article - but didn't mince words when discussing the negatives.
Specifically, MacIntyre talked about the friction he'd perceived in his dealings with Shatford Centre owner, the Okanagan Skaha School District (SD67), and his contact person, secretary-treasurer Kevin Lorenz.
The OSA's lease on the building is up on June 30, 2020, and MacIntyre felt Lorenz and the District were trying to scuttle relations and make a successful lease renewal all but impossible. In the letter, he compiled a list of grievances and at one point "guessed" the District might want to sell the building to a "commercial enterprise."
But just five days later at the OSA annual general meeting last Saturday morning, MacIntyre sang a far happier tune. And the crowd of 30 or so, made up of artists and art activists, sub-tenants the OSA has put in place during 2019, Penticton mayor John Vassilaki, new SD67 chair James Palanio, and of course the OSA board, listened intently.
We asked MacIntyre what led to the latest fluctuations.
"We've been trying to negotiate our lease with them for the last year and we've hit a number of frustrating roadblocks," he said, "So I had to honestly inform our members that there is a chance that as an organization we might not be the leaseholders of the building anymore."
"But a lot can happen in a week," he laughed. "Very quickly because of the articles that came from my letter, new conversations were opened up. So now I'm more confident in communicating with James Palanio (elected just a week ago). And one of our new board members, Charles Cornell, a commercial lease expert, is going to take over lease negotiations.
"And I've had some calls with the City. I think now that we'll be able to have a group of people involving SD67, the City, and us sit down and decide what we want for this building going forward."
According to MacIntyre, the OSA will likely ask for a five-year lease. "It's not guaranteed, but I now believe that early in the new year we can get our lease renegotiated."
At the AGM Saturday, there was both optimism and concern. Even Vassilaki weighed in, saying the arts community is currently too scattered and wondering if a united front would be a better approach.
When MacIntyre became OSA president in May of this year, he inherited a floundering situation. The organization was far removed from its glory years. It needed money, and it needed to restore relevancy.
It's been a tough slog, likely even tougher than MacIntyre and new executive director Kim Palmer, hired in June, had envisioned. A September art exhibit opening, the first since MacIntyre came on board, drew just a handful of guests. One of its key tenants, the artist supply shop Anomaly House, moved out a few months ago. And too often the building has been quiet.
But there are numerous upsides too.
After Saturday's AGM, PentictonNow stuck around to check out the goings on. We first went to the second floor, where a half-dozen artists had gathered for a "long pose session" with model Donnalee Davidson. The room was spacious and bright and the group was clearly upbeat.
We then headed back to the main floor, where we had our first-ever look at the Shatford commercial kitchen. At 1200 square feet, it's a massive affair, with a commercial oven, an eight-burner commercial range, a commercial fridge setup as big as a walk-in closet, a fully stocked pantry, and an overhead demo mirror designed for teaching. And tons of room to move around.
Running the kitchen Saturday was Candace Moon of natural health product purveyor Stellar Ground. Today she was conducting two classes - one for kids and one for adults.
"This morning, we made an herbal tea blend, herbal lip balm, and an herbal bath salt with the kids, so they could have gifts for their families for Christmas," she said. "And this afternoon we'll make an herbal infused syrup, a rosemary rhubarb herbal jelly for charcuterie trays over the holidays and an herbal culinary salt with sage, rosemary and garlic."
Moon loves the kitchen and doesn't understand why it isn't rented out more often.
Later we checked out Shatford's Art of Food Christmas Market, held in the auditorium. Short on vendors and short on guests, it nevertheless had a sophisticated feel to it, featuring stuff like smoked salmon, Belgian chocolates, and several winery stations.
But there's another element to the current Shatford makeup that doesn't get the notoriety it deserves. And that element is technology.
You can see it in the basement, in the Ideaforge Maker Studio. A nerd paradise, the studio offers the space and the tools to create. Inside, you'll find a laser cutter, a 3D printer, miter machines, kilns, workbenches galore, and whole bunch more.
Ideaforge boss Manda Maggs is particularly happy these days. Not only is membership slowly growing, but Ideaforge has also just come off their very first market.
"Last Saturday," she said, "when the indoor farmer's market was upstairs, we had a community market down here too. We had between 200 and 300 people come through."
And, she said, it went so well that they'll do it all again this Saturday, starting at 9 a.m. "We call it the Penticton Maker Fair. There will be artwork, calendars, ornaments, lots of little Christmas gifts, jewelry, and more, made by members."
Maggs genuinely likes what she's seen recently from the OSA. "The board now has some really great diversity on it, and I think that the people in charge are going to do a great job going forward because they have the skills we needed a year ago."
But the serious tech stuff happens upstairs. Indeed, Shatford may very well be the city's tech hub.
"We moved in in the middle of August," said NetDNA salesperson Jesse Hudson earlier this week. "We like being here, we like being part of the community, and we're fostering some good ideas and some innovation here."
According to Hudson, NetDNA is an "automation company" involved in the oil and gas industry. It's big product is currently a smart pump controller that "helps move water in oil and gas frack sites and it does it safer and more environmentally sound."
Additional products include smart tank monitoring solutions and smart sensors. "We do a bit of everything - software, hardware, networking," said Hudson.
NetDNA won the Penticton & Wine Country Chamber of Commerce New Business award in 2019.
Just down the hall is XCO Tech, a company that CEO Scott McMillan says develops products for "precision performance."
"So for precision performance, measuring athletes, and we also do products for precision medicine. So kind of both ends of the spectrum. One is to optimize performance to help athletes develop faster. And then we're also developing products to help better assess or predict treatment across different patient conditions, like nerve degenerative conditions, Parkinson's disease, and concussions."
McMillan, a 15-time Ironman competitor, added, "Tech is really growing in the Okanagan, so there's ample resources here now. As for Shatford, we just wanted a central location that was affordable and that we could grow in."
Completing the second floor tech triumvirate is MacIntyre's own business, custom Web development enterprise Big Bear Software. MacIntyre put his money where his mouth is earlier in the year by moving Big Bear from a rather plush facility across town to the 98-year-old Shatford.
Kim Palmer says the OSA needs to keep putting itself out there, keep developing and marketing new programming, and keep letting people know that Shatford, and its many amenities and spaces, exist and are wide open for business.
And if they play their cards right, and if SD67 doesn't push through alternate plans, 2020 could bring not just a new long-term lease, but a new long-term lease on life. And an end to the erraticism of 2019.
For more info on the Okanagan School of the Arts and Shatford Centre, go here.
