New community arts center (in Vancouver, BC)

From email:

The Simon Fraser University School of Communication and Centre of Expertise on Culture and Communities present:

W2: Community Media Arts

Friday, June 27
2:00 to 4:00 PM
Room 7000
Simon Fraser University (SFU)
Harbour Centre Campus

Presenters:

— Irwin Oostindie, Executive Director, Gallery Gachet

— and other representatives from W2: Community Media Arts

* Seating is limited at this event. To reserve your place, please RSVP to kelsey@cultureandcommunities.ca.

Opening in September 2009, W2 will be a community arts centre unlike anything in Canada, offering quality arts opportunities for the Downtown Eastside (DTES) and Vancouver residents through a range of programs, resources and activities.

W2 is currently planned as a 12,500 square foot facility, providing a vibrant complementary focal point in the Woodwards’ redevelopment, and a flagship project in the City's revitalization of the DTES. Negotiations are ongoing with W2’s partner, the City of Vancouver, to secure additional space for community programming from associate member organizations.

Core member organizations include: Redwire Native Youth Media, Gallery Gachet, Coop Radio/CRES (Community Radio Education), Kootenay School of Writing, Vancouver Community Network, IMAGeNation/Indigenous Media Arts Group, Independent Community Television (ICTV), Society for Disability Arts & Culture, and CHAKRAS/teaspace Society.

The W2 Community Media Arts Centre brings together hybrid art forms, community arts practices, individual human development and community cultural development in a single environment, and will be home to a diverse grouping of Vancouver arts and community service organizations.

Join Irwin and others to discuss the development of the W2 Community Arts Centre as a unique cultural hub for the DTES and Vancouver residents.
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Imagine something like this happening in DC as part of a building constructed downtown, or elsewhere in the city as part of an "arts" district? There are independent media centers usually created without support from a local government (although wouldn't it be totally awesome to have an independent media center, and something like Provisions Library as part of an expanded Central Library?). DC doesn't seem to have much focus on the arts as a means of production, it's more focused on the means of consumption, i.e., institutionalized locations to view art.