Toronto’s artistic community has a new home with today’s grand opening of The Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre. The new venue, developed through a collaboration between Tapestry Opera, Nightwood Theatre, and St. Clare’s Housing Society, aims to provide accessible and affordable space for artists amidst the city’s growing challenges of high living costs and scarce rehearsal and performance areas.
Located at 877 Yonge St., in the lower level of a St. Clare’s Housing building, the Centre is positioned within walking distance of five diverse neighborhoods and two major TTC subway stations. It is between Davenport Road and Alymer Avenue on the east side of Yonge in a stretch of Main Street that is not very well used considering it is located between the neighbourhoods of Rosedale and Yorkville.
The roots of the project can trace back to 2002, when Nightwood Theatre and Tapestry Opera first established themselves as residents of Artscape Distillery District Studios. In 2022, the closure of their space forced more than 70 artists and organizations to relocate, stripping the performing arts community of valuable office and studio spaces. And, pushing the historic nabe more and more into the territory of shopping centre and away from the arts. In response, the two organizations joined forces with St. Clare’s Housing to repurpose a social housing space into a vibrant new artistic venue.
“Finding a home and a sense of belonging is vital in these challenging times, not only for Nightwood Theatre and Tapestry Opera, but for the many artists and audiences that will walk through the doors at The Nancy & Ed Jackman Performance Centre,” says Andrea Donaldson, artistic director of Nightwood Theatre. “We need spaces in Toronto that intentionally reach out for people to gather, that allow for creative dreaming, bold action, and courageous expression.”
The space has been designed with accessibility at its core, ensuring that as many people as possible can engage with the arts.
The venue will serve as a home for resident companies Tapestry Opera and Nightwood Theatre, featuring a range of performances in many disciplines as well as artist residencies, and community workshops. A special focus will be placed on equity-deserving artists, ensuring a broad and inclusive artistic representation. Programming will include theatre, opera, dance, and other boundary-pushing interdisciplinary works.
The Centre’s inaugural season kicks off with the Launch Concert with Tapestry and Friends on March 22, followed by Where the Spirits Sit, a Nightwood Theatre workshop production from April 3–5, featuring multi-disciplinary artist Tamara Podemski. Later in the spring, Sanctuary Song, an original one-hour opera for all ages, will run from May 9–25.
