The owners of the recently evicted Sydney studio, The Echo Creative, have launched a petition urging the developers who have bought out the property to provide a grant for a new community space, as well as a plea of support from the NSW government.
The owners of a recently evicted studio in Sydney called The Echo Creative are asking the new property owners and developers to provide a grant for the new space, and are also requesting support from the state government. The studio has previously worked with acts like Chet Faker and Daniel Johns.
Previous occupants Marcus Catanzaro and Dave Jenkins were given 4 weeks to leave the premises which is owned by Mirvac developers. Catanzaro and Jenkins are calling on the developers to support cultural spaces like this studio, so artists from the local community have a music space to work in.
“Right now, we are calling on Mirvac CEO Ms Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz to, out of goodwill, exercise corporate, social responsibility and provide a grant to displaced artists and musicians for a new community hub, which is just as important to the social and community fabric as the parks they are required by law to develop for community use,” the petition reads.
“More broadly, we are calling on the NSW minister for the arts Troy Grant, shadow minister Luke Foley, and the Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, to get behind a push to legislate developers to give something back to the cultural and artistic heart of the city by making it mandatory for developers to provide the means for displaced musicians and artists to have community spaces, the same way as they are legislated to create parks for public use within large development areas.”
To show your support for The Echo Creative you can sign the petition here.