When Shawna Dempsey, the co-executive director of Mentoring Arts for Women’s Art, got a text alerting her to fire trucks outside of MAWA’s studio at 611 Main St., it was a horrible kind of déjà vu.
The December blaze that ripped through the historic building that housed MAWA, the Edge Gallery and Urban Art Centre, as well as residential tenants (many of them artists themselves), was not Dempsey’s first fire.
She and MAWA co-executive director Dana Kletke were among the many Winnipeg artists who lost their studios and decades of artwork in the 2019 inferno that completely levelled their Jarvis Avenue warehouse.
SUPPLIED
Shawna Dempsey (left) speaks to a contractor at MAWA’s new space on Cumberland Avenue.
“It’s like, ‘This cannot be happening again,’” Dempsey says.
Fortunately, no one was hurt in the Main Street fire and MAWA’s contents were not damaged.
“Unfortunately, the building sustained a tremendous amount of damage, including the electrical system and it could take up to a year before it’s back,” Dempsey says.
MAWA, like everyone else affected by the blaze, was left scrambling. Volunteers had to pack up 20 years of work in 15 hours and secure alternative programming spaces; Aceartinc. and Creative Manitoba, both located in the Exchange District, stepped up so that MAWA’s programming could continue uninterrupted immediately following the fire.
“But we knew that wasn’t going to be sustainable for a year,” Dempsey says.
The good news, however, is that MAWA has since found a new home — upstairs from C2 Centre for Craft on Cumberland Avenue.
“And it’s gorgeous,” Dempsey says. “It’s bigger than our space on Main Street, it’s brighter than our space on Main Street. It’s required some work — we’ve had to build some walls to hang some art — but we feel really excited about the next chapter.”
MAWA will not be returning to 611 Main St.; it’s scheduled to move into the Market Lands Creative Hub development at the corner of Princess Street and William Avenue, the construction of which began last month.
Cumberland Avenue will be home for the next couple of years and MAWA wants to raise at least $10,000 to invest into the space.
“As women and gender-minority artists, we deserve a professional space to really honour our work. So that’s part of why we’re renovating at Cumberland is to bring it up to the quality of our Main Street space, so that when we are showing people’s artwork, it looks as good as it can be.”
Winnipeggers who wish to help MAWA achieve this goal can make a donation via MAWA’s website or via Canada Helps. On Friday, Feb. 9, MAWA will also be celebrating its 40th anniversary with one of its major fundraisers of the year: the Palentine’s Dinner at Little Brown Jug featuring a multi-course meal by chef Ben Kramer. Funds raised support MAWA’s Legacy Fund. Tickets are available via Eventbrite.
Jen Zoratti
Columnist
Jen Zoratti is a Winnipeg Free Press columnist and author of the newsletter, NEXT, a weekly look towards a post-pandemic future.
