Arts & Entertainment Braid St Studios back in town

The artist haven has found two new locations in uptown NewWest after three years in Port Coquitlam

NaveenaVijayan nvijayan@newwestrecord ca

NewWest-born Braid St Studios is back home after spending a short stint away in Port Coquitlam.

First started at 100 Braid St. (hence the name) in 2014, the co-working art studio had to shift base to Port Coquitlam for three years before making its way back to New West this spring.

“It’s wonderful to be back. I’m extremely happy,” said Susan L. Greig, founder of Braid St Studios, and a resident of NewWest for 20 years.

“This is my home,” said the award-winning Métis artist.

On June 10, Braid St Studios will see the official launch of its two new locations in the city.

For Greig, the day will mark the completion of nine years since she embarked on a journey that was spurred by the question: “If I wasn’t afraid to fail, what would I do?”

Greig, who worked in health care back then, recollects answering that question: “I said to myself, ‘I would surround myself with a community of artists. I would paint and write full time.’”

At that point, Greig was on a three-month break from work she was suffering from PTSD, and couldn’t imagine going back to the hospital. So, instead, she decided to nurture the dream of being a full-time artist right away.

“I asked myself, ‘Well, why can’t I do it now?” So,

I went and found a building ”

Greig found a 1929-built building a historic building at 100 Braid St to be the home of her new business

It used to be a winery building for the B C Distillery; Greig turned it into a co-working space for artists

In the building, there were 46 art studios, workshop rooms, and a 2,500-square-foot event space that host art shows and sometimes weddings, said Greig

After about six years of operating out of the iconic space, Greig had to move out, as the building was to be redeveloped into a 34-storey residential tower

“It was right in the middle of the pandemic and it was a difficult time but we received tremendous support from the building owner,Wesgroup Properties,” as per Greig

Though the artists had to disperse from the art hub, all of them have managed to remain connected through an online group

Meanwhile, Greig moved the studio to Port Coquitlam, to a “very small gallery and two-studio” space

“It’s been a slow journey,” she said “I look at Port Coquitlam as a place for us to just get through the pandemic And that’s exactly what happened ”

While there, Greig continued looking for properties inVancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody

Aside from people reaching out to her with leads on potential locations, she also received support from the the City of NewWestminster’s economic development department to find another spot within the city

“My heart has been in NewWest, and it has always been my first choice ”

Now, with two new locations in NewWest, she got what her heart wanted

The location at 321 Sixth St has individual studios with lockable doors, a meeting/workshop room, a commercial industrial sink and more While this is “essentially an office building,” the other location at 301 Sixth St is a little bit more like the original Braid St building where artists share a com- mon space, she said “So what we’re really doing is catering to different types of artists artists who prefer to have their own studio, and also those who want to work in

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