10 Tough Questions with Jeremy Freiburger

For ten years Jeremy has been one of the leading forces in the arts and culture scene in Hamilton. His experiences have taken him to stage as an actor, coast to coast in Canada and the USA as a musician, and into most every artistic discipline ranging from graffiti exhibitions and film production, to professional classical theatre and modern dance.

Jeremy is the Founder and Creative Director of the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts. Welcome Jeremy to 10 Tough Questions.


1. You've commented that Hamilton has great opportunity and yet, we seem stuck in the same space. In your view, what do we need to do to break out of this?

Take action. For the past 5 years I’ve sat on a lot of committees, attended plenty of regular meetings and such, but so very few of them result in action. Hamiltonians, like citizens in other towns I’m sure, seem determined to express their view on every issue imaginable. We write blogs, opinion articles, form task forces and round tables like no bodies business. These things are all crippling endeavors if they do not lead to action in a timely fashion.

2. The whole idea of the Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts is both unique and bold. Why did you pick Hamilton and what did Hamilton offer that, Toronto, for example, could not?

Its as simple as Hamilton is home. There was certainly no grand scheme to choosing this city for the ICCA over some other. What Hamilton offered that was unique was that it had all of the necessary ingredients to deliver this project: a growing body of artists at the right stage in their careers to take on studio space; eventually, a building owner was found who had space, capital and the wherewithal to grasp the idea, an arts community with very few barriers, and a somewhat blindly believing leader willing to push until it worked.

When you write it in a list like that it all seems simple – but it wasn’t. One needs to remember that at the time there was no ‘scene’ on James North as only You Me Gallery, CCMA and maybe Sublimatus existed down there. No Art Bus (we started that), no H Magazine, no serious attention from Economic Development or the City in general. It was a gamble.

3. Have you received adequate support from the city and what further support (if any) is needed to succeed?

In the early years of the ICCA we didn’t receive what I would consider ‘support’ from the City. Our Councillor straight up told me he didn’t think our activity was right for “his” ward, we couldn’t get anyone to meet with the building owners at 270 Sherman who made the bold step to work with us, and we learned that the ERASE program that was designed for brownfield property remediation was really about demolition. It was discouraging.

Eventually we began building relationships with people at City Hall via the Hamilton Civic Coalition (now the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative), and then asked Jacqueline Norton and Neil Everson to join our Board of Directors. Again, it was a bold step asking representatives from the City into our organization but I really felt that was the only way they would truly understand the work we were doing, and the tight financial/resource constraints we were working under.

While Jacqueline and Neil are no longer on our Board they served us well and I feel it cemented our relationship Economic Development. At the time this was basically sac religious in the arts community – embracing an Ec. Dev. perspective to our work but it has clearly become the backbone of our philosophy.

This connection paved the way for our Hamilton Creative City Initiative study that has played a major role in bringing our industry into the forefront in the past few years. The City has now adopted much of our work into the new Economic Development Plan, we sit on the Economic Development Advisory Committee, and we’re working closely with them on a number of exciting projects.

The area where the City can continue to support our work is through the Building a Creative Catalyst project. Economic Development invested $150,000 in the process and a team of some 15-20 people have been hard at work on for the past year. To be clear, none of the funds invested went to the ICCA. The funds were spent on hiring a team of impressive consultants who have helped move the process along in order to determine if the concept is feasible, what role the City and ICCA should play in its further development, where it should be located and how the project can serve the community.

In December we’ll be taking our findings to Council and I truly hope that see value in the work. We’ve narrowed it down to a few keys properties that would have an incredible regenerative effect, attracted a number of keys tenants, consulted with the public and creative community, explored various governance structures that would lead to an independently run facility, and clearly articulated the ‘catalytic’ effect this type of facility would have on the core. In my mind we’ve nailed the key elements of the study.

While the City has been focused on the NHL path and PanAm Games we’ve been focused on building on local businesses and institutions success. That’s not to say that I wasn’t hoping the NHL thing would come to fruition or that our bid for the Games fails, but I do feel that Hamilton must stop looking for a silver bullet project from outside. Focus on supporting local development instead of trying to import success. Those things will all come when we prove we have a viable core.

The Building a Creative Catalyst project will be approaching Council with a financial and resource request in order to deliver this project. Once we’ve spelled out our process and the potential of the project I hope they make the bold step to support the further development of the creative community through this initiative.

4. Do you think the public at large has "figured out" what you are trying to achieve? Is your message and intent understood?

Public at large? I wish I could get the creative community to understand what we’re up to. I still get fingers pointed at me regularly for colluding with City Hall, gentrifying neighbourhoods, destroying artists dreams and forcing them to think about making money, etc. I find it amusing and somewhat disturbing to be honest.

How can we have a task force dedicated to raising the standard of living for artists and not talk about making money? It’s not the 1970s. The days of living completely off grants because ‘damn it we’re artists and we deserve it’ are over. Not only are those days over - I think those days poisoned the waters of being an artist in Canada.

Anyway, you asked about the public at large. To a certain extent the public understands what we’re doing. We’re fixing up old buildings, repurposing the industrial legacy of this city (the physical legacy that is), we’re providing spaces for creative people and sharing that with the public. Whether they understand that we’re building up our industry’s functional infrastructure, creating networks of creators, forcing dialogue around critical issues, or working to shift our municipal governments approach towards creative workers is irrelevant. Our organization isn’t running for Council.

The important thing is that every time our industry reaches out to the public we get support. SUPERCRAWL was a smash hit despite the weather. We had hundreds of young families, college and university students, seniors, hipsters, out-of-towners, people from all corners of our city showing up. Why? Because they get it. They want it. They’ve wanted it for decades and our industry has finally broken down some of the walls (internally and externally) and is working together to deliver culture to our community.

5. In one year from now, what would success look like for the Imperial Cotton Factory?

Fine question. It think a year form now we’d like to see the Creative Catalyst project breaking ground. The project will have solidified relationships with its key tenants, successfully launched into the public realm, and we’d be well down the path of attracting support form all levels of government and a handful of private champions.

But that’s a very inward look at success.

One thing the ICCA has always done is remained flexible. We have a plan, but we’ve accepted that the timing of its delivery and the steps to get reach success are rarely clear and linier.

So we remain responsive. We attempt to create spaces, programs and projects that react to the community. This often puts us in a difficult funding position as very few funders can respond quickly to a community need. Thankfully we’ve created positive relationships with a few understanding donors, sponsors and have developed a model that allows us to generate revenue beyond the granting streams. This allows us to respond quickly and bring the funders along once they’re able.

Success on a broader scale is of greater interest to me. I want to see artists and venues actively selling work (be that paintings, music, theatre tickets, etc). I’d like to see the Chamber continue its push to become engaged and supportive of the creative community. I’d like to see McMaster truly support its Department of Art, Drama & Music, and for Mohawk to establish a campus in the core. The indicators of success are endless – and should remain endless. If we pick a single target or measure of success we’ll be in real trouble. Keep raising the bar.

6. What is the biggest risk you have ever taken in business, and what did you learn from that experience?

I think there would be two major risks as I can’t seem to decide which one is greater, or which delivered the greatest lesson.

The first would be quitting my perfectly good day job to join a bilingual kids rock band. Yup, you read that correctly. Years ago a few friends and I formed a band called Roc Le Roc. It started more or less as a joke and a way for one of the guys to help out his mother-in-law (a French teacher who was tired of songs about alligators). We played one school, then another, then we quit our jobs to pursue it full-time. We played hundreds of shows, recorded an album that sold well, toured across the country, were special guests at National French Week in Boston, etc. It was hysterical, frustrating, trying, exhausting, exciting and liberating.

What did we learn? French teachers are great. Playing live music in front of thousands of kids is exhilarating. But most importantly, we learned that we can do it – what ever the “it” is. Even if the “it” is in another language. Even if our girlfriends think the “it” is stupid. Even if our parents think the “it” is a waste of time. Just get off your butt and do the “it” in your life.
The second risk would be signing the lease for the centre court building at the Sherman development. The owner had worked with us to renovate and fill a number of studios in the building but they were easy – basically a new coat of paint did the trick. Once we suggested completely renovating a building they wanted some surety.

So I was asked to personally sign the 5-year lease at $40,000 a year. If tenants skipped out, paid late, damaged things – I was personally on the hook. At the time $40,000 was the better part of my annual salary – so if this idea went belly up I was living in a former chop shop on Sherman North. Exciting.

If I didn’t take the risk the idea would have stopped at a few basic studios.

What did I learn? When you have to personally put your finances on the line for a project you take it damn serious. While my day job elsewhere gave me some flexibility in covering tenant shortcoming and such – I wasn’t a charity. I had to develop entrepreneurial skills, I had to constantly push to keep the building full, tenants happy, bills paid, etc.

I think this is why I push the creative community to look at themselves as entrepreneurs. They’re taking all the same risks as an autobody shop or restaurant – they just deliver a product that fewer people feel they ‘need’, and that the City has little experience with. They deserve just as much support as standard business, but also have to take just as much responsibility.

7. If you had to identify one risk that Hamilton needs to take, what would that be and why?

This is a perfect example of the kind of question that I refuse to answer – so I’ll answer it. Questions like this are dangerous for numerous reasons and I think they are one of the tools media use to create controversy and a divisive community. Whether media does this willingly or not is for them to answer.

Here’s how it works in my mind.

You ask me to pick one risk to take. I selfishly say ‘support the creative catalyst project’! Just as others would say support Medicine, or Steel, or alleviating poverty, or downtown, etc.

Then a few things happen. Everyone agrees and we all go off and work on that one risk – sort it out, take the risk and bank on it solving all of our problems. It was the biggest risk to take after all and aren’t we proud that we took it. We turn our backs on all other opportunities that involved risk to focus in on this one mega risk.

God forbid it fails, or takes a long time to work, or doesn’t solve all of our problems. Then where are we? We’re screwed.

Hamilton has to realize that decision-making using a frame of reference like this is insanity. I’ve recently begun reading the Opposable Mind and think that everyone should read it. It talks about making decisions using new parameters – especially the concept of ‘and’ not ‘or’. Read it.

Hamilton is not Gotham City. We don’t have a rouge band of deformed misfits trying to blow up the derelict chemical plant at the other end of town – an easily identifiable issue to tackle. Do we call in Batman? Do we blow up the plant before they do? Risky stuff.

Single risk scenarios don’t exist. We’re going to have to take a lot of risks to solve our issues and become leaders.

8. People often have the image of the "starving artist". Does that play out at all in terms of filling rental units with viable tenants, or is that just a cliche, in this instance?

The starving artist image is not a joke or cliché. Artists in Canada on average earn something like $13,000 – well below the poverty line. So over the years I’ve covered peoples rent, cut them breaks, let them pay late, and in some cases had to ask people to leave because it simply wasn’t going to happen. I hate doing that – only had to do it once actually.

Being a full-time artist is not an easy task. I do believe that it is a calling to be an artist as it takes an extra-ordinary sense of dedication and personal sacrifice. A different kind of patience and state of mind is required than just being a more traditional entrepreneur as your product is in most cases personal – it’s an extension of yourself that you’re selling. So the difficult times of being an emerging artist are not only hard because you’re not making much money – you’re questioning your emotions and thoughts more than say a plumber might about their work.

That said I do think many artists could be doing more to help themselves. I find a good number of artists use the starving artist cliché as a crutch. As a colleague and I noted the other day, all you have to do is look at the legacy and work ethic of Conrad Furey to realize that an artist can be successful, self-motivating, remain true to his craft and respected by their peers in Canada. You just have to take it seriously.

9. What can the public do to help you succeed?

Get involved. If you love dance go see a dance production 6 times a year. If you’re a visual art buff become a member of the AGH, hop on the Art Bus, check out the Dundas Valley School of the Arts. Enroll your children in music classes. Push your school board to develop real arts ciriculum. At election time ask candidates about the arts – and not some fluff question – demand answers that result in action. VOLUNTEER!!

The best way to help us succeed is to get involved. As a volunteer, donor, sponsor, patron – there are countless ways to get involved. Do not stand idly by and say ‘I wish I lived in Toronto because they have…...’.Get off your butt and make those things happen. If you have no idea how, ask someone from our community to help. We all want a better city and we all need to be involved to make it happen.

10. What advice do you have for the Mayor and City Council, in terms of moving Hamilton forward?

I guess I would echo the thoughts of Bruce Kuwabara whom I just had the pleasure of meeting. Bruce said (and I’m paraphrasing) that as Canadians have become complacent. We rarely demand excellence. He was speaking in reference to architecture (which is absolutely true) but I think its true on many fronts.

We need to demand excellence in our politicians, our citizens, youth, businesses, teachers and artists. Excellence in transportation. Excellence from people on the mountain, from the core, developers, and all corners of our community. Environmental excellence. Excellent marketing and communication.

Not excellence ‘in light of the circumstances’ – just plain old excellence.

Excellence is always lead by example.

Special thanks to Jeremy for his interest in Hamilton. To visit Imperial Cotton Centre for the Arts' web site, click here