If there’s anything that I’ve learned from hearing my boyfriend’s dad talk about the government’s meddling with independent businesses on the Eastside, it’s that the DTES is a vibrant neighbourhood, despite its representation of poverty, homelessness, drug addiction, and prostitution, that needs a community art space. My boyfriend’s family owns Chapel Arts (and Wiens Studios) on Dunlevy Avenue and East Hastings Street, an art gallery/venue with a perfect doorway for people to shield themselves from rain, sit and chat with others, shoot up heroin, deal drugs, and even urinate on (the latter three are discouraged). I’m down at Chapel very often, and held my 20th birthday there last year, but I still remember a time before I met my boyfriend, two years ago, when busing to the Eastside, even past the Eastside, was always such a drag — a scary thing to do as a young girl, this fear conditioned by life lessons taught by my conservative mother. An adventure into the unknown.

I had a collaborative photoshoot at the Chapel a year ago with Christine of Vancity Tribe (left). Photo by Avry Wiens, edited by Sunny Chen.

But now that I’ve gotten to know the Eastside better — I grab pho sometimes at Hanoi, I buy cigarettes at the multitude of convenience stores lining Hastings, I frequent Fortune Sound Club (in the considerably reputable side of Chinatown on Pender Street) and the Chapel of course, buy groceries from Sunrise Market (really cheap groceries and awesome Asian snacks, guys), I hit up Music Waste every year and amble from Smiling Buddha Cabaret to Gam Gallery to other Eastside venues just to hear the local bands play (B-lines is one of my favourites), and I walk (sometimes really drunk) to the bus stop on East Hastings, converse with the homeless residents and the shivering high-heeled girls, maybe laugh at some jokes while I wait for the 16 — I have shed that prejudiced fear.

Unfortunately, Chapel Arts is always being legally restricted by the city council for being an independently-owned property, functioning outside of the non-profit sector, especially in an area of such low socioeconomic status. But I think that the Downtown Eastside benefits from this safe space of art and music, by renting the Chapel for any purpose (including, but not limited to, weddings, fundraisers, art exhibits). There are artists living here! Children growing up here, small business owners berated here (sorry, Canadian government, but it’s true), groceries sold and bought, music played, walk signs overlooked, in addition to the crime and socioeconomic disparity. Being a part of a culture can really widen one’s view on the Eastside neighbourhood — here is a sense of community, and it is ours to tend to someday.

Wanna come to this with me? Featuring a collective of urban street youth!