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SYDNEY, N.S. —

Cape Breton artists are eagerly awaiting the launch of a new collaborative hub in north end Sydney.

On Friday, it was announced that New Dawn Enterprises will receive $1.4 million from Invest Nova Scotia to revamp the former Holy Angels convent on Nepean and George streets.

Aptly-named The Convent, the four-level building will house 21 private studios, 22 workspaces, two presentation spaces, four anchor tenants and a 400-square-foot gallery.

The space was designed to give 150 artists and creative entrepreneurs affordable studio and work space where they can explore, take risks, create and collaborate.

For the past seven years, New Dawn has been transforming the building purchased along with an adjacent high school in 2013 from the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame.

Melissa Kearney, a local painter, said she already witnessed the benefits of working inside the complex's former classrooms.

“Until they opened Holy Angels for shared studio space I think those people were working quite singularly, individually in their homes and not as much was shared,” Kearney said.

“For an arts community to thrive people need to be together. It’s inspiring to see other peoples’ work that you share your studio with, and it’s inspiring to know that there are people working, that you’re not so alone.”

Kearney said The Covent’s opening should expand Sydney's collaborative environment ten-fold. Being able to work together and having critical dialogue might be the push the arts community needs, she said.

Cape Breton Music Industry Co-operative operations manager Duane Nardocchio said, for non-profit organizations such as his, having an affordable space is paramount.

Nardocchio is among the tenants currently housed inside the former high school but said his move to The Convent could come as early as next week.

The facility’s website’s lists rental prices ranging from $95 to $550 per month, with HST and utilities included.

“The opportunities are endless, really, so it’s very exciting to have this in Sydney,” said Nardocchio.

Convent advisory committee chair Dr. John Gainer, a Sydney psychologist and artist, compared seeing guests walking into The Convent on Friday to watching visitors to the Louvre museum seeing the Mona Lisa for the first time.

Dr. John Gainer

Gainer and his wife moved to Cape Breton in 1982, when traditional industries of steel and coal were in decline.

The couple planned to return to Montreal, but was captured by the island’s beauty and its deep culture.

“The contribution of $1.4 million dollars will allow New Dawn to transform to this sort of empty canvas of a building into a true arts and culture centre,” said Gainer.

“(New Dawn) will welcome the energies and creativity and the vibrancy of its residents, but also overall the community.”

Invest Nova Scotia chair Kenneth Deveau said The Convent's impact will have a ripple effect on the creative economies found across the province.

He said The Convent is a perfect example of why Invest Nova Scotia exists.

“We think about it a lot in terms of tourism dollars," he said. "It’s very important in that sense as well, but it’s also very important to our communities not only as an economy but was a way of making our communities a better place to live."

Invest Nova Scotia was established in 2014 by the provincial government as an independent, decision-making board for granting economic incentives. Projects must spark innovation, be collaborative, measurable and sustainable and advance the strategic goals of the ONE Nova Scotia Coalition.

As part of Friday’s announcement Business Minister Geoff MacLellan described The Convent as an economic driver.

“Fourteen thousand people are connected to the creative industries in Nova Scotia, so that’s pretty staggering,” he said. “That’s going to grow, it has to grow. It’s got to be one of those pillars.”

After purchasing the north end Sydney property, New Dawn carried out months of consultation and community engagement to discover there was a need for a safe, supportive and affordable space for artists.

The project would be viewed as a perfect fit for the former convent established in 1885 as the first all-girls boarding and day school east of Montreal.

In its 126-year history, Holy Angels was a place of learning for hundreds of young women in Sydney and surrounding areas.

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