Michelle Fu and Brian McBay on Centring the Needs of Artists and Communities to Build a Better City

According to Michelle Fu 符之欣 and Brian McBay, there was never a master plan. The cultural leaders, co-founders of the multifaceted nonprofit arts organization 221A, and 2025 co-recipients of an Emily Award from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU) say each step happened organically and through earnest community engagement.

“Everything that’s worked for us has come from a sincere place of relationship,” says Michelle, 221A’s Head of Admin & Finance. “It’s always been connecting with people first, and then the opportunities come out of those conversations, out of those curiosities, out of people’s own interests … It’s always been in relation with others.”

The pair first met during their Foundation year at ECU, establishing a friendship that quickly deepened over a shared enthusiasm for finding ways to support and encourage the creative community outside of their degree studies.

Forming the No Art collective in 2005 with a group of fellow students, they began producing one-night-only, extracurricular exhibitions in university spaces, often attracting 100 or more participants to their events. The No Art shows continued through their degree studies, featuring practitioners from across disciplines.

Hoping to maintain their momentum after graduation, Brian and Michelle signed a lease in Chinatown in 2008, rebranding themselves 221A after the East Georgia Street location’s former address. They renovated with friends on a volunteer basis, eventually transforming the space into an artist-run exhibition venue and studio rental.

In 2011, Michelle and Brian noticed a “for lease” sign across the street. After lengthy conversations, they decided to take a chance on themselves and expand into a second location.

“It was a big step,” recalls Brian, 221A’s Executive Director. “It was almost like you’re a dot and now you’re a line. You start adding more dimensions.”

But the pair had already forged deep ties within the nonprofit sector and with Chinatown more broadly, even resurfacing generational connections with Brian’s ancestors that some of the elder locals still recall.

As they developed their new space, they realized they were doing work for which both the neighbourhood and the arts community were hungry, with over 80 volunteers appearing to help them with this latest renovation.

“A lot of it was the relationship between Chinatown and the arts community,” Brian adds. “Having us broker that relationship and try to create solidarity between the arts community and the preexisting Chinese Canadian community that has many decades of social infrastructure was unique.”

A decade and a half later, 221A has grown that original, community-centric model into an organization spanning more than half a dozen buildings offering studios, working spaces and housing. They also provide a range of programming and resources, including fellowships, libraries, workshops, artist talks, skillshares and the x̱aw̓s shew̓áy̓ New Growth 新生林 community garden developed by artist, 221A fellow and 2022 Honorary Degree recipient T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss.

Through their work with government and partner organizations, through ongoing initiatives such as the Anti-Racism Data Project, and collaborative projects such as Sector Equity for Anti-Racism in the Arts (SEARA) and the Cultural Land Trust, Brian and Michelle have shown arts advocacy and community engagement to be at the very centre of their mission and purpose.

“Artist’s needs are integral to the making of a city,” Michelle says, noting 221A was founded on the belief that “these voices are critical to thinking differently, to changing what needs to be changed to make this make the world kinder, more empathetic, more curious about each other. We’re very invested in finding spaces, programs, funds and different ways to provide resources.”

Hear more from Michelle and Brian in our feature video interview on ECU’s YouTube channel. Find interviews with the rest of our 2025 awardees alongside all the videos from this year’s grad events on our ECU Graduation playlist.