Last summer, poet, musician, and Renfrew-Collingwood resident Francis Arevalo made the conscious choice to stay in Vancouver rather than moving out of the province altogether.
“I’m born and raised in Vancouver. All my community is here and family is here. A lot of my creative connections are here, so I figured I would stay. I’ve just had this general desire to deepen my connection to where I am–not just the city, not just the province, not just the land, but specifically, my local neighbourhood,” he says.
When he applied to be Collingwood Neighbourhood House’s first artist-in-residence program, everything just seemed to click into place. During his tenure from October to November 2025, he worked on his album Home, Grown, which explores personal growth in the context of community. This album has been a long time in the making, having started writing Home, Grown eight years ago.
“It’s very cool to me that CNH is playing a role in it. I didn’t know that I wanted that until it became an option; I basically spend my time mostly between Renfrew-Collingwood and Mount Pleasant. So I’m like, how else can the neighbourhood be a part of my journey the way that I want to be part of it? It just lined up and I’m really grateful for it,” Francis shares.
Through the artist-in-residence program, not only was Francis able to enjoy having access to free rehearsal space; he was able to transform his CNH studio into a third space where people could gather in.
“That’s very meaningful thing to me, especially since the lockdowns a few years ago, I feel like I got lost. It took me this to get the inspiration and the energy to gather with people in a third space again. I’m grateful that CNH and the Annex is one of those places,” he says. He also appreciated meeting other like-minded folks and connecting with other members of the community.
He adds that with how comfortable he felt working in public as the artist-in-residence, he felt like his experience at the Annex felt like an extension of home.
“I was able to stay focused and feel pretty at home while I was in the space,” Francis says.
As a self-described “pretty regular dude” who enjoys spending time with his loved ones, hiking, and basketball, Francis has one piece of what he calls “un-advice” for aspiring artists who may be interested in going into music and/or poetry.
“Create a lot, but live more. Personally, the kind of art that I most resonate with isn’t the stuff that’s just well-made. It’s about expressing something meaningful to that person or for a group,” he says.
To learn more about arts programs at CNH, visit cnh.bc.ca/arts-culture or call 604-435-0323.