Singapore’s arts landscape has evolved tremendously with more arts professionals and activities contributing to a vibrant scene. The Gross Floor Area (GFA) for the arts administered by the National Arts Council (NAC) has also grown almost five times
since 1985, in tandem with the demand for arts spaces used for art-making, rehearsals, programming and creative place-making. With space as an important resource, artists and arts groups receive substantial subsidies on rental charges from NAC to
alleviate operating overheads. NAC also collects contributions from tenants into a sinking fund to meet routine building maintenance costs. Beyond arts housing subsidies, Singapore’s limited land space and finite resources also present a unique
opportunity for NAC as sector lead to explore different approaches to address space constraints.
To support the needs of a thriving arts sector and growing demand for arts spaces, the Framework for Arts Spaces was
announced in December 2010 after a review of the Arts Housing Scheme (1985). The Framework aims to:
- better support the changing needs of a growing and increasingly diverse arts sector;
- provide platforms where artists and arts groups can collaborate with each other; and
- bring the arts to the surrounding communities.
The Framework encompasses 3 schemes aimed at supporting a wide range of artists and arts groups, each with their own unique financial and logistical needs:
For more information on open call for tenancy applications, please visit the Arts Spaces Tenancy page.
Community/Sports Facilities Scheme (CSFS)
In unlocking more spaces for the arts with the relevant government agencies, the Community/Sports Facilities Scheme (CSFS) is an initiative by the Urban Redevelopment Authority that facilities the co-location of compatible community and sports users with highly accessible commercial developments. Since its introduction in 2003, the CSFS has benefited a wide range of community/sports users, including public libraries and non-profit community service provider like eldercare, childcare and arts organisations. To date, NAC has supported several arts organisations to onboard CSFS at different commercial developments such as Bugis+, One Holland Village, Funan Mall, Northpoint City and Orchard Central.
To qualify, the community uses should be non-profit in nature and endorsed by a championing government agency. The activities carried out within the CSFS space should have a predominant public outreach component that directly serves the public, and any
space for ancillary uses (e.g. offices) should be kept to a maximum of 40% of total GFA of the CSFS space. Interested arts organisations will need to meet the following requirements:
- Be a registered Non-Profit Organisation (NPO).
- Have a strong community/public outreach programme as a part of the proposed use for the CSFS space.
- 60% or more of the total gross floor area of the CSFS space must be used for community/public outreach. Ancillary uses such as offices cannot exceed 40% of the gross floor area.
- The non-profit organisation is better enabled to serve its social mission by locating within a highly accessible commercial development.
For additional information on CSFS, please visit URA’s website.
For queries and clarifications, please email NAC_Feedback@nac.gov.sg.