Brief History
Founded in 1974 by a group of dedicated local artists, artspace differs from many of the artist-run centres that formed in this early period. Artspace was established and sustained by a membership spread amongst smaller urban centres, rural areas and townships. This unique cultural milieu has provided for several developed partnerships with major institutions like Trent University. The organization received its non-profit, incorporated, charitable status in July 1977. Over the past 31 years, artspace has played a profound role in the development of contemporary Canadian art; numerous prominent artists presented their work for the first time at Artspace.
On July 15th, 2004 the artspace gallery site, which housed its databases, operating records and a 31-year archive (developed over three successive Young Canada Works projects) was destroyed by floodwaters that completely submerged the space in water and toxic waste. Following a successful insurance claim process artspace opened its doors at the new permanent gallery site, 378 Aylmer Street North, on February 18, 2005 with "Robochorus", an installation by Michael Waterman.