An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership and may be accessible to all or have restrictions in place. ...

. An arts centre is a functional

community centre Community centres, community centers, or community halls are public locations where members of a community tend to gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may sometimes be open for the whole co ...

with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

space, gallery space, venues for

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

al performance, workshop areas, educational facilities, technical equipment, etc. In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, "art centers" are generally either establishments geared toward exposing, generating, and making accessible art making to arts-interested individuals, or buildings that rent primarily to artists, galleries, or companies involved in art making. In

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

, the Bluecoat Society of Arts was founded in

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

in 1927 following the efforts of a group of artists and art lovers who had occupied Bluecoat Chambers since 1907. Most British art centres began after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and gradually changed from mainly middle-class places to 1960s and 1970s

trendy A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse for a short period. Fads are objects or behaviors that achieve short ...

, alternative centres and eventually in the 1980s to serving the ''whole'' community with a programme of enabling access to wheelchair users and

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, s ...

individuals and groups. In the rest of Europe it is common among most art centres that they are partly government funded, since they are considered to have a positive influence on society and economics according to the Rhineland model philosophy. Many of those organisations started in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s as squatted spaces and were later legalized.

List of arts centres

Dadong Art Center Large Performance Hall

Americas

Canada

* Calgary, Alberta: Arts Commons * Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island: Confederation Centre of the Arts * Ottawa, Ontario: National Arts Centre * Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Centre for the Arts * Vancouver, British Columbia: Firehall Arts Centre *Winnipeg, Manitoba: Manitoba Centennial Centre

United States

* Arlington, Virginia: Artisphere * Atlanta, Georgia: Eyedrum * Chicago, Illinois: Hairpin Arts Center,

Hyde Park Art Center The Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) is a visual arts organization and the oldest alternative exhibition space in the city of Chicago. Since 2006, HPAC has been located just north of Hyde Park Boulevard, at 5020 S.Cornell Avenue, in the Kenwood neigh ...

, Lillstreet Art Center, South Side Community Art Center * Dallas, Texas: The Dallas Contemporary * Indianapolis, Indiana: Indianapolis Art Center * Milford, Pennsylvania:

Pike County Arts and Crafts Pike County Arts and Crafts (PCAC), headquartered in Milford, Pennsylvania, is the oldest (established 1950) and largest (200 members) arts education organization in northeastern Pennsylvania. Headquartered in the Milford Boro Hall, the group ho ...

* Minneapolis, Minnesota:

Walker Art Center The Walker Art Center is a multidisciplinary contemporary art center in the Lowry Hill neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The Walker is one of the most-visited modern and contemporary art museums in the United States and, to ...

* New York City, New York: Apexart, Exit Art, International Studio & Curatorial Program * Philadelphia:

Painted Bride Art Center The Painted Bride Art Center, sometimes referred to informally as The Bride, is a non-profit artist-centered performance space and gallery particularly oriented to presenting the work of local Philadelphia artists, which presents dance, jazz, w ...

* Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts,

Pittsburgh Glass Center The Pittsburgh Glass Center is a gallery, glass studio, and public-access school dedicated to teaching, creating and promoting studio glass art. It is located on Penn Avenue in the Friendship (Pittsburgh), Friendship neighborhood of Pittsburgh. ...

* Raleigh, North Carolina: Pullen Park

Europe

Belgium

* Ghent: Vooruit Italy

France

* Nantes: Le Lieu unique

The Netherlands

* Amsterdam: OT301 * Nijmegen:

Extrapool Extrapool is a Nijmegen based non-profit foundation and an artist-run initiativehttp://www.bataforum.nl/alternatievestadsgids?sobi2Task=sobi2Details&sobi2Id=9 focused on experimental music, movies, avant-garde art and underground art. Extrapoo ...

* Rotterdam:

WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always). Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete worm ...

Spain

Matadero Madrid Matadero Madrid is the site of a former slaughterhouse, the El Matadero y Mercado Municipal de Ganados (English: Municipal Slaughterhouse and Cattle Market) in the Arganzuela district of Madrid. Today, it is a contemporary arts centre. History ...

*Gijón: LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial

United Kingdom

*Aberystwyth: Aberystwyth Arts Centre (1970–present) *Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre (2012–present) *Birmingham: mac (1962–present) *Bristol: ** Cube Microplex formally Bristol Arts Centre (1964–present) ** Arnolfini (1961–present) *Cambridgeshire: Wysing Arts Centre (1989–present) *Cardiff: Chapter Arts Centre (1971–present) *Coventry: Warwick Arts Centre (?–present) *Derby: Quad (2008–present) *Dundee: Dundee Contemporary Arts (1999–present) *Edinburgh:

Summerhall Summerhall is an arts complex and events venue in Edinburgh, Scotland. Formerly home to the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies of the University of Edinburgh, it is now a major Edinburgh Festival Fringe visual and performing arts venue. ...

(as arts centre, 2011–present) *Fareham: Ashcroft Arts Centre (1989–present) *Glasgow: ** Third Eye Centre (1975–1991) ** Centre for Contemporary Arts (1992–present) *Havant: The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre (?–present) *Leicester: Attenborough Arts Centre (?–present) *Liverpool:

the Bluecoat Built in 1716–17 as a charity school, Bluecoat Chambers in School Lane is the oldest surviving building in central Liverpool, England. Following the Liverpool Blue Coat School's move to another site in 1906, the building was rented from 1907 ...

(1927–present) *London: ** Barbican Centre (1982–present) ** Camden Arts Centre (1965 (as Hampstead Arts Centre)–present) **

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nati ...

(1951–present) ** Battersea Arts Centre (1980–present) *Manchester: ** Cornerhouse (1985–2015) **

HOME A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it ...

(2015–present) *Newcastle: Newcastle Arts Centre (founded 1980, opened 1988–present) *Nottingham: Nottingham Contemporary (2009–present) *Norwich: Norwich Arts Centre (1977–present) *Omagh:

Strule Arts Centre Strule Arts Centre ( ga, Ionad Ealaíne na Sruthaile; Ulster-Scots: ''Strule Hoose o Airts'') is a multi-purpose arts venue in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The Omagh tourist information office is located on the ground floor. The centr ...

(?–present) *Plymouth: Plymouth Arts Centre (1947–present)

Middle East

Palestine * Gerard Behar Center,

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Asia

China

* Huaxia Art Centre,

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major Sub-provincial division, sub-provincial city and one of the Special economic zones of China, special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pea ...

Indonesia

* Ciputra Artpreneur, Jakarta

Philippines

* National Arts Center,

Los Baños, Laguna Los Baños, officially the Municipality of Los Baños ( tgl, Bayan ng Los Baños), colloquialy 'elbi' or simply LB, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 115,353 ...

* Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, City of Manila

Taiwan

* Changhua: Lukang Artist Village, National Changhua Living Art Center * Chiayi City: Art Site of Chiayi Railway Warehouse,

Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park The Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park () or G9 Creative Park is a multi-purpose park in West District, Chiayi City, Taiwan. History The area was originally opened in 1916 as Chiayi Brewery by the Japanese government. In 1922, the br ...

* Hsinchu City: Hsinchu City Art Site of Railway Warehouse,

National Hsinchu Living Arts Center The National Hsinchu Living Arts Center (NHLAC; ) is an arts center in East District, Hsinchu City, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas i ...

* Hualien: Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park * Kaohsiung: Dadong Arts Center, Meinong Cultural and Creative Center, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, Pier-2 Art Center * Keelung:

Embrace Cultural and Creative Park The Embrace Cultural and Creative Park () is a multi-purpose park in Xinyi District, Keelung, Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the ...

* Miaoli: Wu Chuo-liu Art and Cultural Hall * New Taipei: Banqiao 435 Art Zone,

Xinzhuang Culture and Arts Center The Xinzhuang Culture and Arts Center () is an art and cultural center in Xinzhuang District, New Taipei, Taiwan. History The preparation for the center started in 1990. In 1991–1992, the center committee observed features from various cultur ...

* Pingtung: Pingtung Performing Arts Center * Taichung: Taichung City Tun District Art Center, Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park, Taichung Shiyakusho * Tainan: Blueprint Culture and Creative Park,

National Tainan Living Arts Center The National Tainan Living Arts Center () is an arts center in West Central District, Tainan, Taiwan. It handles the cultural-related affairs among communities for the counties in southern Taiwan. History The center was originally initiated ...

* Taipei: Huashan 1914 Creative Park, Mind Set Art Center, National Taiwan Arts Education Center,

Puppetry Art Center of Taipei The Puppetry Art Center of Taipei (PACT; ) is an arts center in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. History In 1998, Lin Ching-fu, chairperson of the Taiyuan Arts and Culture Foundation, donated his personal collection of puppets which he had b ...

, Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, Taipei City Arts Promotion Office * Taitung: National Taitung Living Art Center, Taitung Railway Art Village * Taoyuan:

Taoyuan Arts Center The Taoyuan Arts Center () is a performance center in Taoyuan District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan located in Taoyuan Zhongzheng Arts and Cultural Business District. History The center was opened in 2010. Architecture The building was constructed us ...

, Zhongli Arts Hall * Yilan: National Center for Traditional Arts

Thailand

* Bangkok Art and Culture Centre

References

{{Art world , state=autocollapse Arts centres Types of art museums and galleries Contemporary art galleries