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, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

. An arts centre is a functional community centre 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 to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

space, gallery space, venues for

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, "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, the Bluecoat Society of Arts was founded in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and gradually changed from mainly middle-class places to 1960s and 1970s trendy, alternative centres and eventually in the 1980s to serving the ''whole'' community with a programme of enabling access to wheelchair users and disabled 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

* Alexandria, Virginia Torpedo Factory Art Center * Arlington, Virginia: Artisphere * Atlanta, Georgia: Eyedrum * Chicago, Illinois: Hairpin Arts Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Lillstreet Art Center, South Side Community Art Center * Dallas, Texas: The Dallas Contemporary * Huntington, West Virginia: Marshall University Visual Arts Center * Indianapolis, Indiana: Indianapolis Art Center * Lebanon, New Hampshire: AVA Gallery and Art Center * Mesa, Arizona: Mesa Arts Center * Milford, Pennsylvania: Pike County Arts and Crafts * Minneapolis, Minnesota: Walker Art Center * New York City, New York: Apexart, Exit Art, International Studio & Curatorial Program * Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Painted Bride Art Center * Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Pittsburgh Glass Center * Raleigh, North Carolina: Pullen Park * Reading, Pennsylvania: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts

Europe

Belgium

* Ghent: Vooruit Italy

France

* Nantes: Le Lieu unique

The Netherlands

* Amsterdam: OT301 * Nijmegen: Extrapool * Rotterdam: WORM

Spain

* Matadero Madrid *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) *Bridgwater Bridgwater Arts Centre (10 October 1946 – present) *Brighton and Hove: Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (1969–2007 as Gardner Arts Centre, 2016–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) *Colchester: Colchester Arts Centre (1980–present) *Coventry: Warwick Arts Centre (?–present) *Derby: Quad (2008–present) *Dundee: Dundee Contemporary Arts (1999–present) *Edinburgh: Summerhall (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 (1927–present) ** FACT Liverpool (2003–present) *London: ** Barbican Centre (1982–present) ** Camden Arts Centre (1965 (as Hampstead Arts Centre)–present) ** Southbank Centre (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 more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

(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 (?–present) *Poole: Lighthouse (Poole) (1978–present; formerly Poole Arts Centre) *Plymouth: Plymouth Arts Centre (1947–present) *Swindon: Swindon Arts Centre (1956–present)

Middle East

Palestine * Gerard Behar Center,

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Asia

China

* Huaxia Art Centre,

Shenzhen Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in the province of Guangdong, China. A Special economic zones of China, special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong ...

Indonesia

* Ciputra Artpreneur,

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

Oceania

Papua New Guinea

* Creative Arts Centre (Papua New Guinea) (became National Arts Centre and merged into University of Papua New Guinea)

References

{{Authority control Arts centres Types of art museums and galleries Contemporary art galleries