An art centre or arts center is distinct from an

art gallery An art gallery is a room or a building in which visual art is displayed. In Western cultures from the mid-15th century, a gallery was any long, narrow covered passage along a wall, first used in the sense of a place for art in the 1590s. The long ...

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 A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

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 Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, 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 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 ...

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 The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

places to 1960s and 1970s trendy,

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

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, physica ...

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 Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

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 Confederation Centre of the Arts () is a cultural centre dedicated to the visual arts, visual and performing arts located in the city of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. History Construction of Confederation Centre, as it is commonly ...

* Ottawa, Ontario:

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

* 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 The South Side Community Art Center is a community art center in Chicago that opened in 1940 with support from the Works Progress Administration's Federal Art Project in Illinois. Opened in an 1893 mansion in Bronzeville, it became the first bla ...

* Dallas, Texas:

The Dallas Contemporary ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

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

* 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 Pullen Park is a park, public park immediately west of downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina. It is located on Ashe Avenue and is adjacent to the Main and Centennial campuses of North Carolina State University, covering an are ...

* Reading, Pennsylvania: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts

Europe

Belgium

* Ghent:

Vooruit Vooruit ( , ) is a historic complex in Ghent, Belgium. Vooruit was originally the festival and art centre of the Ghent-based labour movement, with a ballroom, cinema, theatre, etc. It is now mainly used for concerts and other cultural events ...

Italy

France

* Nantes: Le Lieu unique

The Netherlands

* Amsterdam: OT301 * Nijmegen: Extrapool * Rotterdam:

WORM Worms are many different distantly related bilateria, bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limb (anatomy), limbs, and usually no eyes. Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine ...

Spain

* Matadero Madrid *Gijón: LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial

United Kingdom

*Aberystwyth:

Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth Arts Centre ( Welsh: ''Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth'') is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre (312 seats), concert hall (1,250 seats ...

(1970–present) *Belfast Metropolitan Arts Centre (2012–present) *Birmingham:

mac Mac or MAC may refer to: Common meanings * Mac (computer), a line of personal computers made by Apple Inc. * Mackintosh, a raincoat made of rubberized cloth * Mac, a prefix to surnames derived from Gaelic languages * McIntosh (apple), a Canadi ...

(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 Chapter Arts Centre (often just referred to as Chapter) is an arts centre in Canton, Cardiff, Canton, Cardiff, Wales, opened in 1971. Description Chapter hosts films, Play (theatre), plays, performance art and live music, and includes a free ar ...

(1971–present) *Colchester:

Colchester Arts Centre Colchester Arts Centre is an arts centre in Colchester, Essex, which is located in a former Church of England parish church, the church of Saint Mary-at-the-Walls, a name derived from its proximity to the Camulodunum#Walls, Roman town walls. The ...

(1980–present) *Coventry: Warwick Arts Centre (?–present) *Derby:

Quad QUaD, an acronym for QUEST at DASI, was a ground-based cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization experiment at the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope) was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector instrume ...

(2008–present) *Dundee:

Dundee Contemporary Arts Dundee Contemporary Arts (DCA) is an art centre in Dundee, Scotland, with two contemporary art galleries, a two-screen movie theater, cinema, a printmaking, print studio, a learning and public engagement programme, a shop and a café bar. The cur ...

(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 The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, England, and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings a ...

(1982–present) **

Camden Arts Centre Camden Art Centre (known as Hampstead Arts Centre until 1967 and Camden Arts Centre until 2020) is a contemporary art gallery in the London Borough of Camden, England. It hosts temporary exhibitions and educational outreach projects, with a prog ...

(1965 (as Hampstead Arts Centre)–present) **

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank. It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...

(1951–present) **

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in Theater, theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a ...

(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 Norwich Arts Centre is a live music venue, theatre and art gallery located in St Benedict's Street in Norwich, Norfolk, England. It has a capacity of 300 for standing music concerts and 120 for seated events. In November 2014, it was named "Brita ...

(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 ...

Philippines

National Arts Center The National Arts Center is a building complex situated in Mount Makiling, Los Baños, Laguna, the Philippines. The establishment was inaugurated in 1976. Its theater is the Tanghalang Maria Makiling or the NAC Center, which has an audience capa ...

Los Baños, Laguna Los Baños (IPA: Help:IPA/Tagalog, ɔs bɐˈɲɔs, officially the Municipality of Los Baños (), colloquially 'elbi' or simply LB, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Laguna (province ...

Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex The Cultural Center of the Philippines Complex, also known as the CCP Complex, is an Arts district, art district managed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) located along Roxas Boulevard in Metro Manila, Philippines. It is a mixed- ...

, 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 * Hsinchu City: Hsinchu City Art Site of Railway Warehouse, National Hsinchu Living Arts Center * Hualien: Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park * Kaohsiung: Dadong Arts Center,

Meinong Cultural and Creative Center The Meinong Cultural and Creative Center () is a multi-purpose park in Meinong District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. History The area used to be a police station building which was built in 1902 at the political and economical center of Meinong. The are ...

National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts, also known as Weiwuying, (), is located in Fengshan District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It is the largest cultural facility in Taiwan, the world's largest performing art theater under one roof, and the first nat ...

, Pier-2 Art Center * Keelung: Embrace Cultural and Creative Park * Miaoli: Wu Chuo-liu Art and Cultural Hall * New Taipei: Banqiao 435 Art Zone, Xinzhuang Culture and Arts Center * 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 * 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, Zhongli Arts Hall * Yilan:

National Center for Traditional Arts The National Center for Traditional Arts (NCFTA; zh, c=國立傳統藝術中心, p=Guólì Chuántǒng Yìshù Zhōngxīn) or also called Center for Traditional Arts is located by the river bank of Dongshan River in Wujie, Yilan, Wujie Township, ...

Thailand

Bangkok Art and Culture Centre Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (BACC; ) is a contemporary arts centre in Siam area, Bangkok, Thailand. Art, music, theatre, film, design and cultural/educational events take place in its exhibition and performance spaces. The centre includes caf ...

Oceania

Papua New Guinea

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

University of Papua New Guinea The University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) is a university located in Port Moresby, capital of Papua New Guinea. It was established by ordinance of the Australian administration in 1965. This followed the Currie Commission which had enquired ...

)

References

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