| Burlington Art Centre | |
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Location of the Burlington Art Centre in Ontario
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| Established | 1978 |
| Location | 1333 Lakeshore Road Burlington, Ontario L7S 1A9 Canada |
| Type | Art museum |
| Website | Official website |
The Burlington Art Centre is an art centre in close proximity to Spencer Smith Park in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. There are exhibitions and educational programs, studios and activities at the Art Centre. The Centre is a non-profit registered charitable organization. It provides free admission seven days a week.
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The Burlington Art Centre was founded in 1978. It is the seventh largest public art gallery in Ontario and attracts over 100,000 visitors from Burlington, the Bay Area, Toronto, and across Ontario and the United States. The Centre collects and maintains Canada's largest collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics.
It was formed by several active visual arts co-operatives and guilds in the Burlington region. It was opened in 1978 as a facility for art groups to develop dedicated studios, photography, hand weaving, spinning, sculpture, woodcarving, ceramics, fine arts, and hooking craft. The Centre expanded and it started to become a public art gallery with exhibitions, publications, and a collection (begun in 1983) of contemporary Canadian ceramic art and educational programs. The facility has undergone two capital expansions (1991 & 2001) in response to the increasing need for collection storage, studios, and revenue generation.
The Art Centre operates a 4,100 m². (44,000 sq ft.) facility with exhibition spaces that include the 400 m². (4,200 sq ft.) AIC Gallery, the 40 m². (400 sq ft.) F.R. (Bob) Perry Gallery, a collection atrium, multiple display cases throughout the facility for works in the collection, and a 225 m². (2,400 sq ft.) exterior courtyard for site-specific exhibitions. The educational programs have 10 studio/classrooms. Meeting rooms, gallery shop, café and offices account for 1,400 m². (15,000 sq ft.).
There is an exhibition program, which has contemporary Canadian ceramists and regional artists including the BAC's guild members. There is an education program which trains professional development for artists and craftspeople.
The BAC plays a unique national role in collecting contemporary Canadian ceramics. The development of a critical mass of 1,000 artworks is a principle 'driver' for our curatorial work. Exhibitions of contemporary ceramics are curated from our own collection and from practicing Canadian artists. International and historic artworks are utilized to provide context and background for Canadian developments.
The Itabashi, a sister city of Burlington, Art Museum in Tokyo, Japan and at public art galleries across Canada recognize the Centre's large ceramic collection, which is also the largest in Canada. The centre has a "Fire + Earth" exhibition through Virtual Museums Canada.