Original art crafted with passion.

Our History

In 2004, retail space on Elgin Street was donated as an experiment for one month as an Arts and Craft Gallery. Twenty artists were contacted and were eager to participate.

This project became very successful as the gallery contributed to the revitalization of the downtown and provided much needed space for area artists. Both the community and the member artists became aware that the gallery provided a niche for local art that was sadly missing. Thus what commenced as a one month experiment became a more permanent presence which grew to accommodate more than 50 artists, working in a variety of mediums.

Image of Artists on Elgin Storefront

Subsequently, The Northern Artist Gallery was born and incorporated as a “not for profit” organization in July 2004. Later registered as Artists On Elgin, it the only artist run gallery which addressed the business and marketing needs of the local community. It strove to provide a high quality visitor experience for its customers. As well, due to funding gratefully received from organizations such as FedNor and NOHFC the organization trained many young people (interns) who were then encouraged to remain in the North.

Many well known artists were featured including those who had private shows and exhibitions from local guilds.

For 15 years, Artists On Elgin thrived as an exciting project, staffed by volunteers with one dedicated staff member who was paid thanks to the funding organizations and the NOHFC funded Interns. In 2012 it seemed that some volunteers were getting tired, sales were slower and perhaps times had changed.

 

A New Direction

In 2018, it was decided that it was time to close the doors at Artists on Elgin and rebrand the organization to better fit the needs of the times and embrace the future.

A new Board was formed to plan and direct our future which includes a new brand direction, trade name, vision and purpose. Our direction includes the new trade name Northern Artists Gallery, member-centric logo and website.

ABOUT THE LOGO

The symbol is composed of multi-coloured dots representing the individuality of our members. Formed in an organized pattern, the dots also symbolize a unified collective aligned in the support of the arts which is expressed by the lowercase “a”.

Paul Gomirato, RGD