About

Mandate

  • ARCCO is a provincial arts service organization that serves artist-run (driven, led, centred) organizations that support the creation, production and presentation of contemporary living artistic culture in the visual arts;
  • ARCCO collects, synthesizes and shares information relevant to its highly specialized labour force;
  • ARCCO acts as a hub where peers of the artist-run network can meet, and share experiences and resources;
  • ARCCO collaborates with provincial and national associations in the arts to advocate for increased funding to improve the wages and work conditions of the precarious labour force of artists and managers, for the long-term sustainability of the sector.

Values

  • Artist-run centres play a specific role in the visual arts ecology and this role merits greater recognition
  • Each artist-led organization has the right to determine its own structure and purpose
  • Artists and workers in non-commercial contexts deserve professional and respectful workplaces
  • Arts workers in the artist-run milieu have specialized knowledge and skills to respond to the needs of artists at every stage of their careers.

ARCCO acknowledges the ancestral and traditional territories and the 46 treaties that cover the territory now called Ontario. Acknowledging traditional Indigenous territories is one small way to recognize contemporary and historical Indigenous presence and land rights. Let this acknowledgement serve as a reminder of our ongoing efforts to recognize, honor, and reconcile with the Indigenous people, the land, and the water that we benefit from today. We are grateful to be able to work and live in these territories and we continue to reflect on our actions as we strive toward a respectfully shared future.

Vision (2021-2024)

In three years, ARCCO is a trusted hub for the production and sharing of relevant knowledge and resources; ARCCO has an established channel for formal and informal learning opportunities, and collaborates with peer associations to advocate for increased funding to improve the work conditions and wages of its specialized labour force.

Objectives

  1. Clarify ARCCO’s operating model; stabilize and strengthen the organization with greater transparency and accountability
  2. Support and formalize services to members; produce and share knowledge, resources and information with artist-run collectives and centres
  3. Develop and consolidate the Ontario artist-run centre membership (reach out to artist-run centres, expand the membership and connect member ARCs)
  4. Represent and advocate for artist-run centres on a provincial and national level, and promote the specificity of the visual arts

History

The Artist-Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario (ARCCO) was founded in 1988 and incorporated in 2000 as a not-for-profit arts service organization for artist-run centres and collectives across Ontario, and was quickly recognized by all levels of government and the national arts community as the official voice of artist-run centres in Ontario. In 2001-02, ARCCO secured and generated $155,000 in funding, which supported “Convergence,” a national convening of artist-run centres held in Ottawa that catalyzed the creation of the Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference/La Conférence des collectifs et des centres d'artistes autogérés (ARCA), a national arts service organization founded in 2004. In 2007, ARCCO, with the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG), initiated advocacy discussions with other provincial arts service organizations and formed the PASO Coalition with 23 member organizations. In 2008, ARCCO organized “Hot Buttons,” another major convening connecting artist-run centres from across Canada. In 2015, ARCCO produced “Artists at the Centre: Moving from the Margins to Inclusion,” a national conference presented in partnership with ARCA and held in Toronto.

In the past, ARCCO has focused on organizing provincial and national meetings so that members of the artist-run community who share similar needs and challenges can strike partnerships and collaborations with their peers. ARCCO has also maintained affiliations with various provincial arts service organizations (members of the PASO Coalition) and organizers of past Arts Day at Queen’s Park events.

ARCCO held a members’ meeting on February 18, 2020 to elect a board and renew ARCCO’s mission and objectives.

Contact

ARCCO

2 Daly Ave.
Ottawa ON  K1N 6E2
CANADA

info@arcco.net

Board and Staff

Coordinator:
Jonathan Middleton

Board of Directors:

Tam-Ca Vo-Van, Chair
Director, SAW, Ottawa

Dermot Wilson
Artist and member of the Nipissing Curatorial Collective, North Bay

Teajai Travis

Ruth Skinner
Forrest City Gallery, London

Website design:
Simon Guibord