Harcourt House Artist Run Centre Receives Major Grant

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The Harcourt House building designed in 1963-64 by Dennis and Freda O’Connor Architects

now Maltby and Prins Architects. (photo by Jacek Malec)

Edmonton City Council has approved a grant through the Edmonton Heritage Reserve Fund for $500,000 to go to Harcourt House Artist Run Centre.

The money brings the centre's fundraising goal to almost half way to its goal of $3.5 million. Money will go toward purchasing the building where the gallery is located and will help secure the gallery's future in Edmonton. 

Earlier this year, Where Edmonton Community Artists Network (W.E.C.A.N.) Society/Harcourt House launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $100,000 toward the purchase of the building. That goal was reached by mid-September but the fundraiser is still open for further contributions.

Established in 1988 and operated by W.E.C.A.N., Harcourt House offers exhibition and education facilities, plus more than 40 studios for Alberta artists, the largest community of visual arts studios in the province.

In 2022, the Harcourt House board was told that the provincial government would not renew their lease. “After months of negotiations with Alberta Infrastructure, who owns the buildings, the group was granted a one-year extension to raise $3.5 million for buying the properties by November 30 (2023),” according to a CBC story last year.

Harcourt House artists have produced work found in public and private collections across Canada, including Barbara Paterson's Famous Five statues on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ont.

Source: Harcourt House Artist Run Centre, CBC.ca

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