About Us

The Shenkman Arts Centre, which opened on June 18, 2009, is Ottawa’s only multidisciplinary arts facility offering services and programs in both English and French. The Centre, which is located in Ottawa East, is a creative hub where artists and audiences meet to create and explore the arts.

The Centre provides much-needed space for performing arts presentations and visual art exhibitions, as well as specialized spaces for hands-on instruction in the visual, performing, literary and media arts along with unique spaces for receptions and special events, all in pursuit of creative excellence.

Operated by the City of Ottawa, the Centre offers a diversity of programs and activities that bring art to life in the Shenkman Arts Centre, a variety attributed to a unique collaboration with the Centre’s Resident Arts Partners: AOE Arts Council, Gloucester Pottery School, MIFO (Mouvement d’implication francophone d’Orléans), Ottawa School of Art–Orléans Campus and OYP Theatre School. The Centre also houses, Tara Luz Danse, Orléans Festival, and ARTicipate, a one-of-a-kind endowment fund that supports innovative programming at the Centre.

To learn more about the Shenkman Arts Centre, click here to view our brochure

History

The public expressed a need for an east-end arts facility more than 20 years ago. After several needs assessments and feasibility studies, City of Ottawa staff fine-tuned the community requirements and sought out the right opportunity. The strategy included the development of a P3 (Public-Private Partnership) in 2004 with the Orléans Town Centre Partnership (OTCP) led by Forum Leasehold Partners Inc., Aecon Buildings, Lalande + Doyle Architects, and Johnson Controls/BLJC.

The OTCP addressed the design, construction, maintenance, and ownership responsibilities of the Shenkman Arts Centre facility (8,000 square meters). The partnership agreement includes the City operating the facility during a 30-year lease term, until such time the ownership will revert back to the City. The Shenkman Arts Centre opened on June 18, 2009.

Find out how the Orléans Town Centre partnership works.

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