Help us make our expansion a reality and further strengthen Centre Wellington as a vibrant arts community!

The Elora Centre for the Arts is embarking on an exciting new chapter, and we want YOU to be a part of it!

What We’re Doing

Starting this fall, we’ll be transforming the Arts Centre by constructing a 3,500-square-foot addition to our existing building that will feature:

  • ⭐ A multi-use space for community gatherings, performances, exhibitions and other events
  • ⭐ Fully accessible spaces, including universal washrooms
  • ⭐ A new servery-style kitchen and other hospitality infrastructure
DOWNLOAD OUR BROCHURE

Why We’re Doing It

As a not-for-profit charitable organization, our mission is to ignite creativity, foster connection and build community through the arts. We want everyone to feel welcome here. 

To continue fulfilling this mission, we need to address some of the physical constraints of our existing space:

⭐ While our building — an 1856 heritage schoolhouse — is beautiful and part of the community’s rich history, it can’t accommodate large gatherings or people with mobility constraints, and lacks clear wayfinding for visitors.

⭐ Demand for our programs and events far exceeds what our existing space can offer. In fact, we currently have to turn away more than half of the requests we receive to use our space because our building isn’t accessible or because we’re already fully booked.

⭐ Our community is growing, and we need to grow with it! As an arts and culture hub for Wellington County, the Arts Centre welcomes more than 50,000 people every year, offering exhibitions, performances, community events, summer camps, office and studio space for local artists and arts groups, and a range of programs and services for all ages. We simply need more space to meet the demands of our growing community.

How It Will Benefit Our Community

This expansion will:

  • Contribute to the vibrancy and health of our region, strengthening Centre Wellington as a key arts and tourism community
  • Break down barriers to participation in the arts by giving even more people the opportunity to participate in a wide variety of activities at the Arts Centre
  • Ensure the Arts Centre is accessible for everyone in the community and is a space where everyone feels like they belong
  • Provide a much-needed gathering space for community members and groups in the area
  • Allow us to introduce new programs for seniors and accommodate people with mobility constraints
  • Help us become more financially sustainable in the long term
  • Directly impact the lives of people in our community, helping them build skills like creative thinking and resiliency
  • Continue the legacy of an Arts Centre by and for the community for generations to come

How You Can Get Involved

Here’s the REALLY exciting part — 84% of the $4.5 million in funds needed to make this expansion a reality has already been raised! Now, we need YOUR help to get to the finish line.

Here are just some of the ways you can get involved:

Make a one-time donation

Help strengthen Centre Wellington as a vibrant arts community and break down barriers to participation in the arts by making a one-time donation to The Art of Possibility campaign. 

Every donation brings the finish line that much closer!
Become a monthly donor

One of the most meaningful ways you can contribute to this campaign is by becoming a monthly donor. By joining our monthly donor community, you’ll help make our vision of the expansion a reality, and ensure that the Arts Centre can ignite creativity, foster connection and build community through the arts for generations to come. 
Organize a fundraiser

Bake sales, bonspiels, backyard Waddies — whatever you love to do, why not gather some friends and neighbours and do it for a cause? 

Every amount raised helps and is HUGELY appreciated. Contact Mary-Kay Goindi to let us know what you have in mind and we’ll do our best to help you spread the word!
Naming Opportunities
Leave a lasting legacy by naming an aspect or area of our new addition! We have a number of opportunities to have a featured aspect or area of the expansion named in recognition of individual donors, companies, or in honour of friends and family. Your gift can be made as a one-time donation or given in installments from now until 2027.  Opportunities start at $500.
Contact Molly Kleiker for full details.
Join 75 placemakers in the “School of Fish”

Designed by local metal artist Mike Hintermeister, the School of Fish is a community art installation that will be on permanent display in the Arts Centre yard. It will feature 75 individually sculpted fish — and the names of the 75 community members whose generous contributions helped to make our expansion possible.
Download the brochure or contact Molly Kleiker for full details! 
Subscribe to our e-newsletter.

Stay up to date on the expansion, as well as the latest arts happenings at the Arts Centre and around town?

Sign up for our e-newsletter here!

The Elora Centre for the Arts would like to acknowledge the many funders and donors for their generous support of this project to date — in particular, the leadership gifts from the Government of Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Township of Centre Wellington and the Dalglish Family Foundation.