Gallery 101 has been enriching the understanding and development of contemporary art practices in the National Capital Region for the past forty years.

In 1979, a small group of energetic Ottawa artists pooled their resources to establish a new non-profit gallery in which they would have control over the production, presentation and critical responses to their own work. We were officially incorporated as the Artists’ Centre d’Artistes in 1981. During the 1980s, G101 organized performances, poetry readings, and music events alongside its regular exhibition programming. In the 1990s, G101 began presenting experimental film, video, media, and performance art works, cementing our identity as a space for explorations into new ways of art making.

Take a deep-dive into our early years at g101.ca/29forever

The past 10 years have been incredibly fruitful for G101. In 2013, Director/Curate=or Laura Margita curated "Create this Revolution" in response to the Idle No More movement. This exhibition, and the related beading circles we hosted with artist Christi Belcourt, eventually led to partnering with the Carleton University Art Gallery in 2015 to host the award winning "Walking With Our Sisters." G101 continues to nurture the connections with Indigenous artists, knowledge keepers, and elders made during WWOS.

Today our commitment to exploratory approaches to art making, curation, and presentation is complemented by partnerships with researchers, local arts and non-arts organizations, and national and international cultural institutions. Combining the two increases the depth and reach of our programming, centering our mission to bring together people of diverse identities to engage with urgent topics of the day.