Types of art galleries explained

Why the type matters

“Gallery” covers very different places. A national museum, a city hall corridor, a member-run storefront and a dealer’s showroom can all call themselves galleries. The type tells you three useful things: who chooses the art, where the money comes from, and whether anything is for sale. For a visitor, that sets your expectations about admission and prices. For an artist, it tells you how to approach the place and who should be paying whom.

Every listing in our gallery directory is tagged with one of these types.

The quick comparison

Public galleries and museums

These are the big institutions: the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and regional galleries across the country. They keep permanent collections, employ curators and are funded by governments, admissions, memberships and donors.

For visitors: expect an admission charge, with free hours or free groups. The AGO, for example, is free on the first Wednesday night of each month and free for Ontarians under 25. See our guide to visiting galleries.

For artists: curators choose the shows, usually by invitation after following your work for years. When a publicly funded gallery exhibits work that is not for sale, it owes the artist an exhibition fee, guided by the CARFAC-RAAV schedule.

Municipal galleries

Cities run their own spaces. In Ottawa, the City Hall Art Gallery and Karsh-Masson Gallery, both inside City Hall, are free to visit, and the city’s public art program announces their exhibition calls. Montréal runs a network of Maisons de la culture across its boroughs, with exhibitions and events that are free or low cost.

For artists: municipal galleries often choose shows through juried calls, and Montréal says artists can propose exhibitions to the Maisons de la culture free of charge throughout the year. They are among the most open doors in the system.

University galleries

Many campuses run serious contemporary galleries, such as the Belkin at the University of British Columbia or the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery at Concordia in Montréal. They are usually free and often show ambitious work alongside student and faculty exhibitions.

For artists: curators program most shows; graduating exhibitions are where many careers are first noticed.

Artist-run centres

Non-profit spaces governed by artists, funded mainly by arts councils, and focused on contemporary and experimental work. They select most exhibitions through open calls and pay exhibition fees. Our guide what is an artist-run centre? covers them in depth, and you can browse them in our list of artist-run centres in Canada.

Co-operatives

A co-op is a gallery owned and staffed by its members. Each member pays fees or rent, takes shifts at the desk and shows their own work. Because members carry the costs, the co-op’s cut of sales is usually small compared with a dealer’s.

For visitors: you can often meet the artist who made the work, and prices are usually posted.

For artists: you apply for membership rather than for a show. It is a practical way to sell locally, but be honest on your CV: a co-op show is a members’ show, not a juried or curated one.

Non-profit arts centres

Community arts centres, art societies and multi-use cultural centres mix exhibitions with classes, studios and room rentals. Some pay exhibition fees under public funding rules; others take a commission on sales, or both.

For artists: read each call carefully, because the terms vary more here than anywhere else.

Commercial galleries

A commercial gallery, or dealer, is a business that earns a commission when it sells an artist’s work. Canadian best-practice standards published by CARFAC Maritimes describe a commission of 40% to 50% of the retail price as usual, and an even split is the common arrangement in the United States. The Art Dealers Association of Canada, founded in 1966, has more than 60 member galleries, and membership is by invitation.

For visitors: walking in is free and you are under no obligation to buy. Ask at the desk for a price list. See how to price your art for the other side of that conversation.

For artists: you should never pay a commercial gallery to show. The dealer invests in you and recovers it from sales. Our guide to commission rates and consignment agreements explains the contract.

Rental and vanity spaces

Some spaces simply rent walls or rooms by the week. An honest rental space says so: you pay a stated fee, you hang, promote and sell the show yourself, and nobody pretends you were selected.

A vanity gallery is different. It presents itself as a selective gallery but makes its money from artists’ fees, not from sales. Read how to spot a vanity gallery before you sign anything that asks you to pay.

Pop-ups and online galleries

Pop-ups are temporary shows in empty shops, studios or festival venues, run by artists, curators or businesses. Online galleries range from established dealers’ viewing rooms to marketplaces that charge listing fees or commissions. For both, ask the same questions: who chose the work, who pays whom, and what happens to your work and your money if the venue disappears.