The mandate of the Carnegie Gallery (Dundas Art and Craft Association) is to promote and encourage the appreciation and production of Canadian art and artists, especially from the region, in both visual art and fine craft.
More specifically, our objectives are:
Major activities of the Dundas Art and Craft Association include:
In 1979 a group of local residents organized a Craft Carnival to raise funds for repairs to the former Carnegie Library. These residents formed the nucleus of what was to become the Dundas Art & Craft Association.
The Dundas Art & Craft Association, incorporated in 1980 as a not-for-profit charitable organization, opened the Carnegie Gallery (housed in the old library) as an outlet and exhibition space for area artists and craftspeople.
Thanks to the support of members, friends, the City of Hamilton, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the many Gallery volunteers, the Carnegie is proud to celebrate our 45th anniversary inspiring fine art and craft.
The Carnegie Gallery welcomes over 20,000 visitors annually. As a dynamic cultural centre and tourism magnet for the community of Dundas and surrounding area, the Gallery has been a critical cornerstone in supporting the development and success of its Artist Members.
To learn more about the history of the Carnegie Gallery and see archival photographs, visit the Building Cultural Legacies website – “The Carnegie Gallery” article written by Nancy McKibbin Gray.
On December 8th, 1910, the building officially opened its doors as the town’s first free public library. One of 111 Carnegie libraries built in Ontario between 1903 and 1922, it was built with the assistance of a $12,000 grant from the Carnegie Foundation which was established by Scottish-American businessman and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
The site of the building was donated by Colonel J.J. Grafton, president of Grafton & Co. Ltd. (1909 – 1939), a clothing manufacturing company and retail store founded in Dundas in 1853. Additional funds were generously donated by the citizens of Dundas.
The Carnegie building remained in use as a public library until 1970, and then as the children’s library for another ten years. In 1980 it was leased to the Dundas Art and Craft Association and converted into what is now known as the Carnegie Gallery in 1981. In 2006, the building was purchased from the City of Hamilton and it is now the permanent home of the Carnegie Gallery.
Architecturally the Carnegie building is an example of the Beaux-Arts style commonly used for Carnegie-funded buildings built in Ontario after 1905. Designed by architects Chapman & McGiffen of Toronto, this neoclassical style is apparent in the large exterior staircase leading up to the main entrance doors, the classical columns supporting the portico, and the large symmetrically placed windows.
From a vintage postcard of the Dundas Public Library, postmarked August 23, 1915
A street view of the Carnegie Gallery building
circa 2005
In 2013, the Carnegie building underwent a complete restoration and The Barber Atrium was also added. This addition was designed by Perkins + Will and incorporated the architecture of the original structure. Special architectural features of the Carnegie Gallery building have been designated under the Ontario Heritage Act (1980).
Land Acknowledgement
The community of Dundas is situated upon the traditional territories of the Erie, Neutral, Huron-Wendat, Haudenosaunee and Mississauga Peoples. The land is covered by the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek to share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. This land is also covered by the Between the Lakes Purchase, 1792, made between the Crown and the Mississaugas of the Credit Nation.
John Wigle, Chair
Nancy McKibbin Gray, Past Chair
Rob Forbes, Treasurer
Kayla Cockburn, Director
Sandra Crisante, Director
Bob Edmonds, Director
Janice Kovar, Director
Elizabeth McQueen, Director
Ariel Rogers, Director
Rick Russell, Director
Neil Sharpe, Director
Laura Brandreth, Curator & Gallery Administrator
Sarah Rintjema, Marketing Coordinator
Olivia Russ, Administrative Assistant
