Westspace Gallery

Founded by artists, West Space is a lonstanding Melbourne Artist Run Initiative (ARI) with strong ties to the cultural fabric of Melbourne. Its new home at the Collingwood Arts Precinct celebrates the art exhibited and subtly faciliates social interactions around the gallery. Windows facing the CBD are revealed and celebrated bringing in ample natural light, timber floors were sanded and brought back to life adding a warmth to the space. Reception and office spaces are located at the front and provide a transition from the public collonnade of the building into the gallery. An existing doorway to the gallery has been decommissioned and transformed into a window gallery providing 24/7 activiation to the public realm. A timber bench marks the gallery entrance and provides a space for intimate social gathering.
West Space combines the professional infrastructure and curatorial support of a contemporary art institution with the flexibility, creative freedom, and risk-taking of an artist-run space. The gallery advocates for artists and arts workers, and takes responsibility in leading discussions that contribute to broad contem­porary art concerns, be they social, political, aesthetic, or material.