About

This Town Is Small (TTIS) is an artist-run centre dedicated to fostering contemporary visual art and supporting local artists. Through exhibitions, workshops, artist talks, and a diverse range of programs, TTIS creates meaningful opportunities for artistic growth and engagement. The centre is based at the Hilda Woolnough Gallery in the Guild, with additional site-specific projects and events taking place throughout the province.

Read This Town is Small’s 2022-2025 Strategic Plan

Mission: This Town Is Small (TTIS) is a leader of contemporary art creation, presentation, and events. We promote dialogue about and access to contemporary art and create opportunities for artists on PEI.

Vision: To foster sustainable contemporary arts practice on PEI by supporting local artists within a regional, national, and international context.

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We pay respect to the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which This Town Is Small and its activities are located. Epekwitk is a part of Mi’kma’ki, the unceded, ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq, and is subject to the Treaties of Peace and Friendship. We are mindful of the broken promises of the treaties, ongoing forms of colonization, and the need to work to recognize, understand and challenge our participation within colonialism as individuals, communities and organizations. We will work to honour the treaties of this territory while committing ourselves to the struggle of decolonization. We are all Treaty People. We are grateful to live and work on this land and acknowledge the territorial and cultural sovereignty of the Epekwitnewaq Mi’kmaq: past, present, future.

silhouette of a woman playing a Mi'kmaq drum in front of a microphone

What is an artist-run centre?

Artist-run centres are galleries and/or art spaces that are initiated by artists, for artists, and that started as a movement in Canada in the 1960s. Artist-run centres typically follow a not-for-profit organizational model, de-emphasizing the sale of artworks and supporting professional opportunities for visual artists in the creation, presentation, and dissemination of their work, especially emerging artists and artists with unconventional/experimental practices. There are over 180 artist-run centres located across Canada today, each with its own unique vision and structure to support the communities they operate within..

Our Selection Processes

Our Selection Processes are in line with those of other artist-run centres, professional galleries, and arts funding agencies.

Calls for submissions

Calls for submissions are reviewed by a jury of professional artists, selected to include a diverse range of experiences and perspectives. Jury members are paid jury fees for their time and expertise. Submissions are graded on a rubric that includes: Artistic Merit, Feasibility, and Impact and then discussed by the jury for final decisions.

First-come, first-served

First-come, first-served opportunities are our lowest barrier of entry offerings, where any project that meets outlined criteria and is within our capacity is accepted. This allows for a larger group of artists to participate together.