A Brief History of This Town Is Small
For over a decade, This Town Is Small (TTIS) has established itself as a respected and responsive artist-run centre that is committed to supporting contemporary art across Prince Edward Island. It was established as a non-profit organisation in 2010 in following a series of conversations between Island artists who recognized a lack of opportunities and infrastructures to support the visual arts on PEI, especially for early to mid-career artists and artists who work in unconventional/experimental mediums outside of the commercial sphere. The founding members were Becka Viau, Leonard MacPherson, Drew Heggie, and Jennifer White.
TTIS thus began its work, taking a community-centred approach in revitalising contemporary art locally.
In 2011, the Art in the Open festival became the organisation’s first major project as a partnership with the Confederation Centre Art Gallery and the City of Charlottetown.
The one-day main event of the contemporary art festival has since taken place annually and has become known for its energized presentations of artistic projects in outdoor green spaces located across downtown Charlottetown. With a combination of curated and juried projects, the festival brings together both early-career and established artists as well as creative initiatives by community groups, solidifying the impact and the need for a platform for contemporary visual arts. With the growth of the festival, Art in the Open has since incorporated as a separate entity and TTIS has continued to participate in the festival as an active partner.
Around the time of separation from its most notable project in 2017, This Town Is Small secured operational funding provincially from Innovation PEI through the PEI Culture Action Plan.
This enabled TTIS to hire a permanent staff member and develop new programming, all while continuing to operate as a spaceless organisation. Sharing and exchanging resources has become a crucial aspect of increasing capacity within the local cultural sector, and this town is small has built its programming on this model, providing professional paid opportunities to Island artists to exhibit their work with partnering exhibition venues that include farmers markets, community galleries, cafes, breweries, parks, community halls, and more, as well as providing artist residency programs, workshops, artist talks and panels, and other events. These initiatives have covered a wide region of PEI, making programming accessible to a range of audiences and communities in unexpected contexts that are also stimulating environments for artists to situate their work.
As a growing organisation, TTIS is committed to expanding its community of artists, becoming a hub for the contemporary arts for local artists and creatives, and supporting challenging artworks being made in the province and in conversation with contemporary art nationally and internationally.
In late 2023, This Town Is Small achieved national recognition when it was announced as a runner-up for the Lacey Prize, a biannual prize given to artist-run centres by the National Gallery of Canada to recognize the activities and impact of small organizations and artist-run spaces in Canada.
In 2024, This Town Is Small signed a lease at the Hilda Woolnough Gallery at the Guild in downtown Charlottetown, acheiving the organization’s long-term goal to find a permanent space for programming.