About West Space

West Space is an independent, non-profit contemporary arts organisation in Naarm (Melbourne), established by artists in 1993.

West Space supports timely work by artists in Australia and beyond.

West Space is a place where artistic safety is cultivated, and where creative community can gather, test and imagine around art and ideas.

Programs

West Space Gallery

Our main space, presenting major visual art commissions and curatorial projects.

West Space Commission

A transformative investment in artists, providing support for the development, presentation, and communication of ambitious new work in our gallery.

West Space Window

Our micro-project space on the facade of our gallery offered through partnerships and open call.

West Space Offsite

Our digital platform publishing writing and artist-led content in support of our program.

West Space Studio

A fully subsidised studio, offering residencies above our gallery and office.

Discursive Programs

Accessible and thematic programmes accompany each exhibition, providing multiple access points to artistic practice.

Values

First Nations First

West Space operates on Wurundjeri Country, in a continent with an Aboriginal past, present, and future. First Nations voices are embedded across our organisation, from our governance to our artistic program.

For Artists

West Space exists to support artists. We commission timely, groundbreaking art — supporting practice that is rigorous, experimental, socially engaged, and self-reflexive about the role of art in society.

For Purpose

West Space creates space for voices across culture, class, generations, gender, and ability. We advocate for artists and arts professionals and build collaborations and partnerships that provide space for generative practice development.

Open and Welcoming

West Space is a place to gather freely, to test and imagine around art and ideas. With an understanding that art is for everyone, we contextualise works of art and communicate complex ideas to facilitate greater engagement with urgent artistic enquiries.

West Space stands for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Read our statement of Solidarity.

History

West Space has operated in five different locations since 1993, across Wurundjeri and Boonwurrung countries.

West Space was founded by artists Brett Jones and Sarah Stubbs in the western suburb of Footscray, in a cultural moment defined by shifting funding priorities and rising artist-collectivity. West Space began as a counterpoint to major institutions – offering a platform for risk-taking experimentation while prioritising the needs and ideas of artists.

In the 1990s, West Space was of the few artist-run spaces in Melbourne presenting a critically engaged, multidisciplinary program, accessible through open-access. In 2000, West Space relocated to Anthony Street in the CBD, and in 2005, formed a Board with the strategic skills to steer and grow the organisation. In 2011, West Space moved to a site spanning five exhibition spaces on Bourke Street.

In 2014, West Space began actively commissioning new work, and in 2017, introduced National Association for the Visual Arts (NAVA) rated fees for all exhibiting artists. As one of the few organisations our size to take this landmark and critical step, West Space is recognised as an exemplary model for best practice.

In 2020, West Space moved to a single space in the inner-north suburb Yálla-birr-ang (Collingwood) within the multi-arts precinct Collingwood Yards. Here we operate alongside artists, non-profit arts organisations, and social enterprises as well as independent retailers, cafes and bars.

West Space focuses on timely projects with long incubation periods by artists at all stages in their career programmed by invitation and by open-call. Anchored in place and informed by global solidarities, West Space offers a supportive space for experimentation, mentorship, and connection with an ever-growing networks of peers.

West Space occupies a unique position as a crucial intermediary between artist-run initiatives and major institutions. This allows us to act as a conduit across the arts ecology, forging pathways for the next generation of creative talent.

Funding and Partners

Core Funding

West Space receives operational funding from Creative Victoria through the Creative Enterprises Program and Creative Australia through the Four Year Funding Program.

Project Funding

Projects in 2025 are supported by City of Yarra through the Annual Grants Program, and Creative Australia through the Arts Projects for Organisations Grant.

West Space Supporters

What we do for artists is achieved through the generosity of our Supporters.

2025 Program Partners

Arts Access Victoria, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Centre for Projection Art, Hope st radio, Liquid Architecture, Melbourne Art Fair, Slow Burn Books, Victorian College of the Arts, UTS Gallery, Utp, Yarra Youth Services, un Projects.

Sponsors

Base Design, Sibling, McCorkell, Lūpa, Brighter Later, Heaps Normal, Little Brunswick Wine, Veriu Collingwood.

Network Partners

West Space is an anchor tenant in multi-arts precinct Collingwood Yards — a place of cultural and artistic production, open to the public.

West Space subleases our office to un Projects, an independent publisher of arts writing.

West Space is a member of Contemporary Arts Organisations Australia, a national network of independent non-profit arts organisations advocating for the small-to-medium visual arts sector.

West Space is a steering member of All Conference, a national network of artist-led and experimental arts organisations.

West Space is a member of A Climate for Art, a union of arts organisations responding to the climate crisis through tangible action.

West Space donates one percent of our annual turnover to Pay the Rent.