INCITE FOUNDATION: ART GALLERY OF BURLINGTON

By Meredith MacLeodOct 19, 2025

The incite Foundation for the Arts supports the work of the Art Gallery of Burlington.

The incite Foundation for the Arts has contributed more than $9 million to 50 Hamilton-area organizations, through grants from $2,500 to $300,000, since it was founded in 2011. It is the legacy of the late Carl and Kate Turkstra who believed the arts are key to quality of life and critical to the future of Hamilton. And they believed anyone, regardless of circumstance, should be able to enjoy and pursue music, theatre and visual art. HAMILTON CITY Magazine is showcasing the incredible, creative and talented recipients of incite grants. Here we share the work of the Art Gallery of Burlington.

Since 1975, the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB) has been a place where artists, audiences, and ideas intersect, sparking creativity, dialogue, and new ways of seeing the world. Over five decades, the gallery has evolved from a regional-focused arts venue into a cultural cornerstone, fostering community connection through exhibitions, residencies, guided learning, and hands-on making.

As the AGB marks its 50th anniversary in 2025, it embraces this milestone not as a retrospective, but as an invitation to dig deeper into culture, unearthing the stories and shared creativity that knit a community together.

Read all about the legacy of Carl and Kate Turkstra here!

At the heart of this vision is the Living series, a multi-year initiative co-curated by artistic director and curator Suzanne Carte and associate curator Jasmine Mander. Launched in 2023 with the Living Library, the series offered a year of rotating artist and author projects, free events, a makerspace, and a space for slow engagement – where visitors could read, write, collage, make zines, or simply sprawl with a book. The experiment became a beloved creative hub and was expanded into a multi-year program thanks to the incite Foundation for the Arts’ three-year commitment (2024–2027). In recognition of this transformative support, the AGB’s Lakeshore Gallery was renamed the incite Gallery.

AGB's Living Room has became a permanent fixture of the gallery: a flexible, all-ages community hub shaped in collaboration with the architecture collective SHEEEP.

The series has since evolved through distinct chapters: in 2024, the Living Lab, where artist José Luis Torres created The place as an object and the object as a place, an architectural platform for spontaneous exploration, creation, and exhibition. The Lab hosted an eclectic program – from Collage + Movement to fermentation workshops, accessibility committee meetings to knitting drop-ins – offering multiple entry points into artmaking and exchange.

In 2025, the Living Room became a permanent fixture of the gallery: a flexible, all-ages community hub shaped in collaboration with the architecture collective SHEEEP. This final chapter in the series launches AGB’s Community Generator program, an initiative of special projects and activations designed to meet the evolving needs of Burlington’s residents, while expanding opportunities for artists and audiences alike.

The AGB’s programming spans emerging and established voices, with exhibitions exploring urgent themes from environmental stewardship to belonging. Its nationally significant collection of contemporary Canadian ceramics bridges craft and contemporary art, while partnerships with schools, health initiatives, and community groups extend the gallery’s reach, supporting mental health, reducing isolation, and empowering youth through creative engagement.

“incite Foundation’s generosity allows us to create a dynamic and inclusive space that encourages community engagement and artistic exploration,” says executive director Emma Sankey. “It’s an investment not only in culture, but in the well-being, resilience, and creative future of our community.”

As Burlington continues to grow and diversify, the AGB stands as more than a gallery; it is an engine of cultural vitality, a gathering place for connection, and a living testament to the power of art to shape place, identity, and belonging.