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The Theatre and Arts Community Centre at 150 Main Street West in North Bay was conceived in 1974. It changed its name to The Arts Centre on April 2, 1987, coinciding with the opening of the W.K.P. Kennedy Gallery. The name of the complex later changed to the Capitol Centre. The gallery is named after William K. P. Kennedy, whose family moved to North Bay in the late 1800s.The opening exhibition, featured North Bay artists Keith Campbell, Dennis Geden and Bruce St. Clair.
Prior to the opening of the gallery, correspondence was handled through 124 Main Street East. James Campbell was the director/curator until 1989, followed by Dennis Geden until 2003, who was followed by Dermot Wilson in 2003.
The front gallery space, Gallery I, has been devoted to member exhibitions since 2004.
The gallery maintains a collection of works and is in the process of applying for cultural properties status.
The gallery receives operational funding from the Canada Council for the Arts.
The W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery is a public gallery with free admission. It is run by a board of directors separate from that of the Capitol Centre.
The gallery has a not-for-profit gift shop with works by member and non-member artists, which changed its name to 'the little shop' in 2005.
Dermot Wilson, the current director/curator, has sat on the board of White Water Gallery as an arms-length, non-voting liaison since 2003. Collaborative programming with White Water Gallery includes Phantom Power, a multi-media festival in 2004 funded by the Ontario Arts Council; the Near North Mobile Media Lab, which also includes the Art Gallery of Sudbury and Galerie du Nouvel Ontario, and consists of a 16-foot converted travel trailer designed and outfitted to provide equipment and resources for the production of media-based artworks, launched in 2006; and Camera Frontera, an annual photography festival, also including Joan Ferneyhough Gallery, which received a grant in its first year (2005) from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
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Brochure, opening of North Bay Arts Centre1987
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Mary Green and Judith Ingwersen, Shifting Transversions (installation view)2005
W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
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Dermot Wilson, director/curator of W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery, preview of Community Memories Project11 January 2007
W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
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Heather Saunders (left, front), at preview of Community Memories Project with some featured artists11 January 2007
W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, Canada
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