Artery has been a registered cooperative since 2001. Cooperatives are defined by the principles of:
︎︎︎ Democratic control
︎︎︎ Voluntary & active participation
︎︎︎ Economic, social and cultural benefits for the community
︎︎︎ Not for profit
︎︎︎ Solidarity amongst members
L-R: Opening of Drip Loop by Erika Scott, 2021, curated by Tim Woodward, part of Working At Heights. A project funded through Darebin Council & Opening of The Sparrow Made Some Beer - by Jazmina Cininas with The Lost Clog, Melbourne-Lithuanian folk ensemble, 2019.
History
Artery began in 2001 as an initiative by a group of RMIT art graduates where it first operated from the Preston and Northcote Community Hospital (PANCH).
In 2006, with small individual share investments from its founding members, Artery secured a commercial lease, constructed studio walls and created shared workshops spaces at its current site in Northcote.
In 2012, Artery obtained a benevolent loan from Foresters Community Finance to buy one of the three buildings that it leases.
This collective purchase of property has put Artery in the position of fulfilling its long-term goal of providing permanent and affordable cultural infrastructure.
Resources
Artery accommodates roughly 70 artists at its Northcote studios. It maintains a well provisioned metal and wood workshop and offers safety inductions and instruction in the appropriate use of equipment.
Artery also provides a communal kitchen and a large multi-purpose project space, which can be used for exhibitions, photography and video, classes, meetings and other cultural events.
Outcomes
Artery has provided support for hundreds of artists who have participated in projects in almost every major arts institution in Australia, including:
︎︎︎ Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne
︎︎︎ National Gallery of Australia & National Gallery of Vitoria
︎︎︎ Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney
︎︎︎ Queensland Gallery of Modern Art
︎︎︎ Inclusions in the Biennale of Sydney (2012, 2014, 2018)
︎︎︎ Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney
While the creative output from the studios may be found in leading arts institutions and commercial galleries, artists at Artery also participate in the management of critically engaged artist-run spaces and organisations throughout Australia and internationally. Some of these include:
︎︎︎ Westspace
︎︎︎ Liquid Architecture
︎︎︎ Bus Projects
︎︎︎ TCB
︎︎︎ Kings ARI
︎︎︎ UN magazine
︎︎︎ Discipline
︎︎︎ Footscray Community Arts Centre
︎︎︎ Arts Project, Melbourne
The artists at Artery teach at leading Victorian art schools, help facilitate projects with community groups, establish and run prominent artist initiatives, contribute to publications, develop and execute public art commissions, collaborate on architectural projects and participate in conferences and workshops.
Bianca Hester’s PLEASE LEAVE THESE WINDOW OPEN OVERNIGHT TO ENABLE THE FANS TO DRAW IN COOL AIR DURING THE EARLY HOUR OF THE MORNING. July - August 2009. Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne.
Hanna Tai Not not not not (Invisible Substance), 2013. Polyester fabric flag, 400 x 200cm. Installation view, Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne. Exhibited in Melbourne Now, NGV, 2013.
Vicki Couzens, Maree Clarke and Jeph Neale, Wominjeka tarnuk yooroom (Welcome Bowl) 2013 (detail) Nicholson Street Mall, Footscray.
Tim Woodward, Silent Aspiration, Outer Space, Brisbane, 2019 
Carly Fischer & Edwina Stevens, Conversation Piece, Bus Projects, 2021
Robert Owen, Different Lights Cast Different Shadows, 2004, mixed media, installation view, Art Gallery of New South Wales, The second Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Project.
Debris Facility, Entangling with Cunjevoi, video still of a modification of Isadora Vaughan's installation, performed as part of Endolith Morphology, Gertrude Glasshouse, 2016. Videography: Jason Heller
Charlie Sofo, Selected Works in On Vulnerability and Doubt, curated by Max Delany, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Melbourne, 2019.
Open Spatial Workshop (Terri Bird, Scott Mitchell, Bianca Hester), Converging in Time, Exhibited at Monash University Museum of Art, 2017
Geoff Robinson Itinerant Sound / Inside—outside, Tarrawarra Museum of Art, 28 October, 2017.
Daniel Crooks, still from Phantom Ride, an Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (2014-16), exhibited at ACMI, Melbourne. ︎Find out more about Artery’s plan for the future
︎ To register your interest in a studio at Artery, get in contact