Forum Art Centre is working hard to establish policies that ensure everyone at the Forum feels safe and welcome.
Scented products can be intolerable and/or can make some folks sick. Especially those with scent sensitivities, allergies, asthma, migraines and other medical conditions.
To support health and accessibility, Forum Art Centre asks everyone to avoid wearing or using strong scents while on-site. This includes (but is not limited to):
This is not about judgment—it’s about health. Scent sensitivity is considered a medical condition under Canadian human rights law. This policy applies to all staff, instructors, volunteers, board members, students, and visitors at Forum Art Centre facilities.
Any form of harassment, intimidation or language that creates an unsafe environment will lead to an immediate sanction – we practice zero tolerance of bullying, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and misogyny.
Respect of the gender pronouns we are asked to use when addressing individual instructors, staff, and fellow artists; is an essential part of ensuring Forum Art Centre is a safe and welcome space for all.
Forum Art Centre does not have a cleaning service; students and instructors are expected to clean up their space and leave all spaces they use ready for other students.
There are two cleanup rooms with sinks in the centre: one upstairs for painting, and one downstairs for clay. Students are expected to also leave this space ready to use for other students.
*There may be soap provided by the centre in the cleanup room. However, if you need a specific type of soap for cleaning up you need to bring your own.
NO conventional paint is biodegradable. Acrylic paint is essentially a liquid plastic. Extra cleanup care helps minimize our contribution to microplastic pollution in the water system
1) Use all the paint on your palette
Only take what you’ll use; paint that comes in refillable jars makes not wasting excess easier
2) Limit the amount of water used while painting
Working with more brushes helps to limit the need of frequent rinsing
3) Remove as much paint as possible from tools instead of rinsing all excess paint down the drain
Use all the paint on your brush, wipe brush thoroughly with paper towel before cleaning in the sink
*NOTE: There must be NO PAINT or paint water in the bathroom sinks.
Please note that we can guarantee the centre is only open up to 15 minutes before your CLASS start time. We need time before classes start and in between classes to prep the space.
If you arrive earlier than 9:45 AM for a morning class, the centre will not be open yet. If you need a place to hang out before or after class, we recommend or Thyme Cafe & Books (11 AM – 5:30 PM, Tues to Sat) or Le Croissant (7 AM – 9 PM, 7 days a week), both located on Tache Ave.
We don’t want you stranded outside in the cold!
There is ample free parking available on Eugenie Street and Tache Avenue (2 hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM). This area is closely monitored. If you are parked here during daytime hours, we recommend stepping out to move your car before the 2-hour limit is exceeded.
**The front of the building is a 30 MIN loading zone from 9 AM – 5:30 PM.
The “Parking Lot” beside the Centre is open to students, with a few caveats…
NOTE: Many bus routes stop in front of the Centre or nearby. Notably, the FX2, D14, D15, D16 and 888!
We do not have the staff to supervise children and teens outside of the drop off window and beyond the end of class time.
Drop Off: MAXIMUM 15 minutes before class start. Do not drop your child off outside the building without ensuring they have entered safely. If you are more than 15 minutes early the building will not be open.
Pickup: PROMPTLY at the end of class. In a case of unexpected and last-minute delay; phone us ASAP at 204-235-1069.
The supplies list for each class is on the class description webpage. It’s unlikely that you’ll need every piece of supplies listed on the first day, but students should bring essential supplies to participate. If you have questions about what that means, please contact us before your class! Your instructor will also discuss supplies in more detail on the first day.
Supplies for youth classes are provided. Youth students are welcome to bring supplemental materials at the discretion of their instructor, but this is not required to participate fully in the class. For the first day, just remember not to wear clothes that you’d be sad about getting stained!
A Student Discount Card for Artist’s Emporium (10-20% off on regular priced supplies) is available to students. Please request a card if you would like to receive one, now or after your class has started.
NOTE: Paper towel is NOT provided by the centre. Please do not use paper towel from the bathroom for painting. Students must bring their own paper towel or rags and take them home when they leave.
Forum Art Centre is not responsible for lost, stolen, or missing materials belonging to any student. Students of all ages assume responsibility for their own belongings.
Some storage for materials is available at Forum Art Centre for the duration of your class each session. Any supplies stored here during session must be labeled with the students’ name.
All items belonging to students (including ARTWORK) must be taken home at the end of each session, even if the student will be attending a class or open studio in the next session. Any materials left behind at the end of session are considered a donation to Forum Art Centre.
A perk of being a student registered in a course is access to 3 hours of studio time for practice each week, on Thursdays between 10 AM and 3 PM during Registered Open Studio.
*The doors will open precisely at 10 AM on Thursdays – no earlier.
Students must Sign In at the front desk when they arrive and Sign Out at the front desk when they leave.
Please be mindful; studio access ends at 3 PM and students are encouraged to start cleaning up at 2:30 PM. Keep this in mind when planning your arrival time.
The Registered Open Studio program runs for a scheduled 10-Weeks from the FIRST WEEK of classes until the tenth week of classes. For Winter 2026 this means Student Studio Time is accessible January 15th to March 19th.
The above information applies the same to clay students.
Studio Time is to work on technique and practice skills. It is not for building new pieces. Any items built during Student Studio Time will not be fired by Forum Art Centre. There is also NO ACCESS to the glaze room during this time.
There will be NO CLAY STUDENT STUDIO TIME in the last two weeks of the session to ensure firing capacity is not exceeded.
NOTE: All 9-class (10-week) clay courses have a scheduled firing week, during which there will be no class. Please refer to your class description online for details. This date differs between beginner and intermediate courses.
Forum Art Centre will communicate with you as needed via the email address you registered for your class with.
Before classes start, registered students receive a “Welcome Email”; this email is NOT the Forum Art Centre Newsletter. Students may also receive emails throughout the session with information exclusively relevant to students registered in classes at the time; these emails are also NOT the Forum Art Centre Newsletter.
*All emails NOT the Forum Art Centre Newsletter, will state this in the signature and now also in the opening line of the email.
There will be information about upcoming classes, events, workshops, registration announcements and more in the Newsletter that is NOT in the communication emails sent only to registered students (described above).
Forum Art Centre only sends newsletter emails with promotional content to those who have consented and are subscribed to the newsletter. You ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY subscribed to the newsletter when you register for a class.
Not signed up? Sign up for the newsletter here.
Your instructor should be in contact with their class through email. Contact them with questions about the content of your class or if you are missing a class… for questions about the centre in general, office hours, student studio time, registration, programming, special requests/access to the building and anything not related to your class curriculum – you must contact the administration. Do not contact your instructor with requests to access the building.
MTS email addresses will not receive mass emails. MTS blocks all emails as spam. Please provide a non-MTS email address if you wish to receive emails from administration to all students and/or the newsletter.
***If you stop opening emails from administration to all students or the newsletter, all future emails like these will go to your junk folder and your email address will automatically be marked as “suppressed” in our system. Our system stops sending you emails all together once your email address is marked as “suppressed”.
If this happens let us know and we can mark your email address as “valid” again, but you need to continue opening each email or it will occur again.
Forum Art Centre is a proud member of the Manitoba Artist Run Centres Coalition
We'd love to hear about your experience with Forum Art Centre
Forum Art Centre is in Treaty 1 territory, the traditional and ancestral lands of the Anishinaabe, Ininiwak, Anishininiwak, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the homeland of the Red River Métis. Our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation in Treaty 3 territory, and much of our hydro-electricity comes from Treaty 5 territory in northern Manitoba. We are committed to learning and engaging in reconciliation and decolonization.
Copyright 2024 © Forum Art Centre | All Rights Reserved.
