The Centre of Contemporary Art was established in 1880 to “promote the study, practice, and cultivation of the fine arts.” It remains committed to these principles today with more than 60 exhibitions each year and the encouragement of excellence in all forms of contemporary art. The gallery values its history as Canterbury’s most-established art institution and maintains an association with artists and the arts in Canterbury, as well as its status as an organization that makes an essential contribution to the arts at a national level. The Centre of Contemporary Art occupies a unique role in the region and over the past 120 years has acted as an environment in which numerous issues and philosophies about art practice have been debated.