Centre for Experimental Art and Communication
A short-lived Toronto artist-run multimedia centre that became a major venue for experimental art, film, performance, music and radical cultural debate in the late 1970s.
Last updated November 4, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
The Centre for Experimental Art and Communication (CEAC) was a Canadian artist-run multimedia centre active in Toronto from 1976 until its closure in 1978. It developed from the Kensington Arts Association (KAA), an artist-run organization associated with Amerigo Marras and Suber Donald Corley. After KAA received a $55,000 Wintario grant and acquired a large four-storey building at 15 Duncan Street in September 1976, it established CEAC as a substantial non-institutional space for experimental and avant-garde culture. CEAC operated at a moment when conceptual, performance, body, film and media art were challenging conventional definitions of the artwork and the institution. Its programming combined exhibitions with workshops, conferences, international tours, screenings, live performances, concerts and artist discussions. The centre housed a library and archives, a film theatre, a video-production studio, workshop areas, performance facilities and a punk-music venue. This combination made it an unusually broad platform for artist-to-artist communication and for practices that crossed visual art, language, technology, cinema, music and political activism. The centre's intellectual orientation was strongly associated with Marras's theory of contextual art. This approach treated artistic meaning as dependent on social and political context and sought to unsettle meanings that had become detached from lived reality. CEAC criticized formalism, social convention and the commercialization of art, while promoting performance, happenings, body art, experimental film and other non-object-based practices. Its stated ambition was not simply to present alternative art but to operate as a collective social experiment that used cultural production to test the assumptions of liberal society and the art world. CEAC presented early exhibitions such as Body Art and later performance projects including Bound, Bent and Determined. It brought together Canadian, American and European artists and developed international relationships through tours and exchanges. Its programming included work connected with figures such as Vera Frenkel, Michael Snow, Vito Acconci, Joseph Kosuth, Martha Rosler, Lawrence Weiner, Carolee Schneemann, Anthony McCall and Dennis Oppenheim. It also hosted music events involving Philip Glass and Steve Reich. The centre's international activity included connections with contextual-art and performance communities in Europe, including groups in Poland and France. Film, video and popular music were central to CEAC's identity. The Canadian Super 8 Distribution Centre and recurring open screenings helped establish a video-production studio. In September 1977, filmmakers associated with this activity formed the Funnel Experimental Film Theatre in CEAC's basement. The Funnel later became an independent collective and continued operating after CEAC moved to another Toronto location. CEAC also sponsored Crash 'n' Burn, a basement punk venue organized with the Diodes in 1977. The venue helped support Toronto's early punk scene and hosted acts including the Diodes, the Viletones, the B Girls, the Dishes, the Poles, the Curse and the Dead Boys. Publishing was another major part of the centre's activities. KAA and CEAC issued nine numbers of Art Communication Edition between 1976 and 1977. The publication was subsequently renamed STRIKE, which produced three issues in 1978. Distributed in Canada, the United States, Europe, South America and Australia, the magazine covered contemporary art, film, performance and CEAC projects while pursuing an explicitly political and confrontational editorial position. That position contributed directly to CEAC's collapse. The May 1978 issue of STRIKE expressed support for the Italian Red Brigades and used language endorsing kneecapping as an artistic and political tactic. The issue prompted public condemnation and intense media attention. The Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council withdrew support amid the controversy, while complaints also concerned CEAC's management, access to its facilities and treatment of artists. Without public funding, CEAC could not maintain the mortgage on its Duncan Street building and closed in the summer of 1978. Marras and Corley subsequently relocated to New York City. Although its institutional life was brief, CEAC is widely regarded as an important influence on Toronto's experimental art, independent cinema and early punk cultures, particularly the later creative concentration around Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue.
History
CEAC emerged from Toronto's Kensington Arts Association, which had been active in the city's artist-run culture during the early 1970s. Before CEAC acquired a permanent building, Marras and Corley were involved in shared alternative spaces, including a house at 4 Kensington Avenue. The property and its outbuildings were used by associated communities, including early participants in Glad Day Bookshop and The Body Politic. These overlapping networks reflected the period's relationship between artist-run initiatives, queer publishing, independent media and experimental cultural production. The decisive institutional development came when KAA received a $55,000 Wintario grant. This enabled it to become the first Toronto artist-run organization to purchase a substantial building. After acquiring 15 Duncan Street in September 1976, KAA launched CEAC in the building's four-storey premises in an area southwest of Queen Street and University Avenue. The centre became one of Toronto's largest non-institutional art spaces and an important gathering point for experimental artists, filmmakers, musicians and activists. CEAC's program was deliberately interdisciplinary. Its first exhibition, Body Art, examined the body through performance, transformation and social behaviour. Later projects explored language, sociological intervention, materialist practice, technology and the limits of the art object. The centre presented exhibitions and performances while also organizing screenings, workshops, conferences and tours. It developed connections with artists in New York and Europe, including participants in French sociological-art circles and Polish contextual-art movements. During a 1977 European tour, CEAC members combined discussion and performance in an attempt to weaken the conventional separation between audience and artist. Media production became an increasingly important part of the organization. CEAC helped establish the Canadian Super 8 Distribution Centre in 1976 and organized open screenings for local filmmakers. These activities led to a basement video studio and, in September 1977, to the creation of the Funnel Experimental Film Theatre. The Funnel was associated with filmmakers including Ross McLaren and presented work by a broad range of Canadian experimental artists. After CEAC closed, the Funnel relocated to 507 King Street East, where its members built a theatre, production and projection facilities, a darkroom, library and offices. The Funnel survived until 1989, despite a political division in 1986. Music and youth culture also entered CEAC's program. In spring 1977 the centre sponsored Crash 'n' Burn, a basement punk venue organized with the Diodes. It became an early Toronto platform for the local punk scene and hosted several Canadian and visiting groups. Ross McLaren filmed performances at the venue in a 1977 16mm documentary also titled Crash 'n' Burn. When the club ended in September 1977, the basement was redirected toward the Funnel's film activities. The organization also operated an educational program. Established in early 1978, the CEAC School offered workshops and seminars on filmmaking, movement, vocabulary and language, thinking, video editing, art and revolution, and colour theory. These courses extended CEAC's commitment to treating artistic practice as a form of collective inquiry rather than as the production of marketable objects. Publishing gave the centre a wider national and international reach. Art Communication Edition, usually abbreviated A.C.E., published nine issues between 1976 and 1977. In 1978 it was renamed STRIKE, which issued three numbers. The magazine circulated across Canada, the United States, Europe, South America and Australia and included material on CEAC activities, films, performances, books and current artistic research. Its editorial stance became increasingly confrontational and explicitly political. The May 1978 issue of STRIKE produced the crisis that ended CEAC. It expressed support for the Red Brigades and included language appearing to endorse violent attacks on authority figures. The publication triggered hostile newspaper coverage and public criticism. Funding bodies, including the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council, withdrew support in June and July. A Canada Council letter also raised separate concerns about access to CEAC, alleged censorship in project selection and the treatment of artists seeking to use its facilities. CEAC answered by characterizing the funding withdrawal as censorship and political repression, presenting its closure as proof of the limits of artistic freedom in Canada. The loss of public support made the centre financially unsustainable. It could not meet mortgage payments on 15 Duncan Street and closed in summer 1978. Marras and Corley moved to New York City after the controversy. CEAC's institutional existence was brief, but its influence persisted through the people, practices and organizations that passed through it. Historians have linked the centre to the development of Toronto's Queen Street and Spadina art district, the growth of independent film and video, the city's early punk culture and the broader Canadian artist-run-centre movement.
- 1978
CEAC School opens
[1]The centre adds workshops and seminars covering film, movement, language, video editing, political art and colour theory.
- 1978
CEAC closes after the STRIKE controversy
[1]Public-funding withdrawals following the controversial second STRIKE issue leave the centre unable to sustain its building and operations.
- 1977
Crash 'n' Burn opens
[1]CEAC sponsors a basement punk venue that becomes a notable early site for Toronto's punk movement.
- 1977
Funnel Experimental Film Theatre is formed
[1]Film and video activities at CEAC lead to the creation of the Funnel collective in the centre's basement.
- 1976
CEAC is established
[1]The Kensington Arts Association launches CEAC after receiving a Wintario grant and purchasing 15 Duncan Street in Toronto.
- 1976
Body Art exhibition
[1]CEAC's first exhibition examines the body, transformation and social behaviour through experimental and performance-oriented practices.
- 1976
Art Communication Edition begins publication
[1]The KAA/CEAC magazine begins a run that eventually produces nine issues before its 1978 renaming as STRIKE.
Products and positioning
A radical, artist-controlled multimedia centre positioned against institutional formalism, the commodification of art and conventional boundaries between visual art, language, technology, cinema, performance, music and political action.
Exhibition · 1976
Body Art
CEAC's inaugural exhibition investigated the body as a site of architecture, transformation and social conduct. It helped establish the centre's commitment to performance, non-object-based art and practices that challenged conventional exhibition formats.
Music venue · 1977
Crash 'n' Burn
A short-lived basement venue sponsored by CEAC and organized with the Diodes. Operating in 1977, it hosted early Toronto punk acts and became associated with the emergence of the city's underground punk culture.
Experimental cinema · 1977
Funnel Experimental Film Theatre
A film and video collective that formed in CEAC's basement after the centre's Super 8 screenings and production activities. The Funnel later moved to its own King Street East premises and continued independently until 1989.
Art magazine · 1976
Art Communication Edition
A periodical produced by KAA and CEAC that documented contemporary art, film, performance, books and the centre's own activities. Nine issues appeared between 1976 and 1977, with international distribution.
Art and political magazine · 1978
STRIKE
The successor to Art Communication Edition, STRIKE published three issues in 1978 and adopted a more explicit political and confrontational position. Its second issue triggered the controversy that contributed to CEAC's closure.
Arts education · 1978
CEAC School
An educational program established in early 1978 with workshops and seminars on filmmaking, movement, language, thinking, video editing, art and revolution, and colour theory and practice.
Controversies
Marketing campaigns
- 1977Crash 'n' Burn
Canada
CEAC supported an underground punk venue in its basement in collaboration with the Diodes.
Outcome. The venue closed in September 1977 but is remembered as an early catalyst for Toronto's punk scene.
- 1976International artist tours and exchanges
United States · Europe
CEAC promoted Canadian experimental and performance artists through international tours and built relationships with contextual-art and sociological-art groups abroad.
Outcome. The tours expanded CEAC's international network and reinforced its emphasis on performance, collective action and cross-border artist communication.
Brand decisions
1978
Publish the politically confrontational STRIKE programStrategyBackground
CEAC sought to use its magazine as a social experiment that challenged assumptions about artistic freedom, political authority and liberal cultural institutions.
Action taken
The second STRIKE issue published material supporting the Red Brigades and advocating violent symbolic tactics.
Aftermath
The resulting scandal contributed to the withdrawal of public funding and CEAC's closure later in 1978.
1977
Launch Crash 'n' BurnProduct launchBackground
CEAC recognized the emerging Toronto punk scene as a form of grassroots cultural communication.
Action taken
It provided basement space for a short-lived venue organized with the Diodes and other participants.
Aftermath
The venue helped establish Toronto's early punk network before the space was converted for Funnel film activities.
1976
Adopt an interdisciplinary multimedia modelStrategyBackground
CEAC was created to unite exhibitions, performance, film, video, music, workshops, publishing and activist communication in a single artist-run facility.
Action taken
The centre operated galleries, production and screening facilities, educational programs, archives and live-event spaces.
Aftermath
This model made CEAC one of Toronto's largest and most influential non-institutional experimental art spaces.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/centre-for-experimental-art-and-communication · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled