Our Manifesto

Art speaks. Stop and listen. Open yourself to questions, conversations and connections. Engage. Wrestle. Create in response to creation. Invite surprise and awe. Seek out beauty and wonder. Simple can be sacred. Laugh and eat and make and play. Learn from children. Open doors and include people. Find beauty in their story. Accept their failures; we are all bleeding. Forgive and be forgiven. Love is powerful, so risk it. Love in the face of fear. Love the wrong people. Seek; you find what you look for. Truth, beauty and redemption are just down the street so know your neighbourhood. Love local. Walk often. Say hi and make eye contact. Shop your streets. Gather together. Make a meal, take a class and tend your garden. Serve. You have a song so sing it well. Never settle. Find the freedom in discipline. Refine your craft. Learn and teach. Give and ask for excellence, then give and ask for grace. Keep listening.

Our Values

Our Manifesto grew out of six core values. 

We will remain;

engaging  |  inclusive  |  redemptive
local  |  champions of artistic excellence  |  awestruck

About Us

Bleeding Heart is a volunteer-powered, community art space located in Treaty 6 territory and the Métis homeland. Our gallery is situated on the northern bank of the North Saskatchewan River—a travelling route, trading center, ceremonial gathering place, and meeting ground for Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island.

As treaty people, we are committed to the principles of reconciliation as outlined in the TRC, and respect and honour the past and current contributions of the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples who continue to steward this land and our communities.

Bleeding Heart hosts an admission-free public gallery space. Exhibitions and events are juried by members of the Bleeding Heart team and independent artists. We strive to include a variety of perspectives and underrepresented voices/mediums in our programming, and encourage applications from local artists working in any medium and at any stage, from beginner to professional. We welcome hundreds of guests each year to exhibitions, artist meetups, concerts, independent film screenings, and community enriching events.

Bleeding Heart participates in Lodgepole Communitas, a grassroots social cohesion / social enterprise project operating in the neighbourhoods of Highlands and Alberta Avenue. Lodgepole oversees administrative and financial matters for Bleeding Heart and issues tax receipts for charitable donations.

The majority of funding for the Art Space comes from private donations, with event ticket sales, space rentals, and the occasional art sale making up the balance.

Our space is available to rent during the weeks between our in-house programming (especially May - September!). To inquire about renting the Art Space for your event, please contact our team.

Where We’ve Been / Where We Are

After running as a pop-up gallery space since 2012, Bleeding Heart moved into its first permanent home on Alberta Avenue in November of 2014 (now home to the famous Green Onion Cake Man). Bleeding Heart changed locations in July of 2017, moving upstairs into a more performance-friendly venue.

While the shape of this new space was a great fit for Bleeding Heart’s expanding programming, accessibility was an issue. After the 2-year lease was up, we decided to give up the space and began a season of pop-up programming in collaboration with other neighbourhood arts organizations and businesses. This, fortunately, also meant that we were well situated to promptly move programming online when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Edmonton in early 2020.

In May 2022, after a couple years of offering online Artist Features, Creative Projects, and virtual events, we opened up a brand new gallery space within the building of Lodgepole Highlands (11203 68 St NW, Edmonton), where we currently operate.