Mercer Union

1286 Bloor St W
Toronto ON
M6H 1N9

Tues – Sat | 11am – 6pm
Sun–Mon | Closed

  • Accessibility

    Mercer Union is located at street level. Our facilities and amenities meet the requirements of most mobility devices; however, we do not have automatic doors for our universal restroom or main entrance.

    AODA compliant building

  • Getting There

    Mercer Union is located at 1286 Bloor Street West (one block east of Lansdowne Avenue) on the north side, at the corner of St Clarens Avenue.

    By transit
    Mercer Union is located one block east of the Lansdowne TTC station on the Bloor Line. Take the Lansdowne exit and turn left, then left again onto Bloor Street, Mercer Union is on your left hand side at the next corner.

    By bus
    The Lansdowne 47 bus stops at the Lansdowne TTC station, travelling both North and South. Walk south to Bloor, turn left and walk East, we are located one block east of Bloor and Lansdowne.

    By car
    There is a parking lot located just north of the Lansdowne TTC station on the east side of Lansdowne Avenue. This is a three-minute walk from the gallery.

    By bike
    We can be reached easily by bike if you are travelling East or West on Bloor Street. Located a couple of blocks west of Dufferin St and one block east of Lansdowne. Mercer Union has bike parking both out front and beside the gallery.

About Mercer Union

Outdoor view of Mercer Union building

Mercer Union is a non-profit, artist-centred space in Toronto. It was founded in 1979 when twelve visionary artists each contributed $1,500 to buy the lease on a 1,800-square-foot space on Mercer Street in downtown Toronto. Its mandate was to exhibit new work in the most advanced forms of painting and sculpture that was not receiving exposure in the commercial and public galleries.

Mercer Union moved from its original location at 29 Mercer Street to 333 Adelaide Street West in 1981, 439 King Street West in 1994, and 37 Lisgar Street in 1999. It moved to its current space at 1286 Bloor Street West—a renovated early twentieth-century cinema space—in 2008 and is now at the centre of a growing and dynamic arts district in downtown Toronto.

The 3,300 square-foot facility includes a large white cube gallery, a work-shop, administrative offices, and gated outdoor patio, as well as a billboard space at the corner of Bloor West and St. Clarens Avenue.

Audio Site Introduction:

Artworks at Mercer Union

Image of works by Lawrence Abu Hamdan
42

Lawrence Abu Hamdan at Mercer Union

45th Parallel (2022) focuses on the Haskell Free Library and Opera House—a unique municipal site between the jurisdictions of Canada and the United States. Constructed in 1904 under the patronage…

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