The gallery was established as the Laurentian University Museum and Art Centre (LUMAC) in 1967, after Belrock Mansion was transferred to the university for a symbolic price of $1.[3] The mansion, constructed in 1906, was the home of lumber baron William J Bell and his wife Katherine.[3]
After their deaths, the mansion was transferred to Sudbury Memorial Hospital in 1954, but a fire in 1955 left the mansion vacant until 1966.[3] The mansion was restored by the Sudbury Centennial Museum Society and LUMAC began operating the following year.[3][4] In 1997, the operations of LUMAC were transferred to a new community-based organization, and LUMAC was renamed to the Art Gallery of Sudbury.[4]
In 2022, Laurentian University announced their intentions to sell Belrock Mansion following the University's financial restructuring, with the gallery's agreement with the university permitting them to stay until May 30, 2025.[5] However, the gallery temporarily closed on October 12, 2023 due to structural issues with the mansion.[5][6] Its move from the mansion was completed by Spring 2025, with public operations moving to a temporary location on Elgin Street, and the collections being housed by Laurentian until the new gallery is completed by the end of 2026.[1][2]
Permanent collection
The 2,100 work permanent collection of the gallery consists of two collections, the Art Gallery of Sudbury collection and the LUMAC collection.[1] The LUMAC collection is held jointly in a trust between Laurentian University and the gallery.[1] The collection includes works from Group of Seven artists Tom Thomson, A. Y. Jackson and Franklin Carmichael, as well as works from Charles Goldhamer and Norval Morrisseau.[7]
Relocation
The gallery announced in 2009 that it was looking to either renovate Belrock Mansion or begin construction of a new purpose-built venue due to a lack of space.[8] In 2010, plans were announced to begin fundraising for a new 14,000-square-foot (1,300m2) gallery building with an initial target date of 2014, however the project did not move forward as planned.[9][10]
By 2018, the new gallery was proposed to be housed alongside a new main branch of the Sudbury Public Library.[11] Initially intended to be a new 104,000-square-foot (9,700m2) building,[12] the project was scaled down to a 65,000-square-foot (6,000m2) building before being finalized as a cultural hub within Tom Davies Square.[13][2] The art gallery itself will be located on the lower four storeys of 199 Larch Street.[14]
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