The Arts Factory is the building that gave the 18b Arts District its credibility. The former warehouse at the corner of Charleston and Casino Center has been converted into a multi-level complex of studios, galleries, and creative workspaces that serves as the neighbourhood's institutional heart.
On First Friday evenings — the monthly street festival that turns Charleston Boulevard into a block party — the building opens its studios and galleries to the public and the energy spills onto the street. On quieter days it is still worth wandering through to see working artists in residence and to check current gallery shows. The ground-floor galleries rotate frequently; the studios upstairs house painters, photographers, jewellers, and mixed-media artists.