Our Mission
At The Hub on Canal our mission is to create community by fostering art, education, and a broad range of creative opportunities. Located on Canal Street in the heart of the historic district in New Smyrna Beach, The Hub on Canal acts as an incubator for more than 70 artists, showcasing their work, offering impromptu artists talks, and supporting the community through a plethora of classes and workshops at all levels. The Hub on Canal brings the community together through events and extends the arts to the underserved through scholarship programs, mentoring, and art and music classes and workshops. All these activities revitalize our community and stimulate economic growth.
We Value:
- The right to self-expression through the arts
- Community inspired by exposure and participation in common experiences
- Equal access to the arts for all members of our diverse community
- Artistic expression in all its forms
- Lifelong learning for all
- Art as a catalyst for change and growth
- Connections made through networking, partnership, and collaboration
- Empowerment and support of local and regional artists, providing for exhibits and performances, instruction, community connection and outreach.
Our Story
Passion and vision drive success. In the spring of 2010 a small group of friends and artists in New Smyrna Beach envisioned a stronger, more sustainable community created through the sharing of art.
They dreamed of a central hub of artists who would make, showcase, and teach art in a communal space, a welcoming place to gather. This central hub would act as the core support for the many spokes that would reach out to the community. The founders imagined spokes of collaboration, discovery, expression, and revitalization through art, music and wellness. They understood that virtually all social impact studies find positive neighborhood effects associated with community arts and culture.
This hub of art and community defined The Hub on Canal’s central vision: Art • Creating • Community. With hard work and dedication from a core team, the founders’ bold dream came true in 2012. Early assistance from Volusia County and the City of New Smyrna Beach through a Community Redevelopment Grant allowed The Hub on Canal to grow enabling us to purchase our home in 2015, two historic buildings located in the heart of New Smyrna Beach.
The Hub on Canal is located in the heart of the Arts District in NSB. Now 10 years old in 2022, The Hub is home to about 65 local and regional artists. Sixteen have working studios. We stand out from typical galleries by the nearly constant presence of artists creating in our space. Since the beginning we have embraced all the arts, so monthly live music, occasional theatre and regular cinematic exhibitions provide something for everyone. We deepen our connection with the community by offering a wide range of classes and workshops. The Hub has developed into a Canal Street destination. As of mid-2022 we’ve welcomed more than 350,000 visitors since we opened.
The Hub’s goal is to give back to this same community. Outreach is underway through popular initiatives in the local schools, inviting students to display and sell their artwork and through the many afterschool programs. Additional programming efforts have been designed to meet the needs of organizations like the Veterans and Alzheimer’s organizations. The Hub on Canal has also served as an economic catalyst. A number of new businesses have opened in close proximity to The Hub. All downtown restaurants and retail businesses are positively affected by the presence and the traffic at The Hub on Canal.
Today The Hub on Canal’s most urgent goal is to build a supportive foundation to ensure that it continues to thrive and grow in future years. This financial security will allow The Hub to enhance its offerings for the community and our visitors, expanding the arts to all parts of our community.
We invite you to become a part of the heart of The Hub on Canal and make a difference in our community.