General Hardware Contemporary

Dangling above the sidewalk on Queen Street West is a massive sun-bleached sign with barely perceptible faded lettering that reads: “General Hardware.” One might expect to walk by and peer into a crowded store stuffed with paint cans and tools, but while General Hardware is stocked with paint, you’ll find it’s already been applied. General Hardware is actually a contemporary art gallery, an open-concept breathing space created for the appreciation of painting and sculpture in the Parkdale neighbourhood.

Niki Dracos, director of General Hardware Contemporary, graduated from OCAD in 1989 and spent several successful years in the design and advertising industry collaborating with the industry’s leading creative people. In 2006 she acquired the building and proceeded to convert the old hardware store into a gallery space, which she opened in 2010. “I fell in love with the name and the façade,” says Niki. “I wanted to transform it into something unique.” And so she traded the two-dimensional formats of magazines and billboards for the challenge of curating a three-dimensional gallery space.