Most centres follow the not-for-profit arts organization model, do not charge admission fees, pay artists for their contributions (exhibitions, presentations, performances) are non-commercial and de-emphasize the selling of artwork.
The centres were created originally in response to a lack of opportunity to present contemporary work, especially in the 1960s and 1970s experimental art practices such as performance, installation, conceptual art and video in Canada and with the desire to network with other artists nationally and internationally.
[citation needed] Each artist-run centre has a unique program, but most present contemporary art by Canadian and international artists, often in combination with critical writing and other public events such as lectures, performances, screenings, etc.
[citation needed] Canadian artist-run centres are committed to the principle of paying artists for the exhibition or presentation of their work.
CAR first suggested fee schedules to Canadian galleries in 1968; by 1971 they came more widely into use as a result of a threatened boycott of galleries by CAR members, and in 1988 the payment of an Exhibition Right for the public exhibition of artistic production became part of Canadian federal copyright law with an amendment to the Canadian Copyright Act (R.S., 1985, c. C-42)[3] recognizing artists as the primary producers of culture and giving artists legal entitlement to exhibition and other fees.