Arts Central was founded in 1976 (then named the Central Oregon Arts Association). Program development began in 1994, when the organization saved and restored the 1904 Craftsman style bungalow (Goodwillie-Allen-Rademacher House). Mirror Pond Gallery came into being as a result, with the goal of providing showcase opportunities for the region's emerging artists in a professional gallery setting. For 15 years, approximately 23,000 locals and tourists visited the gallery annually to view 100 consigned artists.

In 1997, Arts Central assumed management of the Regional Arts and Culture Council for Central Oregon. Arts Central continued its growth efforts in 2000 by helping save and rehabilitate Bend's 1911 Oregon Trunk Railway Passenger Station in partnership with William Smith Properties.

Also in 2000, Arts Central was asked to take over the management of an Artists in Schools residency program. From its education headquarters at the Art Station, Arts Central manages artist residencies in Deschutes, Jefferson, Crook, Lake and Klamath counties covering 22,250 square miles and serving 6,500 children.

Arts Central founded the region's first and only arts school in 2001, the Art Station (housed in the 1911 Oregon Trunk Railway Passenger Station), which today offers an annual average of 220 classes in visual art media to 1,955 community members, 1,400 of whom are children.

As the youth-at-risk population continued to grow, Arts Central felt an increasing need to provide the benefits of the arts to the kids that need it most. In 2006, VanGo, our mobile art classroom, hit the road to bring arts instruction to youth treatment centers, social service groups, and afterschool facilities throughout Central Oregon.

In 2008, the Deschutes County tax assessor determined that the art sales use of the building made it liable for property taxes. As Arts Central's primary mission is arts education and advocacy, the organization worked to change the use of the building to an educational use that qualified for tax exemption. Re-named Arts Central: education + resource center, this renovated building is now open to the public with a full complement of adult classes for the serious artist, or for those who just want to have fun, and everyone in between.