Tomorrow evening (May 29) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Discover Roxbury will welcome visitors to the grand opening of the ArtROX! Hub, a brand-new 5,000-square-foot programmatic art/work space in Dudley Square, which the cultural promotional organization will share with its partner, Future Boston Alliance.

The official space-warming festivities represent the culmination of over three years of work by Discover Roxbury, the artist-run, non-profit organization that promotes civic engagement and economic development of Roxbury.

The ArtROX! Hub at 22 Warren Street, located in the shadow of the rehabbed Ferdinand/Bolling building, fills a void in the social, cultural, and economic fabric of one of Boston’s fastest growing commercial districts. The urgent need for such a space became clear as a result of Discover Roxbury’s 2014 No Space, No Art campaign. This inquiry underscored the plight of arts organizations across Boston that were being forced out of their rehearsal, exhibit, and organizing spaces in the face of increasing rents and gentrification.

The ArtROX! Hub will function on a grander scale, but in many of the same ways as does the Dorchester Arts Collaborative’s Erick Jean Center for the Arts in Four Corners.

The space, which is already in use, can be utilized in many different ways: exhibitions by local artists, sales of merchandise and artwork, art-making workshops, and workshops about the business of art.

According to Derek Lumpkins, executive director of Discover Roxbury, “The opening of the ArtROX! Hub directly supports the revitalization and rebuilding of Roxbury. What distinguishes our model is that residents and local artists are at the core of building the initiative rather than being on the periphery. With artists leading the way, and supported by our partner organization, Future Boston Alliance, we will offer public programs that foster dialogue and exchange, patronize businesses that host and display local artwork, shop in business districts that host cultural events, and directly support the revitalization and rebuilding of Roxbury.”

Supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the ArtROX! Hub provides storefront retail space for Discover Roxbury and its partners to activate Roxbury’s arts programming and positively impact Roxbury’s cultural landscape and local economy.

Says Malia Lazu, executive director of Future Boston Alliance: “Future Boston is thrilled to be bringing our programs to Dudley Square with Discover Roxbury. We believe Dudley can be developed with little displacement and we look forward making that a reality.”

The genesis for the Hub was born out of a realization that without an active, vibrant, and interconnected community of neighborhood boosters, Roxbury had a limited ability to draw positive media attention, generate buzz, and encourage local entrepreneurs to invest their time and resources.

The ArtROX! Hub is open to passersby, offering occasional art-making workshops for the public. It often hosts networking events, business development workshops for artists and entrepreneurs, and in the near future it will also be the location of a retail shop that will sell original arts and craft items produced locally.