The Chelsea-style gallery depends on a certain blueprint. White walls. Hushed contemplation. Chic austerity.

But in Gowanus, Brooklyn, of the fetid canal, things are a little different. Here, the art world has made a home at Proteus Gowanus, a place best described by its defiance of easy description.

For 10 years, this corner of a former box factory off an alleyway has shape-shifted to hold collections of Gowanus Canal ephemera, a library of anatomical art and the history of death, artwork made out of money, and even a few traditional white-walled art exhibits. It has been part library, part museum, part art gallery, part community center and part anything its creators and collaborators wanted it to be. Now, without it ever ossifying into something more fixed, it is time to write its obituary.

The space’s founder, Sasha Chavchavadze, and her fellow co-director, Tammy Pittman, announced on Sunday that Proteus would close down for good by June 28. Given the way of things in Brooklyn real estate in general and Gowanus in particular, it would be easy to assume that Proteus fell prey to rising rents or gleaming new apartments. But Ms. Chavchavadze and Ms. Pittman are simply ready to move on.