August Arts and Culture Events 

While the summer may be winding down, that’s no reason to ease up on your creative outings! These arty events will make full use of the sunny forecast, so get out there and soak up some colour! Here are the new events (and a few already opened ones) that we’re looking forward to this month.

The Outsider Arts Fest has become known for showcasing artists, creatives and performers just outside the mainstream, and this touring version is no different. Whether it’s a genre-pushing dance soloist or an artist collective championing a cause you won’t hear about on the news, you’ll find plenty of ways to be both challenged and inspired here.

July 5 – August 14, 2023

Tending Otherworlds: New Acquisitions 

By Transit: Burnaby Art Gallery – From Metrotown Station, take the #144 SFU bus to Rowan Ave, it’s a 5-minute walk from there!

Marking newly acquired pieces to the Burnaby Art Gallery permanent collection, Tending Otherworlds begins at the intersection between history and desire. Featuring works made on paper (as BAG is the only public art museum in Canada dedicated to works of art on paper), this exhibition is comprised of works that explore notions of queerness and finding the space to thrive while being labelled as “other.”

July 14 – September 24, 2023

A group show between artists, Erika Mashig, Biliana Velkova, and Sunshine Frère, this collection explores the connection between collapse and resilience. Each artist asks viewers to look inside themselves and ask how they can endure through the change process. With utopian visions, surreal dreamscapes, and abstract landscapes, Breakdown Buildup shows that while things may end, the only constant in life is change.

July 15 – August 20, 2023

Art on the Lake 2023

By Transit: Alta Lake – There are several shuttles you can take to Whistler from Vancouver. For instance, there is one that leaves from the River Rock Casino in Richmond, which you can get to by taking the Canada Line train to Bridgeport Station.

Take a refreshing float on Whistler’s Alta Lake while enjoying live music, and art making. One of our favourite local summer traditions, Art on the Lake embodies the spirit of relaxing and cooly taking in whatever drifts by. Watch out for the floating gallery, a solid roster of local bands, and most importantly, the canine dock-jumping competition.

August 10 – 11 2023

Manabu Ikeda: Flowers from the Wreckage

By Transit: Audain Art Museum – There are several shuttles you can take to Whistler from Vancouver. For instance, there is one that leaves from the River Rock Casino in Richmond, which you can get to by taking the Canada Line train to Bridgeport Station.

Finding a striking sense of awe in the force of Mother Nature, Manabu Ikeda creates pieces that act as warnings for environmental disaster. With that harsh reality, there are also messages of hope regarding humankind’s natural resilience. The piece shown here, “Rebirth,” is a large-scale drawing depicting the abrupt collision between humans and nature and the process of regeneration that happens after. “Flowers from the Wreckage” is Ikeda’s first major solo exhibition in North America and will feature over sixty works from national and international public, private and corporate collections.

June 24 – October 9, 2023

Drawing parallels between the North American buffalo population and the Indigenous communities of Turtle Island, artist Morgan Possberg presents her striking connections across an amalgamation of mediums. Sonic experimentation, assemblage, plant taxidermy- each expression demonstrates a more experiential and sensorial way of reflecting than the purely visual/semiotic tradition. With the visual elements deemphasized, Possberg gives her audience a deeper connection to emotion while looking back on how flora, fauna, and people were, before colonization came.

August 4 – September 16, 2023

Summer Group Show

By Transit: Equinox Gallery – From Commercial -Broadway Station, take the #20 Victoria bus to the Victoria Diversion, it’s a 5-minute walk from there

If you havent yet visited Equinox Gallery, just off of Commercial Drive, this is a fantastic chance to see the pedigree of contemporary talent they attract. Sonny Assu, Bobbie Burgers, Lesley Dill, and Gathie Falk round out the artistic roster for this annual group show. As the Gallery explains, each piece in the exhibit was chosen to “generate conversations around colour, shadow, texture and form.

July 22 – September 2, 2023

all roses sleep (inviolate light)

By Transit: Surrey Art Gallery – From the Surrey Central Skytrain station, you can take the R1 Newton Exchange bus to King George Blvd and 88th Ave. It’s about a ten-minute walk from there!

The newest immersive video installation at the Surrey Art Gallery puts viewers into the POV of a wandering bee. Journeying across the prairies in search of an elusive wild rose, our fuzzy hero takes part in a sprawling quest based on instinct. Videographers Alana Bartol and Bryce Krynski also give visitors a further sensory experience with the accompanying scents of prairie grass and wildflowers.

August 19 – December 4, 2023

Showcasing Salish artists early in their careers, and a handful of pieces from the gallery’s permanent collection, Invisible Fish reflects on the waterways that feed life into the Coast Salish territory. Through a variety of mediums, and lighting that pulls them all together, there’s a real sense of one piece leading to the next. Another example of the excellent curation by the Surrey Art Gallery team.

June 24 – September 3, 2023

Vancouver’s North Shore

Women, Life, Freedom

By Transit: Cityscape Community Artspace – From the Lonsdale Seabus Terminal, it’s only a 10-minute walk up Lonsdale Ave!

As curator, Saghi Ehteshamzadeh puts it, “For a woman, navigating the world is a treacherous journey; for an Iranian woman, it is a rugged terrain fraught with obstacles.” Featuring a collection of artists, this exhibition provides a platform for the voices of Iranian women to be heard and their stories to be shared. Inspired by the contemporary movement that began after the tragic murder of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini in September 2022, Women, Life, Freedom promises to be both harrowing and inspiring in equal measure.

July 7 – August 26, 2023

anomaly

By Transit: Ferry Building Gallery – From the Lonsdale Seabus terminal, take the #255 bus to Marine Drive and 14th St. It’s only a 2-minute walk from there!

A look at how the glaciers in the Himalayas are a means of survival for over 2 billion people in Asia, this West Vancouver exhibit examines how climate change has affected these life-giving water towers. Photographer Desiree Patterson travelled to Nepal in 2018 to observe the vaulting glacial entities on her trek to the Everest base camp. The resulting photos from that journey show how each documented peak is simultaneously imposing and fragile. Visitors can also participate in a panel discussion about climate change on August 26.

August 4 – August 27, 2023

Tafoni: Coastal Influence

By Transit: The Gallery at Queen’s Park – Take the Expo Line Skytrain to 22nd St. Station, and catch the #155 Braid Station via Hospital bus to 1st. Street. It’s about a ten-minute walk from there!

Named after the natural rock formations located on many of the Gulf Islands of BC, Tafoni brings four artists together who each have been inspired by these erosion-based sculptures. Via ceramics, photography, painting, collage and mixed media, this exhibit shows the different artistic guidance that nature can provide.

August 2 – 27, 2023

Around the corner from the New Media Gallery in the Anvil Centre, this community gallery is always a reliable spot to discover local artists! A joint show between artists Molly Gray and Nancy Whiteside, both artists reflect on the inspiring fauna that calls the West Coast home. It’s always fascinating to see the different approaches to the same subject that can come with shows like this.

July 31 – September 20, 2023

To easily plan the route for your next artistic outing, you can use the TransLink Trip Planner.