Featured Image Credit: vancouvercivictheatres.com
In case you haven’t noticed, the canvas of the Lower Mainland is having a POP of colour at the moment, so what better time to get out there and see where your inspiration takes you? It’s a fantastic opportunity to meet new artists, peruse their latest work, and get some sun while you’re at it. Outdoor markets are appearing on the calendar, along with community culture celebrations, so you know it’s only a matter of time before summer is here! If it’s been a while since you’ve taken stock of what your artistic tastes are, then it’s about time you try some new things and see what speaks to you. Start by scrolling through some of the upcoming art events this month and curate your own day of fresh air and art.
Vancouver
Matriarch Market
May 3
Featuring handmade crafts, art, and other goods from talented local Indigenous artists and makers, the Matriarch Market comes just in time for Mother’s Day gift shopping while also recognizing National MMIWG2S Awareness Day (also known as Red Dress Day) a few days later, on May 5th.
Credit: museumofvancouver.ca
West of Main Art Walk
May 31 – June 1
Follow the studio map and discover local artists across the city! In this annual art tour of Kitsilano, Point Grey, and Dunbar, there’s always a new spot to find that perfect piece to accent a bare wall. From painters to sculptors and photographers, this community event is an excellent way to experience new perspectives.
Credit: artistsinourmidst.com | Tom Antil | Arts Off Main | 2015, 32”x12”, acrylic
Distance Between Objects, Time Between Events
Until Sep 7
Lindsay McIntyre engages filmmaking as a material practice. For over two decades, she has experimented with manipulating the properties of celluloid, creating a diverse body of films grounded in labour, collaboration and process. Working between documentary, experimental film and expanded cinema performance, McIntyre’s oeuvre reflects on displacement from Inuit Nunangat, place- and land-based methodologies, Inuit community, and survivance, often in conversation with her family history.
Credit: cagvancouver.org | Lindsay McIntyre, qulliq, 2025. Courtesy of the artist
Burnaby
Burnaby Blooms
May 4, 2025
Burnaby’s favourite springtime celebration returns! Join local art and nature enthusiasts for a day of admiring creative expression and natural beauty in equal measure. Visitors will rove around Deer Lake Park, taking in live music and performances while enjoying snacks from the onsite food trucks. You’re in for a full schedule of events and workshops if you stop by, so be sure to check the schedule so you don’t miss anything!
Credit: burnaby.ca
Surrey
Creators Coven Art Market & Event
May 3
There’s nothing like getting an early (very early) jump on Halloween! This alternative art market celebrates community artists who fully lean into their dark side. Tattoos, tarot cards, taxidermy, you’re bound to come across something surprising when you explore this unique collection of creatives. Grab a drink, enjoy the live music and see what happens when you step into the shadows *thunder clap*.
Credit: creatorscoven.com
SPARK Celebration Weekend
May 23 – 25
Surrey’s very own performing arts festival for kids is back with exceptional circus, music and theatre shows, and fun activities for the whole family. Get ready to laugh out loud, dance and sing along—these kid-focused performers are at the top of their game. Each show has been finely tuned to get kids out of their shells and having fun. If you have a little one in your immediate or extended family, this is a great way to cultivate curiosity and a passion for art!
Credit: surrey.ca
Vancouver’s North Shore
Vancouver Etsy Co Spring Pop Up
May 17 – 18
An extraordinary weekend showcasing over 70 of BC’s finest local artisans and small businesses, this spring market is a great example of what a hotbed of creativity the West Coast is. Strolling through the historic waterfront Pipe Shop venue, you’ll encounter all kinds of inspiring makers, designers, creatives. Admission is $5 (valid for both days) with kids 12 and under getting in free. It’s all for a good cause, too—50% of all ticket proceeds will support Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative and Renfrew-Collingwood Seniors’ Society.
Credit: allevents.in
Whistler
Art of the Cocktail
May 16
The Art of the Cocktail series at the Audain Art Museum offers a unique opportunity to experience the fusion of visual artistry and cocktail craftsmanship. Each featured cocktail is so striking that you may feel guilty drinking it. But experiencing each bold flavour is all part of the art! Each participating bartender takes the medium of mixology to a higher level of art.
Credit: audainartmuseum.com
Ongoing Events
Madama Butterfly — Vancouver
Until May 4
Puccini’s sublime masterpiece is performed with grand style across five performances staged by Vancouver Opera. The play follows the story of Pinkerton, an American Lieutenant stationed in Nagasaki, who marries a young Japanese girl, Cio-Cio-San. For him, it’s a marriage of convenience, a touristic fantasy abroad, before he finds himself a “real” (American) bride. For Cio-Cio-San, it begins her story of tragically unrequited love.
One of the greatest works in operatic history, Puccini’s poignant, deeply emotional music steers Madama Butterfly through love, heartbreak, hope, and tragedy.
Photo credit: vancouvercivictheatres.com
Curve! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast — Whistler
Until May 5
A wide-ranging collection of Indigenous carving, Curve! focuses on the often lesser-represented women artists of the community. It’s a fascinating look at the various styles and accents that artists find while working within the same medium. If you’re visiting Whistler this spring, be sure to stop by before it wraps up!
Credit: audainartmuseum.com | Dale Marie Campbell, Woman who Brought the Salmon, 2021, alder, abalone and pigment, Private Collection.
Manuel Axel Strain: Xʷəlməxʷ Child — Vancouver’s North Shore
Until May 11, 2025
In xʷəlməxʷ Child, Manuel Axel Strain draws on Musqueam, Secwépemc, and Syilx ways of knowing, and the discipline of Western psychology. Compositing theories of mind from across their different cultures, Strain imagines the perspective of a child who contemplates the world from beyond these existing frameworks. Through figurative paintings, transformed into pictographs and set against photographic murals, Strain’s work proposes a way of seeing that suspends judgement and challenges divisions such as past and future, old and new, self and other.
Credit: Tracey Strain/Eustache, Eric Strain, Elliy-May Eustache, xʷəlməxʷ child.
Umami: Savouring Artistic Nikkei Identity — Burnaby
Until May 17
Celebrate artists of Japanese ancestry in the Karasawa Gallery, many of which are Japanese Canadian Legacies Art fund awardees and/or artists who are exhibiting at the NNMCC for the first time. From traditional to contemporary art practice, the Umami exhibition shares the rich essence of the Japanese Canadian creative community.
Credit: Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre; Artist: Ken Mizokoshi
Rotimi Fani-Kayode: Tranquility Of Communion — Vancouver’s North Shore
Until May 25
Beginning in the early 1980s, Rotimi Fani-Kayode (1955-1989) developed a photographic practice that refused categorization, cutting across cultural codes, gender norms, and artistic traditions. This massive show features the late artist’s expansive work in a collection that spans his career and the multiple facets of his identity.
Credit: Rotimi Fani-Kayode, Untitled (Hear No Evil See No Evil Speak No Evil), 1985. Courtesy of Autograph (London).
The Art of Banksy Without Limits — Vancouver
Until May 25
When the topic is street art, there is no way around him: Banksy is probably the most famous and also the most mysterious graffiti artist in the world. The Art of Banksy Without Limits is in Vancouver for the first time after its incredible worldwide success with over 2,100,000 visitors! Explore 200 of the artist’s works, such as his original art, prints, photos, sculptures, and much more.
Credit: artofbanksyca.com
Henna Night II / Shabe Kheena II — Vancouver
Until May 25
Working primarily in textiles, Afghan-Canadian artist Hangama Amiri has created a collection of sewn wall hangings that fill the walls of Medias Res Gallery with scenes of family, community and tradition. Telling the story of a bride getting ready for her wedding day, each hanging presents a meaningful moment of ceremony.
Credit: Henna Painting, 2022 | Courtesy of the Artist and Collection of Rajiv Kannan Menon
Exhibition On Screen: Michelangelo: Love and Death — Vancouver’s North Shore
Until May 26
The spectacular sculptures and paintings of Michelangelo seem so familiar to us, but what do we really know about this Renaissance giant? Michelangelo’s genius is evident in everything he touched. Beautiful and diverse works such as the towering statue of David, the moving Pietà in the Papal Basilica of St. Peter and his tour-de-force, the Sistine Chapel ceiling, still leave us breathless today.
Credit: Michelangelo (kaymeek.com)