This undergraduate student exhibition follows the life story, art and legacy of the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw artist Ḵaḵaso’las-Ellen Neel (née Newman).

Ḵaḵaso’las-Ellen Neel was an innovative force in the Indigenous art scene who continues to influence Indigenous artists. She was part of a lineage of artists and leaders, which she passed on to her children and grandchildren. As a political leader, advocate and knowledge keeper, she left an impact on the world and the city of Vancouver that can still be seen today. Key to the exhibition is Ḵaḵaso’las, the totem pole that stood in Stanley Park for nearly 50 years and was returned to MOA in September 2024.

Monsters in My Head is the first solo presentation in North America of work by Japanese artist Otani Workshop. The exhibition invites visitors into an enchanted dreamworld, where myths, memories and materials come together to form a landscape—one that is strange, yet deeply familiar.

Entering the exhibition is like wandering into a forest of the imagination. Ceramic creatures in various scales and forms emerge from earthen mounds, tree stumps and scattered stones. The mazelike installation—constructed from materials foraged from local parks and forests—echoes Otani’s creative process, which transforms natural elements (clay, wood, flora) into figures brimming with presence and personality.

Visitors will encounter works inspired by the Pacific Northwest Coast, made during Otani’s Deer Lake Artist Residency at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in the summer of 2024. Other sculptures—produced in the artist’s studio on Awaji Island, situated on the Seto Inland Sea of Japan—draw on the deep traditions of ceramic-making but are shaped by his own intuitive experimentation. Ranging from human to animal-like figures, Otani’s ceramic works have a raw physicality, with textured and irregular surfaces, while his paintings capture more whimsical and adolescent sentiments of wonder, solitude, longing and hope.

On the BMO Mainstage it’s a new production of Much Ado About Nothing directed by Johnna Wright, packed with Shakespeare’s wittiest wordplay, romance, and intrigue. It will play in repertory with Shakespeare’s comedy of love and disguise, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, directed by Dean Paul Gibson and performed with a unique ‘80s twist. In the Douglas Campbell Theatre, two productions will play in repertory: the company debut of the global smash-hit The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) [revised] [again], directed by Mark Chavez; and the intriguing new Canadian work The Dark Lady, written by Jessica B. Hill and directed by Moya O’Connell.

Star Witnesses assembles works by a constellation of artists whose insightful observations of the cosmos bring new understandings of exploratory and migratory movements on Planet Earth. The artists involved present fragments of found and newly produced photographic evidence showing planets, moons, constellations in distant galaxies, and the light of our closest star – the Sun – to address earthly concerns.

The title alludes to the artists’ precise visions – honed at the technical limits of photography – and to how encounters with their artworks may transform audiences into ‘star witnesses’ in turn. Certain works in the exhibition evolve in close dialogue with scientific imaging, while others go beyond or deviate from the focus of telescopic cameras, the logic of astronomy, and the path of satellites. Together, they attest to the fact that there is no universal way of gazing at the universe.

Each work offers the image of the cosmos as material evidence for a distinctive perspective, worldview, or imaginary. They give substance to vital histories, which struggle to see the proverbial light of day: one woman’s survival in an internment camp; one man’s narrow escape from a white mob; underexposed connections between a war in the Middle East and peace in a mid-sized German town; an artist’s moment of grace on top of a moonlit mountain, far from home.

Questions of POV are paramount: much depends on where on Earth we – the humans, the stardust – were born and where we have travelled, migrated, settled recently, or remained for generations, if not millennia. Dark matter abounds. And this too is evidence awaiting fresh interpretations.

Vibrant Visions: The Art of Black Girlhood in Canada, is an ode to the registers of freedom, refusal, and self-regard that compose Black girl being and belonging in the Great White North. This dynamic assemblage of media and material objects recovers sight lines of Black girl joy and defiance across time and geographies. It illuminates these important modes of agency, which are often obscured by media representations and traditional archival practices that overlook and distort the vibrancy of black life in our shared history, through moving and still images, soundscapes, and memory work.

The exhibition takes its name from the radical imaginings and ways of knowing shared by the teen girl co-researchers of the SSHRC-funded Mapping Black Girl Geographies and Belonging in Canada project, many of whom live in the Greater Toronto and Vancouver areas. A selection of their analogue collages reflects the many ways that Black girls navigate hypervisibility and invisibility in spaces that are sometimes inhospitable.

Visitors will be invited to contemplate how adornment practices offer opportunities for care and alternative worldmaking through hair-based, sun-activated and interactive works. Broadening our field of vision will be a series of historical portraits that confront and refuse the formal erasures of the fullness of black lives in early-20th century Vancouver with imagination, care, and ethical storytelling. Together, these aesthetic accounts offer a reparative unfolding of black lives and histories where futures are conjured, reshaped, and fiercely claimed.

Since 2011, Choi has been creating traditional Korean folk paintings, drawing inspiration from centuries-old techniques while also infusing them with her own creative expression. She primarily works with Oriental watercolour, Mica Powder, and Hanji—a traditional Korean paper handmade from mulberry trees. She occasionally incorporates other traditional materials, such as Bunchae—a traditional Korean powdered pigment made by mixing finely ground natural or mineral pigments with animal glue— and Bongchae— a premium pigment made by mixing powdered pigments with animal glue and hardening the mixture into solid stick form.

The works featured in this exhibition reflect both homage and innovation. While rooted in the forms and motifs of traditional Korean folk painting, Choi’s works are not mere reproductions. Instead, she reinterprets and transforms these traditions, creating original pieces that embody both reverence and personal vision. Her goal is to highlight the enduring beauty and emotional depth of Korean folk art while bringing a fresh perspective that resonates with contemporary audiences.

Choi is particularly drawn to natural themes—peonies, birds, and other elements of the natural world—which are rich symbols in Korean culture.

Each piece is created through a meticulous process that may take up to six months, involving multiple stages: sketching, outlining, and layering of colours. Through this careful craftsmanship, Choi seeks to preserve the traditional while also exploring her own evolving artistic language.

Choi began her artistic journey in community art classes, initially painting as a hobby. Over time, her dedication and talent led her to participate in various competitions and exhibitions.

Heather Woolley, an environmental designer and artist, finds inspiration in the West Coast’s landscapes. Her work fosters a dialogue between humanity and nature, emphasizing sustainability and community engagement.

Central to Heather’s practice is her passion project on rammed earth, where she explores the intersection of material technique, construction art, and sustainability. Through this endeavor, Heather aims to create enduring structures that harmonize with the environment while advocating for responsible building practices. Her goal is to inspire stewardship and sustainability in her viewers, promoting a deeper connection with the natural world.

Calling artisans, artists, and craftspeople. Submissions are now open for the 2025 Great Gifts holiday exhibition and sale of unique handmade crafts, fine artwork, and distinctive gifts.

Submissions are accepted ONLINE only.

Online submission deadline: September 26, 2025 at 11:59 p.m.

The gallery will install and handle the sales and promotion for the duration of the exhibition. The gallery retains a 30% commission fee and a $25 exhibition fee. All remaining proceeds go to the artist.

IMPORTANT DATES

Submissions close: September 26, 2025

Applicants notified before October 17, 2025

Great Gifts exhibition and sale dates: November 14 – December 14, 2025

To learn more and apply, please visit our website.

This exhibition gathers artists whose practices transform material and perception into experiences that linger, works that shift the way we see light, inhabit space, and feel the weight and presence of form. United by a balance of beauty and thought, these pieces invite us to step into moments where looking becomes a deeper act of seeing.

We are pleased to welcome Marion Landry, whose geometric abstract paintings, grounded in a deep engagement with light, perception, and phenomenology, offer meditative glimpses into atmosphere and stillness; James W. Chiang, a BC artist whose paintings merge chromatic purity and precision with an intense dialogue between passion and perception, creating what he describes as a “kinetic exchange” in which beauty and existence are unbounded by thought or time; Jan Hoy, whose elegant abstract sculptures in bronze and steel explore balance and spatial clarity; Ronald T. Crawford, a Salt Spring Island painter and sculptor whose practice unites contemporary painting with the physical poetics of stone, and whose influence reaches beyond his studio through the founding of the Salt Spring National Art Prize; and lastly, Edward Burtynsky, one of Canada’s most celebrated contemporary artists, whose monumental photographs confront the scale and complexity of our industrialised world, rendering beauty and devastation with equal and uncompromising clarity.

The exhibition also features new works by our beloved artists Michael Bjornson, Deirdre Hofer, Robert Kelly, David Spriggs, Charlotte Wall, and many more, whose evolving practices continue the gallery’s conversation with space, materiality, and form. A selection of newly acquired works will also be unveiled over the course of the exhibition, inviting visitors to return and experience how the dialogue develops.

Since the age of 18, Chepximiya Siyam’ Chief Dr. Janice George has devoted herself to interviewing, recording, and learning from Squamish Nation Elders, work she considers her most cherished form of education. She emphasizes that weaving is not merely a technical skill, but a deeply cultural practice where history, philosophy, and tradition are interwoven. For Chief Dr. Janice George, this knowledge forms a foundation for both self-care and community care. She describes weaving as an act of intention, where love and energy are woven into each piece, strengthening the environment and the relationships around it. In connecting with the ancestors of the past, one also weaves a connection to future generations.

The You Are Here exhibit presents the original artwork selected for the 2026 You Are Here Fundraising Calendar. Artists submit artworks of places that are recognizably in North Vancouver or West Vancouver. The 2026 You Are Here Calendar features Mount Seymour, Lonsdale Quay, Whytecliff Park, Seaview Trail, Horseshoe Bay, Grand Boulevard, Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve Gazebo, Lighthouse Park, Spirt Trail, Deep Cove and The Shipyards. This calendar is a fundraiser for the North Shore Culture Compass, a free online map featuring arts, heritage, and stories of the North Shore.

Michelle Sound

September 4 – September 28

Opening Reception: Thursday, September 4, 6–8 p.m.

Meet The Artist: Saturday, September 6, 2–3 p.m.

Mandarin Tour: Saturday, September 20, 2–3 p.m.

The Ferry Building Gallery is delighted to present Michelle Sound’s solo show Cherish. Michelle Sound’s work explores personal and familial narratives with a consideration of Indigenous artistic processes. Her works explore cultural identities and histories by engaging materials and concepts within a contemporary context.

Through utilizing such practices as drum making, caribou hair tufting, beadwork, painting, and photography, her work highlights that acts of care and joy are situated in family and community. She works with traditional and contemporary materials and techniques to explore maternal labour, identity, and cultural knowledges.

Outsiders and Others is privileged to be presenting our next exhibition, Arnt Arntzen: FOUND. A collection of new works created from specially selected found materials with newly created purposes.

Arnt has been designing and building furniture since 1986.

His designs are influenced by his environment, the wild west coast and the abundance of wood and found objects. The wood is hand cut by himself in and around the city of Vancouver. Many of the objects are aircraft parts such as wings, propellers and helicopter blades. Most of his material is recycled.

His interest in metal began when building a 36 foot steel schooner in the backyard with his father. His first sculptures were created from scrap pieces. Woodcraft and design developed through renovating vintage houses.

“Joining found objects with large slabs of wood has forced me to innovate new construction methods and has greatly influenced my designs. The challenge is to design and build pieces that will withstand the test of time both structurally as well as visually.
I prefer contemporary design because it is more challenging to design something that is not familiar and by this process I think we can better our living environment.
Although my main influence is contemporary design I am a throwback to a time when you respected your elders and they in time passed on their secrets and skills that allowed you to carry on these traditions.”

The years from 1984 to 1987 were spent in Los Angeles turning his attention to studio furniture design. Arnt has been focusing on working with helicopter and airplane parts combined with hard woods he cuts himself from local windfall trees such as elm, cherry, maple, alder, birch, oak, fir and sycamore. The simplicity of form following function in aviation design ties in perfectly with his mid century modern inspired pieces. Pioneering new methods of combining dissimilar materials has become a trademark of his work.

This exhibition is a great opportunity to see the artwork of a successful self-taught artist.

From September 8 to October 2, the Pendulum Gallery (885 W. Georgia Street) will showcase the Splash 2025 Art Collection, featuring 92 captivating pieces of artwork donated by acclaimed and emerging Canadian and international artists.

This rare public preview is an invitation to connect with the bold, thought-provoking creativity that defines Splash – an impactful expression of how art can inspire and uplift communities.

At the same time, art lovers and supporters can start placing bids on the Splash 2025 Art Collection online at splashartauction.com, ahead of the live event.

The Pendulum Gallery is open Monday to Wednesday, 9am – 6pm; Thursday to Friday 9am to 9pm; and Saturdays 9am to 5pm; walk-ins are welcome.

Join us for GAME ON! This FREE art event celebrates video games in all its glory, from arcade games to expansive multiplayer worlds, who doesn’t love a good game?  This show features over 25 local artists.

Show on display until October 10.

GAME ON!

@ One More Life Gallery

2111 Main St, Vancouver

🖤⚡🖤⚡🖤⚡🖤⚡🖤

Friday September 12th – 7 pm – 11 pm

🎮 Opening reception, artists in attendance

🎮 Snack and beverage bar

Saturday September 13th – 12 pm- 4 pm

🎮 Free button making workshop for kids. Drop in style. While supplies last.

🎮 Mini artist shop, grab goodies from our artists!

Shiki & Kū, a large-scale immersive audio-visual installation by Vancouver-based soundscape artist Yota Kobayashi, will be on view at VIVO Media Arts Centre from September 13 to 28, 2025. Co-presented by VIVO Media Arts and Formscape Arts, in partnership with Vancouver New Music and IM4 Media Lab, the exhibition brings together international artists and collaborators to explore the dynamic tension between form and emptiness.

Rooted in the Japanese concepts of shiki (form) and kū (emptiness), Shiki & Kū is composed of two distinct but interconnected works:

Kūsou (2022) incorporates Japanese calligraphy by Aiko Hatanaka and the acoustic and electronic soundscapes of flutist Mark McGregor, rendered through multichannel projection and spatialized sound.

Shinshiki (2025) draws inspiration from ancient Japanese animism and sacred spaces, featuring symbolic visuals created by Tokyo-based artist Ryo Kanda (Kezzardrix) and music performed by the acclaimed Italian string ensemble Quartetto Maurice.

Both works were developed in close consultation with Japanese historian Rurihiko Hara and integrate research on spiritual and cultural aesthetics from across time and place.

Each work employs spatial sound, real-time generative visuals, and cultural symbolism to guide audiences through contemplative environments where visual language, sound, and tradition intertwine. These immersive works invite audiences to engage deeply with presence, perception, and cultural symbolism in a shared experiential space.

International Collaboration

The project spans Canada, Italy, and Japan, with contributions from a diverse team of artists and collaborators:

Studio Programsounds

Yota Kobayashi (Vancouver) – Soundscape Art, Conception & Direction

Ryo Kanda (Tokyo) – Visual Art

Quartetto Maurice (Turin) – Strings Performance

Mark McGregor (Vancouver) – Flute Performance

Aiko Hatanaka (Tokyo) – Japanese Calligraphy

Rurihiko Hara (Shizuoka) – Historical Research

Project website and trailer: https://formscape.art/

Revealing over a decade of research and visits with collectors from British Columbia and internationally, The Collectors presents Christos Dikeakos’ photo-portraits of collectors with their collections from across the spectrum. Artists, patrons, curators, writers and art lovers alike, these stunning portraits reveal the inside world of collectors and their collections, providing a close view of the relations to the objects that have held their fascination. Working in collaboration with the support of photographer Barrie Jones, these precise and carefully ordered images reveal intimacy, desire and wonder–and bring the collectors, whose efforts support artists, museums, gallerists and arts ecologies and ultimately audiences–from behind-the-scenes into the fore.

A Journey in Search of Light

This exhibition marks the culmination of a six-year collaboration between Chinese artist Guo Yan and Spanish artist Pepe Hidalgo. What began as an unlikely encounter has grown into an artistic dialogue that transcends geography and culture.

The works on view weave together two distinct styles, creating paintings that are simultaneously unfamiliar and deeply connected. Each piece reflects both the challenges and surprises of working together—where tension gives rise to creativity and difference becomes a source of renewal.

A Journey in Search of Light celebrates this shared pursuit of discovery and transformation, offering viewers a glimpse into the power of art to connect worlds.

Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art presents the world premiere of NDN Giver, from September 17, 2025 – January 25, 2026. Curated by the gallery’s Assistant Curator, member of the Tsiits Git’anee clan, and passionate Haida Nation scholar Amelia Rea in her solo curatorial debut, the exhibition examines reciprocity, identity, and the evolving practice of gift-giving within potlatch traditions. Bringing together contemporary potlatch gifts such as prints and mugs alongside archival records of historical potlatches, NDN Giver features select pieces from Amelia’s personal collection as well as works by artists from communities across the coast, including the Haida and Heiltsuk Nations. For admission information and complete event details, visit: billreidgallery.ca