The Build Up

The Build Up to the new Vancouver Art Gallery at the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts has begun. After celebrating 90 years of operation, we are now embarking on one of the most significant cultural projects undertaken in Canada to date. We are building a new, purpose-built home in the heart of downtown Vancouver—one that will serve as a model for what a 21st century museum can be. Construction on the new Gallery will begin at the end of 2023 and we anticipate opening our doors to the public in 2028.

Our vision for the new Gallery takes into consideration how society has evolved into a global, interconnected network. We believe that art museums are uniquely positioned to engage communities in creating a better world by providing the resources and opportunities necessary to face the challenges of our time with purpose, hope, playfulness and creativity.

Art, artists and creativity are at the centre of everything we do at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The Gallery is committed to creating a community that supports artists, their practices and their development. We are a cultural hub for creativity that provides a platform for the work of artists and other cultural practitioners across British Columbia and beyond, through commissions and acquisitions, exhibitions, publications, performances and programs.

Complementing and building upon a rich institutional history of exhibiting photography and moving image, design, and material and popular culture—in an expanded field of visual culture—the Gallery is a leader in interpreting the province’s past, present and future. Art inspires us to cross boundaries, work in new and unprecedented ways, and embrace interdisciplinarity.

The new Gallery will enhance artistic life in this region through the following features:

• 50% more exhibition space to feature exhibitions of Indigenous, Asian and international art, as well as works by iconic Canadian artists such as Emily Carr.
• Increased space to install the Gallery’s permanent collection of more than 12,600 works of art.
• Dedicated space for the Institute of Asian Art to expand its public and academic engagement.
• Dedicated and shared classrooms with artist studios.

The Vancouver Art Gallery celebrates Indigenous cultures through respectful and collaborative relationships and programs.

Located on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, the Gallery underwent an intensive review of its policies and procedures in 2020 and made reconciliation and the celebration of Indigenous cultures key strategic priorities.

As the leading art museum in British Columbia, the Gallery will highlight the voices, perspectives and artistic practices of local, national and international Indigenous communities through its programs and planning. Building on a rich institutional history of exhibiting Indigenous art, the new Gallery will feature innovative exhibitions of Indigenous art and include an Indigenous community space dedicated to programs and celebrations.

The exterior design of the new Gallery embodies a Coast Salish worldview—inspired by the traditional weaving practices of the region’s original inhabitants—through consultation with four local Indigenous artists: Debra Sparrow, Skwetsimeltxw Willard “Buddy” Joseph, Hereditary Chief Chepximiya Siyam’ Janice George and Angela George. Building on traditional knowledge, it weaves together visual, spiritual and social elements, creating a blanket or veil that protects the building, and its inhabitants and collections.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is a reflection of our communities and a place to meet and share ideas.

The Gallery has a long history of supporting performance and experimental arts pedagogy, and over the past few years we have embarked on a fundamental shift in how we think about our place in the community. We have established partnerships and have initiated learning opportunities that have allowed our visitors—of all ages and backgrounds—to expand their minds and connect with others. The new Gallery aims to inspire innovative ways of learning through art and to serve diverse audiences, providing individuals across the region with access to art and its benefits.

The new Gallery will contain the following facilities and spaces to advance our programming vision:

• Double the amount of public programming space to foster creative thinking and problem-solving for all ages and demographics.
• A library and reading room, including an art library and archive available to artists, curators, scholars, educators and the general public.
• A 265-seat theatre that will host film screenings, talks and performances.
• Public dining spaces, including a restaurant and café/teahouse.

The Vancouver Art Gallery is committed to demonstrating leadership in environmental responsibility. We believe that we can create a healthier planet through creative acts.

Designed to rigorous environmental standards, the new Gallery will set a precedent for climate resilient design. Environmental responsibility has informed all aspects of the building design from the conceptual and aesthetic framework of the facade to mass timber components, triple-glazed windows and curtain walls. The articulated form of the building with its extensive canopies and overhangs provides solar shading and passively cooled exterior spaces as well as facades and windows throughout.

The new Gallery will promote enjoyment of the outdoors, celebrating Vancouver’s mild climate through the creation of outdoor spaces that are protected from rain. The design incorporates an abundance of green space, both in the courtyard and along the streetscape.

The Vancouver Art Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art (IAA) is a platform dedicated to catalyzing, amplifying and sharing new understandings of modern and contemporary Asian art.

For almost a decade, the IAA has demonstrated the Gallery’s connection to local and global Asian communities. The IAA serves as a forum for art education, dialogue, thought leadership, and as a hub for engagement that connects contemporary Asian art to broader social and cultural issues.

The new Gallery provides an exciting opportunity for the IAA to expand its public and academic engagement through dedicated spaces in the building for exhibitions, education, performance, acquisitions, research and publishing.

The Vancouver Art Gallery holds the most significant collection of work by Emily Carr in the world, and is committed to recognizing and amplifying her artistic legacy.

The Vancouver Art Gallery acquired its first painting by Carr in 1937, which was followed by her first solo exhibition at the Gallery in 1938. These two events would have a tremendous impact on the artist who, prior to her death in 1945, bequeathed many of her artworks to the people of British Columbia to be held in trust by the Vancouver Art Gallery. Especially rich in works from the 1930s, the Emily Carr Trust Collection offers the full scope of her artistic production, including watercolours, canvases, oil-on-paper works and charcoal drawings.

The new Gallery will provide an opportunity for the continuous display of Carr’s art, and will serve as an important research centre for scholarship on her work as well as that of the artists with whom she engaged.

In addition to a tax receipt, donors will receive a commemorative gift of gratitude to mark this milestone.