Dubbed “the first gallery in the country dedicated to young audiences,” North Vancouver’s Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art attracted 680 viewers to its opening ceremonies earlier this month.
The collection of the gallery has been amassed over the past 22 years under the auspices of Artists for Kids, a non-profit organization that has provided after-school and summer camp art programs since 1990.
The 4,000-square-foot exhibition space—which the North Shore Outlook reports is the organization’s first permanent and fully public gallery—is located in a new North Vancouver School District building.
Besides work by namesake Smith—whose foundation has been a major supporter of Artists for Kids’ programs and collection—the new gallery features pieces by Jack Shadbolt, Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Angela Grossman, E.J. Hughes, Kenojuak Ashevak, Joe Fafard, Betty Goodwin, Michael Snow, Rodney Graham, Toni Onley, Douglas Coupland, David Blackwood and Guido Molinari.
Overall, the gallery’s collection contains some 500 works from almost 50 artists, with a total value of upwards of $2.5 million. Two new educational studios on site—the Shadbolt Studio and the Reid Studio—recognize Artists’ for Kids other founding patrons.
Artists for Kids’ programs are also supported by the sale of prints donated by artist patrons. On the grand opening day, October 13, its newest original print was released: Robert Davidson’s There Is Light And Darkness.
