Access Gallery

Have a spooky selfie from Night Howl? Post and tag us, or use nighthowl2023!

Thanks for making our work possible! 🩷 from the Access Gallery Staff!

We also want to especially thank the fundraising committee .asrani and former board member fundraising all-star for making sure Night Howl was a hoot! 🦉 🌙

Thanks for your support! 🩷 the Access Gallery Board

Didn’t make it to the party or Get Ghosted? Please consider donating or buying a membership. Every little bit counts! (Links in bio)

Night Howl!

Access Gallery Halloween fundraiser 💀🎉

$40 general
$35 members

TONIGHT
Saturday 21 October 2023
9pm to late

Hypha Arts
1410 Venables Street

🕯️𝟵𝗣𝗠 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿! We'll have spooky still-life drawing for those who want to ease into the festivities or keep it low key.
🎫𝟭𝟬𝗣𝗠 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀! The first 50 people in costume through the door will get a trick or treat bag! Will your bag contain the golden ticket item?
👻 𝟭𝟭:𝟯𝟬𝗣𝗠 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁! How many categories can YOU win? Our applause-o-meter will determine the best in show! The winner will be crowned at midnight!
🥭 𝟭𝟮𝗣𝗠 𝗗𝗝’𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗼 𝗦𝘄𝗲𝗲𝘁 will take it away and we can dance, dance, dance!

Can’t make it to the party? Planning to ghost us? 𝔾𝕖𝕥 𝔾𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕕! 👻

Get your digital ghost illustrated portrait done!

$60 general
$30 members

The Board and Staff of Access Gallery denounces the ongoing brutalization of Palestinians by Israel. We stand firmly against all forms of racism, anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic violence, and call for critical attention, awareness, and action against this ongoing colonial violence.

While Access Gallery is currently closed to the public, we stand in solidarity with the global general strike taking place this Friday, October 20. We have signed onto the Artists & Academics in Canada: Statement of Support for Palestine letter currently circulating: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKNJNzjf02KHv17wRfxo6jdPjU_5JBUCkjM_HJi3_W9zcKYg/viewform

Read our full statement
https://accessgallery.ca/news/statement-support-palestine-2023

Statement in support of Palestine 2023 Access Gallery denounces the ongoing brutalization of Palestinians by Israel. We stand firmly against all forms of racism, anti-Arab, anti-Muslim, and anti-Semitic violence, and call for critical attention, awareness, and action against this ongoing colonial violence.

Link is in our bio. Please read the full text, sign, and share.

Four days for members to get early-bird prices ($30) on tickets to Night Howl! Friend levels and higher get in for free!

Memberships are our bread and butter, and your support matters year round!

This summer we introduced POD memberships, giving $5 up to 5 individual members who want to join as a group. Households, chosen families, dance buddies, art friends, introvert emotional support crew, link up and join!

Buy any membership and we’ll be in touch with a promo code for Night Howl and Get Ghosted!

🕸️🧶 Our members' event for October is Costume Making! 👻Happening next Friday Oct 13th from 5-8PM at Access.
We'll have all kinds of crafty supplies available (cardboard, coloured paper, googly eyes, glue, etc) and a sewing machine! 🧷🧵 Bring your own materials if you’re needing something specific though (: This will be especially handy for you if you are anticipating coming to our fundraiser party NIGHT HOWL on October 21st! Various snacks provided! Come get crafty with the craftiest cool cats in town 🐈‍⬛✂️
Members gain access to all future events for a year, a discount on publications at our gallery, and other privileges! By becoming a member, you are directly promoting the growth and dissemination of critical and contemporary creative practices in Vancouver.

Access Gallery will be closed Monday October 2nd for staff to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is not a holiday, but a day to reflect on what was—and continues to be—stolen from Indigenous peoples.

“There can be no reconciliation without truth.”
- Stephanie Scott, Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation.

Access Gallery stands in solidarity with all Indigenous peoples, today & ever day.

We’ve put a link in our bio for the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation where you can find great resources, and here are some accounts to follow:







peltier

Late posting this documentation drop (portrait this time) mostly because there were too many adorable photos to sift through. Thanks yo and .sound for helping capture the total joy of this exhibition!

’s “a bead, a breath" was on view at Access from 4 April to 15 July 2023.

A version of this playful, loving, and critical exhibition opens Friday 6 October at in Treaty 1 territory Winnipeg, MB.

📸:

We’re much too late posting this documentation drop (landscape first)!

’s “a bead, a breath" was on view at Access from 4 April to 15 July 2023. Read .draw.ing’s curatorial text on our website.

A version of this playful, loving, and critical exhibition opens Friday 6 October at in Treaty 1 territory Winnipeg, MB.

📸:

Tomorrow's Members Event still life drawing is unfortunately cancelled due to some facilities issues. We will host this event at a later date, to be confirmed. Apologies for the last minute cancellation to those that were anticipating this!

We look forward to our next Members Event in October, happening on Friday the 13th! Details soon! 👻👀

That’s a wrap for The Book of Imaginary Beings. Thanks to and the wonderful artists she curated .foundary (with .web) and

Feels like a week to watch “Inhaling the Spore”! 🐜 🍄

“The Book of Imaginary Beings”
On until September 9th

Featured work:
Sai Di (.foundary )
“Sun and 80 Consonants”
2023
Spent blocks, colour sand, plywood board, amplifier, transducer, speaker, arduino board, LED light, inkjet print on aluminum dibond, acrylic box, dimension variable

Sai Di is a Chinese Canadian artist who builds living systems and multi-media installations to decode the present reality at the intersection of science and ecology. Her work develops poetic nature/techno synthesis at the threshold of sensory perceptions through discursive material experiments, sound and performance gestures. She is an active member of the performance group Cuerpo Collective which enquires how the body may exist within the very function of art production as a means for healing and decolonization. She holds a BSc degree from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology and a BFA from the University of British Columbia.

“The Book of Imaginary Beings”
On until September 9th
Curated by CCST MA candidate

Featured work:
Woojae Kim () with Seren Bradley (.web)
“Listening to the Silence”
2023
Bigleaf maple leaves, handheld speakers, solar panels, transducer, handmade blocks made with local soil and maple seeds, audio, 2’ x 4’ x 1.5’ (variable); audio (in collaboration with Seren Bradley), 20 min 30 sec

Woojae Kim combines his research on biology with somatic experiences. He is currently making Makgeolli to learn about microbiology, and the histories and relationships between living creatures and the land. Through words used in both scientific and cultural discussions, such as “colonization”, “culture” and “diversity”, he observes how we relate to each other and to non-human others. Kim received an MFA from Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. He lives in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh and səl̓ílwəta First Nations.

Woojae Kim collaborated on the audio for his piece with Seren Bradley (.web) a sound artist living on Wabanaki land (Portland, ME). They acquired a Bachelors of Fine Art from the Kansas City Art Institute (’14 Sculpture), a Masters of Fine Art from BardMFA (’22 Music/Sound), hold certificates from the Wickerson Center for Alternative Fine Arts (’15) and the Center for Deep Listening (’17), and are currently completing a Post Baccalaureate in Psychology (’24 UC Berkeley Extension). They’ve previously performed as SOLLUS (with J Ashley Miller and Joey Watson in Kansas City, MO), co-directed the BEGIN Series (with Jon Mueller in Door County, WI), and they currently perform and record as the steward, rev.web, and seren.

📸: Material research of maple seeds (image courtesy of Woojae Kim)

Join us for a zine workshop at Access Gallery’s PLOT space! This workshop will explore how to make a zine out of a single piece of paper, and will explore the theme of imaginary beings, inspired by our current show The Book of Imaginary Beings.
All materials will be provided!
This event is for members of Access Gallery, anyone is welcome to become a member for a one time price of $25. Membership will gain access to all future events for a year, a discount on our publications and Take Care packages, and other privileges!

That’s a wrap! ‘s show “A Bead, A Breath” is packed away and ready to be sent back home! Thank you to everyone who came to see it!

Looking for a fun way to spend Saturday evening? Join us on June 10 from 5-8PM for a fun member’s board game night! Access Gallery will be partnering with the Turquoise Goat Board Game Cafe to bring you a night of fun games and good vibes! This event is limited capacity, with 10 available spots- please RSVP through our Eventbrite! Link in bio
This event will be hosted at Turquoise Goat Board Game Cafe (122 w Hastings Street), where the stay-and-play fee will be covered, and food, snacks, and drinks will be available for purchase through their venue. ✨🌸
This event is for members of Access Gallery, anyone is welcome to become a member for a one time price of $25. Membership will gain access to all future events for a year, a discount on our publications and Take Care packages, and other privileges!

Have plants that need bigger homes? Join us on May 13 from 3-6 PM for a plant swap and repot! Access Gallery will have soil and pots available for your plants to make their way into bigger homes for more growth. ✨🌱
Light beverages and snacks will be provided.
This event is for members of Access Gallery, anyone is welcome to become a member for a one time price of $25. Membership will gain access to all future events for a year, a discount on our publications and Take Care packages, and other privileges!

Let's talk font! 💻⌨️🧑🏽‍💻

If you spend time working on computers, you may know how tricky it can be to find fonts compatible with the special characters and syllabics in Indigenous languages.

We wanted to remind you about the BC Sans font, which has been designed to properly support special characters and syllabics found in First Nations languages in B.C.

This font is open-source and can be downloaded for free on the Government of B.C.'s website, www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/services-for-government/policies-procedures/bc-visual-identity/bc-sans

If you're typing on your phone, don't forget about our FirstVoices keyboard app, firstvoices.com/content/apps

Book launch for at Access Gallery!

Friday 28 April from 6 to 8pm

You are invited to the book launch of artmamas: Intermedial Conversations on Art, Motherhood and Caregiving (2023). This publication emerges from our PLOT residency at Access Gallery in Vancouver during the fall of 2021. The works, texts, and images presented herein reflect this generative process while also pointing to other resources, mediated spaces, artworks, artforms, and dialogues. From digital art, to zoom recordings, to drawings, curated film programs, artist archives, poetry, photography, sound art, performance, painting, sculpture, social movements, and blog posts, this publication encompasses an interconnected, intergenerational, and intermedial meditation on art and motherhood as expanded fields of knowledge production. We hope you can join us in this celebration!

Published by the art/mamas with the generous support of Access Gallery, the Canada Council for the Arts, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, VIVO Media Arts Centre, and the Confederation of University Faculty Associations of British Columbia (CUFA BC). We are grateful for all of the support in making this project possible.

About art/mamas
art/mamas is a group of Vancouver-based artist mothers, featuring: Gabriela Aceves-Sepúlveda, Matilda Aslizadeh, Robyn Laba, Natasha McHardy, Maria Anna Parolin, Heather Passmore, Sarah Shamash, prOphecy sun and Damla Tamer. The group is a collective working within the intersections of feminism(s), motherhood, reproductive and artistic labour. Many of art/mamas members identify as women of colour, immigrants and q***r bodies.

📸: prOphecy sun

That’s a wrap. We’re sad to see The Tangerine Project by .lee come down! If you missed the exhibition, documentation and the curatorial essay are online.

Welcome to our newest Board members, April dela Noche Milne! 🖊

April dela Noche Milne is a Filipino-Canadian illustrator and writer. April studied Fine Arts at Langara College, graduated with a BFA in Illustration from Emily Carr University, and completed The Writers Studio program at Simon Fraser University. The artist for the graphic novel The Blue Road: A fable of migration and the children’s book The Imperfect Garden, she was one of the contributors to the Cloudscape comics anthology The Witching Hours. Through illustration and comics her work explores grief and memories, the humour of everyday narratives, and issues of identity.

April has volunteered for the auction a few times, and is always ready to work with kindness and a good laugh. We're really looking forward to having her on the team!

Join us on April 8 from 5-8 PM for a fun, low pressure, craft night to make some art! Some materials will be provided, and we encourage anyone to bring materials to use/share/donate to this event (a great way to recycle materials you don’t use, or aren’t interested in keeping).
Light beverages and snacks will be provided.
This event is for members of Access Gallery, anyone is welcome to become a member for a one time price of $25. Membership will gain access to all future events for a year, a discount on our publications and Take Care packages, and other privileges!

PARCEL
noun — gift, portion of land, fragment of a whole, a collection, a bundle
verb — wrap, divide

Access Gallery is putting together a standalone publication, PARCEL, which seeks to better understand its own positioning as a centre of cultural production and dissemination at the nexus of multiple stories/histories, neighbourhoods, and waterways. This location is steeped in stories of convergence and displacement, colonial impositions, gentrification, and importantly, ongoing acts of resistance, joy, and care. Access invites reflective daydreams of (critical) possibility in the form of unpublished writing and visual art.

Read the full invitation and share your pitch at the link in our bio by April 21, 2023.

Access Gallery is closed today due to a very rare Vancouver snow day!

Sooyeong Lee (she/her) is a Korean-born interdisciplinary artist based in Toronto, Ontario. Inspired by her own journey of coping with uncertainty and trauma, Lee's work stems from the practice of care and mindfulness.

Lee explores our collective vulnerability and resilience through food, textiles, photography, performance, and installation. She examines everyday perishable objects and her surroundings, sometimes her habits, to investigate strength in their forms of changing, adapting, and aging.

Previously trained in Illustration at Sheridan College, Lee graduated from OCAD University with a BFA in Sculpture and Installation. Lee’s work has been shown at Harbourfront Centre (Toronto, ON) and was presented at Flotilla (Charlottetown, PE) by Eyelevel (Halifax, NS). Most recently she has completed her curatorial residency for Tendresse! (2022) by Caravansérail (Rimouski, QC) and Alchemy Residency (Prince Edward County, ON).

http://www.sooyeonglee.com/

To learn more about Sooyeong Lee's practice, listen to this podcast by Eyelevel "Mindful Practice: Kitchen as Studio" which records a conversation held at Flotilla in 2017.

https://soundcloud.com/eyelevelarc/mouthlevel-episode-2-mindful-practice-kitchen-as-studio

Mouthlevel Episode 2 - Mindful Practice: Kitchen as Studio For this talk, the artist will be serving Miyeokgook, a traditional Korean soup typically cooked for loved ones, it represents the gift of comfort and health and is often served to new mothers, when o

Please join us for the opening reception of The Tangerine Project, this Friday 13 January from 7 to 9pm

The Tangerine Project by Sooyeong Lee | 14 January to 8 April 2023

The Tangerine Project presents work by Sooyeong Lee (Toronto, ON) which considers vulnerability, our shared anxieties, deterioration, the body, and care. The exhibition as a whole presents the artist’s attempts to hold vulnerability and generosity in a photographic moment or handcrafted object—a bruised fruit, a protective cloth, her body, our handwritten notes, a rotting peel. ”This is a survey of the tangerines as an extension of myself—my resilience, vulnerability, and restoration—my journey.”

*NOTE: Masks are required at the gallery during regular gallery hours and the opening reception. Thank you for helping take care of our visiting artist, staff, and each other.*

📸: Sooyeong Lee, How to Read a Tangerine Peel, Sunburst, 2022 (image courtesy of the artist)

We’re looking for a 90s style wooden kitchen table. Have one to give, lend, or sell? DM us!

Wishing you a cozy solstice today, and return of the light in the days ahead.

Access Gallery will be closed for the holidays from Wednesday 21 December 2022 to 6 January 2023, inclusive.

Individual staff holiday schedules vary, but in all cases, please expect delayed responses upon our return.

Every bit of support will make a difference to our work in 2023. Take Care fundraiser packages can be purchased online for fulfilment in January, and we hope you consider us in your year-end charitable donations (link in bio). ❤️

Looking forward to seeing you in 2023 for The Tangerine Project!

Forthcoming Exhibition! The Tangerine Project by Sooyeong Lee | 14 January to 8 April 2023

Our next exhibition presents works by sooyeong.lee (Toronto, ON) that consider vulnerability, our shared anxieties, deterioration, the body, and care.

We’re excited to welcome you back to the gallery in 2023 and look forward to hosting you at our next opening reception on Friday 14 January from 7 to 9pm. More information to follow in the New Year.

📸: Sooyeong Lee, How to Read a Tangerine Peel, Asterisk, 2022 (image courtesy of the artist)

All pre-holiday Take Care sales have been dispatched and pickups coordinated. Any purchases made from now on will be fulfilled first thing in the New Year.

Want to send a care package as a gift, but unsure which to choose? We've added a gift certificate option for a great last-minute gift option that doesn't rely on holiday postage deadlines! Choose the Take Care Voucher option.

🔮 Good news is on the way. 🔮

At a crossroads? Looking into a foggy future? The GOOD FORTUNE box is on the way, and it’s here to help clarify your questions, support your rituals, and conjure guidance… and some snacks for the journey.

The GOOD FORTUNE box is a part of Access Gallery’s Take Care Fundraiser. $100 each, the box includes a curated collection of art, objects, snacks, and more from Access Gallery’s Board of Directors + Staff. Boxes are limited edition. All proceeds contribute to the financial health of our organisation.

https://store.accessgallery.ca/product/take-care-good-fortune/105?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

Buy your box before 16 December 2022 in order to meet holiday shipping deadlines.

The GOOD FORTUNE box includes:

🔮 Tiny Potted Something by Ed Spence
🔮 Limited Edition Access Publication
🔮 Ritual Candles by Jocelyne Junker
🔮 Altar Cloth by Jocelyne Junker..and several more surprises

TAKE CARE packages can be mailed or picked up at Access Gallery. Shipping not included.

🧶 It’s time to relax. 🧶

The DOWN TIME box includes the means to do just that. With skin care, decadent treats, and both literal and intellectual reflections, you (or a loved one) will be simmering in good vibes in no time. The DOWN TIME box is a part of Access Gallery’s Take Care Fundraiser. $100 each, the box includes a curated collection of art, objects, snacks, and more from Access Gallery’s Board of Directors + Staff. Boxes are limited edition and include an Access Gallery membership. All proceeds contribute to the financial health of our organisation.

https://store.accessgallery.ca/product/take-care-down-time/2?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

Buy your box before 16 December 2022 in order to meet holiday shipping deadlines.

The DOWN TIME box includes:

🧶 Two Little Beeswax Candles by Caroline Ballhorn
🧶 Grain Based Guide to Self Care by Jennifer Dickieson
🧶 ‘Good Enough’ Acid etched mirror by Ed Spence
🧶 Limited Edition Access Publication..and several more surprises

TAKE CARE packages can be mailed (to the purchaser, or sent as a gift) or picked up at Access Gallery (pick-up days to be announced). Shipping not included.

🎉 Looking for a party in a box? 🎉

With things to wear, throw, eat, and make the PARTY PACK is the cure for pandemic party fomo, introverts looking to party alone, or as a party-in-a-box to gift a loved one you wish you could party with!

The PARTY PACK box is a part of Access Gallery’s Take Care Fundraiser. $100 each, the box includes a curated collection of art, objects, snacks, and more from Access Gallery’s Board of Directors + Staff. Boxes are limited edition. All proceeds contribute to the financial health of our organisation.

https://store.accessgallery.ca/product/take-care-party-pack/104?cp=true&sa=true&sbp=false&q=false

Buy your box before 16 December 2022 in order to meet holiday shipping deadlines.

The PARTY PACK includes:
🎉 Party Favour Earrings byJocelyne Junker (rubik's cubes, bubble wands, harmonicas, etc.)
🎉 Limited Edition Tote Bag featuring "Punchline" by Elizabeth Milton
🎉 Hand Printed Bandana by Caroline Ballhorn
🎉 Party Animal Print by Jennifer Dickieson (full print includes four different illustrations)..and a several more fun surprises!

TAKE CARE packages can be mailed or picked up at Access Gallery. Shipping not included.

Access Gallery is participating in . Please consider donating to Access and/or supporting our neighbourhood artist-run buddies— 💜

https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/m/15186?v1=true

Now is also a good time to renew your membership. Memberships higher than Individual receive a charitable receipt.

More information is in the images (alt text is embedded). Thank you for your ongoing support!

Visit for more information about this global generosity initiative.

Launching TAKE CARE!

Access Gallery’s Board of Directors + Staff have come together to create three curated boxes of art, objects, treats, and more in our TAKE CARE Fundraiser.

Each box includes a curated collection of art, objects, snacks, and more from Access Gallery’s Board of Directors + Staff. Boxes are limited edition. All proceeds contribute to the financial health of our organisation.

We are offering three themed boxes at $100 each: the PARTY PACK for those who want a party in a box, DOWN TIME, a collection of self-care rituals and objects, and GOOD FORTUNE, a mysterious box for the mystically inclined.

Buy your box before 16 December 2022 in order to meet holiday shipping deadlines.

https://tinyurl.com/45kvpzmb

TAKE CARE packages can be mailed (to the purchaser, or sent as a gift) or picked up at Access Gallery (pick up days to be announced). Shipping not included.

Consider buying a membership at the Friend, Supporter, and Advocate levels to receive a 10% discount on Take Care packages!

📸: dreamy shots by

Join us for our 2022 Annual General Meeting on Thursday 24 November at 6:30pm. The meeting will take place on zzzzooom again this year and live meeting transcription will be available through Otter.

Members in good standing who register (link in bio) will receive a copy of our annual report prior to the meeting, including minutes of the 2021 AGM.

Finally, yours truly, .draw.ing! 🤓 It feels a bit strange to post my own bio, so I'd like simply to re-introduce myself to our followers.

My name is Katie Belcher, and I've been the Director/Curator of Access Gallery since late 2017. I'm an artist, curator, and cultural worker of white European and UK settler ancestry, based in Vancouver, Canada, the unceded territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ Nations. I'm excited to relaunch a full program in January 2023, and am grateful for the support of my board, and the gallery's two new staff.

These days I'm spending more energy in the kitchen than in the studio, and trust that this is also feeding my artistic practice.