Vancouver Art Gallery offers stunning Canadian works, hands on fun

STORY By CHRISTENE MEYERS

PHOTOS By BRUCE KELLER

"The Carpe Diem Kids"

The work of Emily Carr, a well known Canadian artist, is on display in a lovely space. 

NATIVE ART, ASIAN IMAGERY, VISITOR INVOLVEMENT ARE HIGHLIGHTS AT ONE OF CANADA'S FINEST MUSEUMS

Above, Bruce Keller and Christene "Cookie" 

Meyers pose in the imaginative museum.

 LIKE CANADA itself, the Vancouver Art Gallery is vast, varied and unique.

The Gallery (VAG), has a long history, and is proudly approaching its centennial.

Established in 1931, it is western Canada's largest public art museum and features an impressive collection of over 12,000 works by local, national, and international artists. 

IT LOOKS LIKE a government building -- with its imposing facade and ornate architecture. That's because it was a Vancouver's provincial courthouse for many years. The gallery is a repurposed, attractive adaptation of one of many 19th-century buildings in downtown Vancouver.

As befitting the city's population (nearly 40 per cent Chinese, Filipino and Southeast Asian), the gallery places special emphasis on art from the those and other Asia Pacific regions and honors indigenous artists as well.

                               The John David Lawrence Collection is one man's impressive 

and varied collection of ceramics created in British Columbia.

WE SPENT an engaging afternoon in the gallery, admiring each of the nicely curated exhibitions.  Coming from a family of ceramists, I was particularly enchanted by "Written in Clay:  From the John David Lawrence Collection."  It presents a history of ceramics created in British Columbia, told through the eyes of Lawrence.  His finely crafted show represents years of collecting unique pottery -- from friends, aspiring artists and well known ceramists. The artistic friendships, shared histories and local legacies make an intriguing show and represent decades of collecting by the Vermont born, musically immersed Lawrence. He lived in San Francisco, studied at Boston University's  School of Fine Arts and has many U.S. connections as well as a legacy of Canadian associations.

The nature inspired work of Emily Carr pays homage to days
 of long ago and the people who lived and worked in Alaska.

 ANOTHER OF the eye-catching exhibits features the work of well known Canadian artist Emily Carr.  Her nature images -- sometimes haunting, always provocative -- and she drew many of her ideas from  the monumental art and villages of the First Nations and the landscapes of British Columbia. The show attracted a large group of college art students the afternoon we visited. Most were studying the paintings intently, referring to Carr's extensive journals about art, nature and humanity.  She was a shrewd observer both in print and on canvas.

                                      Cookie tries watercolor in the gallery's large hands-on studio.

                 

Colorful sculpture inspired by native imagery caught
the eye of Bruce Keller. It is one of many intriguing pieces.

                                         Click here for info & tickets

Brooklyn Rider closed the season at Tippet Rise Art Center near Fishtail, Montana. Here, they
perform an encore concert in the center's library, after a formal concert in the Olivier Barn. 

UP NEXT: Our new website will debut soon, and we're excited.  Meanwhile, please be patient with us during this complicated transition and the transferring of 13 years of stories and thousands of photos.  It has been daunting for us and we ask your indulgence. Next week, we feature another world class venue, Montana's own Tippet Rise Art Center, which is gaining international attention for its unique combining of art, music and nature. The Center has added a few October concerts and is extending its touring options. Remember to explore, learn and live and catch us weekly for a fresh spin on