Or Gallery

236 Pender St East, Vancouver, BC

Or Gallery is a non-profit artist-run centre that supports emerging, conceptual and experimental art practices by interspersing exhibitions of local, national, and international artists. Throughout its existence Or Gallery has produced early exhibitions, performances, offsite projects, and publications by some of the most recognized names in contemporary Canadian art: Dana Claxton, Stan Douglas, Geoffrey Farmer, Rodney Graham, Brian Jungen, Garry Neill Kennedy, Roy Kiyooka, Tim Lee, Myfanwy MacLeod, Luanne Martineau, Jeff Wall, Ian Wallace, Marianne Nicholson, and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun. The gallery has also been responsible for bringing works and projects by notable international artists and curators to Vancouver, including Francis Alÿs, Martin Creed, Tacita Dean, Matthew Higgs, Barbara Kruger, Martha Rosler and Krzysztof Wodiczko.

Access Gallery

222 East Georgia St., Vancouver, BC

Access Gallery is an artist-run centre with a mission to create conditions of emergence for provocative ideas and work in the visual arts. We enable critical conversations and risk-taking through new configurations of artists, audience, and community. The organization searches out opportunities to experiment through collaborations (both local and international) that encourage innovation. We aim to bring visibility and critical reception to artists and cultural practitioners when they need it most, often at moments early in their practices, and have offered important exhibition opportunities to many of Canada’s most recognized contemporary artists.

Canton Sardine

Sun Wah Centre, 268 Keefer Street, Unit-071 (basement), Vancouver, BC

The term “White Cube” has become synonymous with art galleries and spaces; nevertheless, it is no longer an adequate description for today’s artist-run institutes. We hope to replace the word “space” with “sardine,” because other than exhibitions, an artist-run space also carries curatorial and publishing functions, as it can also be a site for artist residencies and bookstores among many other roles.

This institution was founded by Vancouver-based artists originally from Canton, China, hence the name “Canton-sardine.”

Centre A

Sun Wah Centre, 268 Keefer Street, Unit 205, Vancouver, BC

Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is a leading public art gallery currently situated in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. It is a registered charity and the only public art gallery in Canada dedicated to contemporary Asian and Asian-diasporic perspectives since 1999.

Over the years, Centre A has worked with countless artists including Yoko Ono, Ho Tam, Vanessa Kwan, Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries, Hong Kong Exile, Samson Young, Khan Lee and Subodh Gupta. Additionally, we have collaborated with numerous organizations, locally and internationally, such as the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Or Gallery, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and Long March.

SUM Gallery

Sun Wah Centre, 268 Keefer Street, Unit 425, Vancouver, BC

One of the only permanent spaces worldwide dedicated to the presentation of queer art, SUM gallery brings diverse communities together to support artistic risk-taking, incite creative collaboration and experimentation, and celebrate the rich heritage of queer artists and art. As the year-round programming arm of the Queer Arts Festival, SUM produces, presents and exhibits challenging, thought-provoking multidisciplinary art that pushes boundaries and initiates dialogue.