BUILDING A FUTURE FOR ART IN VANCOUVER

On Wednesday, May 6th, close to 3,000 community members attended a lecture at the Orpheum Theatre by Jacques Herzog, founding partner of Herzog & de Meuron, the design architects for the new Vancouver Art Gallery. This public talk provided an excellent opportunity to learn more about this award-winning firm and their approach to the design of the future Gallery, and was a testimony to the great interest of the citizens of Vancouver in this project and the work of Herzog & de Meuron.

The Vancouver Art Gallery now stands at the threshold of one of the most exciting moments in our 84 year history. As one of the cornerstone institutions in this city, we’ve experienced substantial achievements in our artistic and educational programs as well as in our organizational capacity. The Gallery’s programs have enlivened local and international communities as we presented some of the most exciting artists from this place and around the world.

Our activities continue to have a positive impact on the city’s economy, augmenting job opportunities and supporting the tourism industry while raising Vancouver’s cultural profile within international realms. We’ve accomplished so much in our current space, but with an audience surpassing 360,000 visitors annually, the time has come for a new, expanded Vancouver Art Gallery that will create and strengthen links between artists, contemporary and historical art, and diverse communities throughout the city, province and the world.

We are working to create a remarkable new art museum that will forever change the creative and physical landscape of

Vancouver. Our new museum will serve the communities of tomorrow by being a gathering place for transformative experiences, providing the space for quiet and revelatory moments that will help us to better understand ourselves and the complex world in which we live.

Following an unprecedented initial investment of $50 million by the Province of British Columbia, and the City of Vancouver’s visionary decision to designate the city-owned site at Georgia and Cambie Streets for a new Gallery, we are thrilled to have selected Herzog & de Meuron to design our new, expanded home. Herzog & de Meuron is internationally renowned for their museum buildings, collaborations with artists and a careful attention to place. The new building for the Vancouver Art Gallery will be their first project in Canada.

We are ready. The time has come for our community to join together and create a Gallery that will produce an extraordinary legacy for the children of today and for generations to come.