2025 Visual Arts + Exhibitions
First Saturdays Open Studio
Saturday November 1, 12pm – 5pm
Various locations in the DTES Free
First Saturday Open Art Studios is a monthly event found across the Lower Mainland, Victoria, and the Gulf Islands. During the Heart of the City Festival, visit studios in the Downtown Eastside where individual artists and art collectives open their workshops. Learn about the artistic process, explore working studios and hear amazing stories behind the work. See a diverse range of mediums including painting, assemblage, jewelry, fibre art, woodworking, collage, photography and more. Be inspired by original art or purchase directly from a local artist. Plan an art adventure! Learn who will be open on Nov 1st, visit www.firstsaturday.ca.
Grains & Grooves: Open Studio Saturday
Saturday, November 1, 12pm – 5pm
Chapel Arts 305 & 304 Dunlevy Free
Celebrate creativity at Chapel Arts during the Heart of the City Festival and First Saturday Open Studios! Our studio opens its doors for shop tours, custom-made furniture, and projects blending art and design. Explore contemporary, modern, and live-edge tables, bar tops, and coffee tables in progress. This Saturday, enjoy pakoras, special sales on finished items, community spirit, and a live performance by The Bugs Buddy Show, a family-friendly rock band — all inside our historic Art Deco buildings nestled between Chinatown and Japantown.
FIRSTS: Open Studio Saturday
Saturday November 1, 12pm – 5pm
Paneficio Studio, 800 Keefer Free
“FIRSTS” a series of baseball card portraits of the first Black ballplayers to integrate each of the original 16 major league teams, with each player’s position memorialized as “First.” The source material of these paintings are baseball cards as they were originally created, including offensive cultural depictions. To omit the racist stereotypes would be the same as claiming these prejudices never existed. www.paneficiogallery.com
Art Market at the Russian Hall
Sunday November 2, 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Also Wed Nov 5 & Sat Nov 8
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell
One of the DTES’ best-kept secrets is the incredible art coming out of the art collective at the Downtown Health Clinic. Audiences attending select shows at the Russian Hall will have a special treat and be able to shop at an Art Market in the lobby before and after the show. Original local artwork for sale includes Native carvings, beaded earrings, paintings, badges, cards, decorations and more!
Artist Meet and Greet at the Health Centre
Tuesday November 4, 1pm – 4pm
Downtown Community Health Centre, 569 Powell Free
Come join the artists for a creative afternoon at the Downtown Community Health Centre. Artists will exhibit some of their work, and you’ll have the chance to talk with them about themes and techniques. Some pieces will be available to purchase. The Health Centre runs an inclusive arts program that supports people in the Downtown Eastside.
Shelter X Crab Park X DTES Art Sale: An Evening of Art, Painting and Community
Tuesday November 4, 5pm – 8pm
312 Main lobby, 312 Main Free
It’s an incredible day! Join artists and painters, organizers and friends in the lobby of 312 Main. There will be amazing art for sale; you have to come!
SHELTER
This original community-engaged art show features high-impact and striking visuals reflecting on housing and homelessness. With twenty marginalized, culturally and socially diverse Downtown Eastside artists, the exhibit includes city-wide transit shelter ads featuring large-scale individually-created artworks and an art exhibition and art sale at 312 Main. The project is led by Gunargie Ga’axstasalas O’Sullivan and produced by Radix Theatre, in partnership with the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival.
Live Painting and DTES Art Sale
Head to 312 Main and see some of the City’s best graffiti artists in action and get a chance to purchase your own original. Featuring Smokey D, Sober, Ken Foster, Dempsey, Elvo and more.
Crab Park + The Ayx Cooling Bus: Dignity on the Go!
Tour tickets: crab-park-bus.eventbrite.ca
The Ayx Community Cooling Bus team aims to answer the question, “But where are we supposed to go?” in more than one way. Learn more about the AYX Cooling Bus (for example, Ayx is Squamish for “crab”), and take a one-of-a-kind DTES Toilet Tour. Hop on board for mini-tours of local washrooms and grade them on a “Restroom Report Card” destined for City Hall — from sparkle factor to stall space! Tours at 5:30pm, 6:30pm, and 7:30pm. Space is limited, register early! Come meet the team, have some fun, and discover how the bus brings care and safety to the community. Bus painted by Smokey D, Sober, and Kirstine Fuhman.
The Art in the Park Project Art Talk
Wednesday November 5, 2pm – 3:30pm
Exhibition runs October 30 to November 29
Carnegie Gallery, 3rd Floor, 401 Main Free
Join Elder Marr, Elder Les, and Big Top in an interactive discussion and celebration. This year’s residency ended with a final project that invited the community to collaborate on the story of False Creek, to name and paint the plants and animals that make False Creek their home. The Art In The Park Project is a summer-long creative residency in Andy Livingstone Park led by Community Centre Elders in Residence Elder Marr Dorvault and Elder Les Nelson, in collaboration with artist collective Big Top Art Tent.
Indigenous Exhibition and Celebration
Thursday November 6, 6pm – 8pm
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Free
Join us for an evening of dance, drumming, and community for all ages at the Indigenous Exhibition and Celebration. This gathering brings together Indigenous dancers from many Nations, including Larissa Healey (2Spirit Grass Dancer), Pavel Desjarlais with Dancing Spirit, who share vibrant cultural performances. The evening also features shared food and an Indigenous art market with handmade goods. Open to all — everyone is welcome!
5:30pm: Come early for the Indigenous Vendors Market.
NEPANTLA Exhibition, Alexa Black – Opening Reception
Thursday November 6, 6pm – 9p
Exhibition runs Nov 6 to Nov 29
Gallery 881, 881 E. Hastings Free
NEPANTLA is an 80-image series created through wet plate photography by Alexa Black, a multidisciplinary artist of Nahua, Maya, and Irish heritage. Rooted in cartomancy and inspired by queer Chicana theorist Gloria Anzaldúa, the work explores identity, power, and transformation within liminal spaces. Layered with feminist theory, the project invokes ceremonial imagery and symbolic language to reclaim fragmented identities, offering pathways toward healing, spiritual reconnection, and collective transformation. Gallery hours: Tuesday to Friday 10am to 5pm, and Saturday 12pm to 5pm; and by appointment.
Open House at Bill Reid Gallery
Friday November 7, 2pm – 5pm
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, 639 Hornby
Free
Drop by the Bill Reid Gallery to visit the current exhibitions and enjoy crafts, songs and storytelling with members of the Carnegie Cultural Sharing Program and the lexwst’i:lem Drum Group. This is an opportunity to meet and connect with Elders, engage with Indigenous culture, and be part of a lively, creative community experience. Current exhibits: Kihl ‘Yahda: Christian White (to Feb 1, 2026), the first major solo exhibition of Haida artist Kihl ‘Yahda, Christian White (Yahgulaanas Raven Clan); and the solo curatorial debut of Amelia Rea (Haida), NDN
Giver (to Feb 22, 2026), an exhibition that explores the layered meanings of gifts that circulate through the potlatch.
Architecture Without Borders, The Polish-Canadian Architectural Exhibition – Opening Reception
Friday November 7, 6pm – 9pm
Exhibition runs November 5 to 16
The Gallery George, 140 W. Hastings
Free. Tickets thegallerygeorge.com
The exhibition pays tribute to the outstanding architects and projects that have influenced the development of Vancouver over the years, as well as other cities around the world. The exhibition demonstrates how the collaboration of Polish and Canadian architectural circles globally has influenced architecture and urban planning, with a focus on the contributions of Polish architects in Canada. Observing Poland’s National Independence Day on November 11 from 12pm to 5pm.
Friends & Neighbours: Tales from the RayCam Seniors Story Sharing Circle
Monday November 3 to Friday November 7
RayCam Cooperative Centre, 920 E. Hastings Free
Step into a world of remarkable true stories from the RayCam Seniors Story Sharing Circle! The special display showcases stories from this lively group of storytellers, who meet regularly to swap memories and hone their craft. From near-death experiences to first jobs in Canada, wild adventures, and lessons learned along the way—you’ll be surprised, moved, and inspired by the extraordinary lives of your neighbours.
Emerging & Midcareer International Art Awards Exhibition
Until November 8
CICA Vancouver, 228 Abbott
Admission information below
CICA Vancouver proudly presents the Emerging & Midcareer International Art Awards Exhibition 2025, a platform amplifying diverse artistic voices. Featuring painting, video, and mixed media works, the exhibition explores politics, identity, memory, and technology’s impact on the human condition. Visitors are invited to vote for the People’s Choice Award, fostering dialogue and discovery. Supported by the Audain Foundation, this program celebrates cross-cultural exchange and the shared questions shaping our present and future. Open Wed to Sat, 11am to 6pm. Adult admission $15, Student admission $10, Children & Seniors free. cicavancouver.com
Near Dwellers as Indwellers
Until December 16
Bothkinds Project Space, 602 E. Hastings Free
Near Dwellers as Indwellers is an art-research project with an exhibition, panel discussions with artists and experts, and workshops to examine urban coexistence with undomesticated animals to explore how to share space, take responsibility, and support near-dwelling animals. Open Fridays + Saturdays, 11am to 6pm. bothkindsprojects.ca
