Exhibition Tour at Bill Reid Gallery
Friday October 30, 1pm – 2pm
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, 639 Hornby
Free
Walk through Every River Has a Mouth: The Visual Languages That Connect Us exhibition with curator Aliya Boubard. Join an hour-long tour through the group exhibition, featuring the work of eleven Coastal and Interior Salish artists. Every River Has a Mouth brings together the work of artists working across sculpture, printmaking, textiles, painting, and mixed media. Together, their practices reveal the deep cultural, linguistic, and artistic relationships that flow across the Salish world. Today’s tour is free admission. For more information go to www.billreidgallery.ca
Aboriginal Front Door Art Collection
October 30 – November 7
Public art window display, 390 Main Free
Stroll to the NE corner of Hastings on Main and view the display of art in the windows. This is a small sample from the art work collected by Chris Livingstone of the Aboriginal Front Door. Featuring paintings by two artists from the Downtown Eastside, Edgar Rossetti and John Walkus.
Time Freed (Beyond Capture)
Video Exhibition
October 30 – November 7
Gallery Gachet, 9 W. Hastings Free
Time Freed (Beyond Capture) is a video installation co-created by Jin-me Yoon and 15 women with lived experience of incarceration. Featuring fifteen mysterious apparitions who dance and move through a landscape, affirming life and freedom. Presented in partnership with Gallery Gachet.
Gallery Hours: Mon, Wed, Thurs, Fri 11am – 1pm, 2pm – 6pm;
Tues closed; Sat 12pm – 5pm; Sun 1pm – 5pm
Time Freed (Beyond Capture)
Opening Reception
Saturday October 31, 12pm
Gallery Gachet, 9 W. Hastings Free
Presented in partnership with Gallery Gachet, this opening reception celebrates Time Freed (Beyond Capture) and the collaboration that brought the work to life. Join members of The Circle Project, participating artists and collaborators to experience the installation, gather in conversation, and learn more about the project and its making. Light refreshments.
At the centre of The Circle Project is the belief in the power of art to create relationships, open difficult conversations, and imagine possibilities beyond incarceration. We invite audiences to spend time with these works, and take part in a wider conversation about art, freedom, justice, and community.
Beyond Borders, Between Stories
Reveal Sunday November 1
Public art window display, 525 Carrall Free
In honour of Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), Beyond Borders, Between Stories brings together the voices and lived experiences of 16 migrant workers who participated in a one-day community workshop led by Love Intersections in partnership with the Migrant Workers Centre. Through shared meals, conversation, and collective storytelling, workers reflected on the realities of migrant work while dreaming about futures. Their amalgamated stories became the foundation for this public artwork, which honours the labour, care, resilience, and often unseen contributions of migrant communities in Canada. Illustration, graphic design & translation by Slime Studio (Max Ammo), produced by Love Intersections.
Artist Meet and Greet at the Health Centre
Tuesday November 3, 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. Live music with Mike Richter. Some pieces will be available to purchase. The Health Centre runs an inclusive arts program that supports people in the Downtown Eastside.
Art in the Park, Exhibition and Artist Talk
Wednesday November 4, 1pm – 2:30pm
Exhibition runs Oct 30 to Nov 29
Carnegie Gallery, 3rd Floor, 401 Main Free
Join Elder Marr, Elder Les, Lisa Marr, and Paolo Davanz for a discussion and celebration of the Art in the Park Project. The exhibition was created during a summer-long creative residency in Andy Livingstone Park led by Carnegie Community Centre Elders in Residence Marr Dorvault and Les Nelson, in collaboration with artists Lisa Marr and Paolo, and the many community members who use the Park daily. During the Festival, view the exhibition of varied artwork from the Art in the Park Project in the Carnegie Gallery.
Art Market at the Russian Hall
Wednesday November 4, 7pm – 9pm
Also Fri Nov 6, Sat Nov 7 & Sun Nov 8 (3:30pm)
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 Centre. Original local artwork for sale includes Native carvings, beaded earrings, paintings, badges, cards, decorations and more! Audiences attending Epigone at the Russian Hall will have a special treat and be able to shop at an Art Market in the lobby before and during intermission.
A Day at Balmoral
Friday November 6, 11am – 4pm
Balmoral Program Space, 159 E. Hastings Free
Come to the Balmoral Space for a day of Festival activities, including the big Pow Wow drum with the Aboriginal Front Door, live painting with Jenny Hawkinson, rhythm with Yvon-Paul Chartrand, Tallulah’s Portrait Studio, Carnegie Housing Project Walking Tour, the Ayx Community Bus team, and the Carnegie Library book giveaway! Celebrate the newly painted Trey Helten and Angel Gates Tribute Mural! Spend the whole day or drop by to see what’s happening in the community.
Everyone is invited to join us!
11am – 12:30pm | Cultural Sharing with Aboriginal Front Door
The Festival is honoured to feature members of the Aboriginal Front Door who are actively engaged in cultural sharing right in the heart of the neighbourhood. Join Ian Bee for an introduction to Pow Wow, the big drum, and share protocols, with drumming and singing. With guest speaker Chris Livingstone.
12pm – 3pm | Portrait Studio Pop-Up
Join photographer and filmmaker Tallulah at the Portrait Studio, a temporary photography studio offering free, professional black-and-white portraits to residents and neighbours in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The project creates a space where individuals can be seen with dignity, clarity, and presence. Each participant receives a professionally printed portrait to take with them.
1pm – 2:30pm
How We Could End Homelessness in the DTES Walking Tour
The Carnegie Housing Project estimates that over 3500 people in Vancouver are homeless. Your hosts will lead a tour of Downtown Eastside sites that could be used to stop the loss of low-income housing, build new housing that low-income people can afford, or shelter people who have no housing in the meantime. Be part of the conversation about important policy solutions, learn about the city’s rezoning last December that could gentrify the neighbourhood, and learn how we can work to get our governments to end homelessness.
2pm | Ayx Community Bus Team Report Launch and Bus Tour
The Ayx Community Bus team aims to answer the question, “But where are we supposed to go?” in more than one way. Learn more about the Ayx Community Bus (for example, Ayx is Squamish for “crab”), and take a one-of-a-kind DTES Toilet Tour. Hop on board for a mini-tour of local washrooms and read the 2025 “Restroom Report Card” destined for City Hall — from sparkle factor to stall space! 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 Fuhrmann.
The Carnegie Community Centre has activated the vacant lot of the Balmoral Hotel into a
culturally safe gathering place. The historic single-room occupancy building was demolished following severe structural decay and safety hazards.
Open House at Bill Reid Gallery
Friday November 6, 2pm – 5pm
Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, 639 Hornby
Free
Join us for an afternoon of art, culture, and community at the Bill Reid Gallery. Explore Cradled Origins, featuring the work of eight emerging and mid-career First Nations artists, and Every River Has a Mouth: The Visual Languages That Connect Us, showcasing the work of eleven Coast and Interior Salish artists. Following your gallery visit, enjoy storytelling, songs, drumming, and creative activities with members of the Carnegie Cultural Sharing Program and the lexwst’i:lem Drum Group. Connect with Elders, celebrate Indigenous creativity, and share in an inspiring afternoon of learning, conversation, and community.
Resonance & Rhythm: Art in Harmony
Opening Reception
Friday November 6, 6pm – 9pm
Exhibition runs November 4 to 29
Gallery George, 140 W. Hastings
Free. Tickets: thegallerygeorge.com
Located next to the historic Gastown, Gallery George showcases local established and emerging painters, designers, photographers, sculptors, and more. Stop by on November 6 for the opening reception of Resonance & Rhythm: Art in Harmony. The exhibition will showcase local established and emerging artists through an eclectic mix of mediums, styles, and subject matter all fitting under a loose theme.
First Saturdays Open Art Studios
Saturday November 7, 12pm – 5pm
Various locations in the DTES Free
First Saturdays 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 and be inspired by original art, or purchase directly from a local artist. To find out who will be open on November 7, visit www.firstsaturday.ca.