Burnaby Art Gallery facts for kids
Exterior facade of Burnaby Art Gallery in 2012
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| Established | 1967 |
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| Location | 6344 Deer Lake Avenue Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada |
| Type | Art museum |
| Architect | Robert Percival Sterling Twizell |
| Owner | City of Burnaby |
The Burnaby Art Gallery (also called BAG) is an art museum in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is located near Deer Lake Park. The gallery is inside Fairacres Mansion. This building is a historic site.
The gallery opened in 1967. The Burnaby Art Society worked with the City of Burnaby. They wanted to show art in Fairacres Mansion. The society managed the gallery until 1998. After that, the City of Burnaby took over. They now manage the art collection and run the gallery. The museum has over 6,500 artworks. It is the only public art collection in Canada that focuses on works made on paper.
What the Gallery Does
The Burnaby Art Gallery started in 1967. Its main goal is to collect, protect, and show art. They feature both new and old art. Artists from the local area, Canada, and around the world are shown. The City of Burnaby runs the gallery.
The gallery takes care of more than 6,500 artworks. These are part of the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection. They also manage the City of Burnaby's Public Art Collection. The gallery also has art shows at two of Burnaby's public libraries. Programs for adults, teens, and children happen at the Burnaby Art Gallery Barn Studio. This studio is next to the main gallery building.
History of the Building
The Burnaby Art Gallery is in Fairacres Mansion. Robert Percival Sterling Twizell designed this building. It was built in 1910. It cost about C$150,000. This made it the biggest and most expensive house in Burnaby at that time. It was built in the Edwardian Arts and Crafts style. It had handmade details, wood carvings, and tiled fireplaces.
The original property had many features. These included a garage, horse stables, and an aviary. There was also a gazebo, lagoons, and strawberry fields. Greenhouses, a steam plant, and a gardener's cottage were also on the grounds. The tiles inside the house came from England. They were made by Conrad Dressler and his Medmenham Pottery. In the old billiards room, there is a large oak fireplace mantel. It was carved by George Selkirk Gibson. It has a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson: "The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it."
After the first owner, Grace Ceperley, passed away, the house was sold. It had several private owners. In 1939, Benedictine monks bought it. It became an Abbey in 1953. The monks left in 1954. They moved to Westminster Abbey (British Columbia) in Mission. After the monks sold the property, it was used by other groups. It was even a fraternity house for Simon Fraser University.
In 1966, the Burnaby Art Society worked with the City of Burnaby. They bought the 8.4-acre property for C$166,000. The Burnaby Art Gallery opened its doors on June 10, 1967.
Art Collection
The Burnaby Art Gallery has a collection of over 6,500 artworks. Most of these are works on paper. They are mainly by Canadian artists. This collection is special because it is the only public collection in Canada focused on works on paper.
Some important artists in the collection include Anna Wong, Ernest Stephen Lumsden, Jack Shadbolt, and Takao Tanabe. Other notable artists are Susan Point, Gordon A. Smith, BC Binning, and Roy Henry Vickers. The collection also features works by Laurence Hyde, Gathie Falk, Sylvia Tait, Ann Kipling, and Alistair Bell.
The Burnaby Art Gallery has hosted many temporary and travelling exhibitions. Some past exhibitions include:
- 4th National Print Show (1967)
- Feather Power (1971)
- Due West (1972)
- Mystic Circle (1973)
- Traces (1973)
- Douglas J. Cardinal: Architect (1978)
- Northern Exposure: Inuit Images of Travel (1986)
- A Quarter Century of Collecting (1992)
- Counterpoint: The Prints of Jack Shadbolt (1996)
- New Media: Artwork from the 60s and 70s in Vancouver (2002)
- Ernest S. Lumsden (2003)
- Aganetha Dyck: Collaborations (2009)
- Gordon Smith: The Printed Pictures (2010)
- The Solitudes of Place: Recent Drawings by Ann Kipling (2011)
- Micah Lexier: Working as a Drawing (2012)
- Chronicles of Form and Place: Works on Paper by Takao Tanabe (2012)
- Gathie Falk: Paperworks (2014)
- The Ornament of a House: 50 Years of Collecting (2017)
- Sylvia Tait: Journey (2018)
- Anna Wong: Traveller on Two Roads (2018-2021, touring)
- Gary Lee-Nova: Oblique Trajectories (2021)
- Lyse Lemieux: Trespassers/Intrus (2021)
See also
- Burnaby Village Museum, also in Deer Lake Park
