Artist Talk: Rhonda Neufeld
2025-09-11 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Vancouver) | Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave, Vernon, V1T2H3, Canada
Join us at the gallery on Thursday, September 11, at 6 pm to discover the stories behind Leaving Home, a deeply reflective exhibition by artist Rhonda Neufeld. In this artist talk, Neufeld will share insights into her creative process, her connection to the land, and the experiences that have shaped her practice. Don’t miss this opportunity to engage directly with the artist and explore the themes of place, memory, and belonging.

Teachers Cheers & Chats
2025-09-17 16:00 - 18:00
Event Details:

Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Time: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM

Location: Vernon Public Art Gallery

You’re Invited!

We are excited to invite local educators to a special Cheers & Chat event at the Vernon Public Art Gallery. This is a fantastic opportunity to meet with colleagues, explore upcoming exhibitions, and learn about the gallery’s educational programming for the 2025/2026 school year.

Complimentary Drinks & Refreshments

To make the evening even more enjoyable, a complimentary drink will be provided, allowing you to unwind and engage with our team while learning more about how the gallery can support your classroom.

Why Attend?

This gathering is designed to help you discover the best ways to integrate art into your curriculum and connect with hands-on opportunities that can inspire your students. Whether you’re looking for resources, gallery tours, or engaging educational activities, we’re here to help.

We look forward to sharing these exciting opportunities with you.

Opening Reception
2025-10-02 18:00 - 20:00
Date: Thursday, October 2, 2025Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art Gallery

The Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to invite you to the opening reception of Populated, by Mark Thibeault.

This special evening offers an opportunity to experience Thibeault’s latest body of work, engage in thoughtful conversation, and hear directly from the artist as he shares insights into his creative practice.

Guests are warmly welcomed to connect with fellow community members, enjoy light refreshments and beverages, and celebrate the launch of this exhibition together. Admission is by donation. All contributions support the Gallery’s exhibitions, programs, and commitment to enriching the cultural life of our region.

Populated
2025-10-02 18:00 - 2025-12-24 17:00
Mark Thibeault

Topham Brown Memorial GalleryOctober 3 – December 24, 2025Opening Reception: October 2, 2025Artist Talk: November 27, 2025

Populated by northern B.C.–based artist Mark Thibeault features large-scale abstract paintings exploring the shifting connections between people and the natural world. Initiated during the pandemic and continuing today, the series embraces intuition and improvisation, drawing on the biodiversity of northwest British Columbia. Thibeault’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, music, and lutherie, with his work reflecting both the fragility of ecosystems and our shared responsibility to them.

Exhibition Publication

Opening Reception: October 16, 2025
2025-10-16 18:00 - 20:00
Date: Thursday, October 16, 2025Time: 6:00 – 8:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAdmission: By donation

We are pleased to invite you to the opening receptions of our latest exhibitions: Exposed!, the 2025 Members Exhibition, and Whispers of Home, the exhibition of Mackie Lake House Artist-in-Residence Marzieh Homayoun.

Join us on October 16th from 6–8 PM at the Vernon Public Art Gallery for an evening celebrating art and community. Meet the artists, enjoy light bites and drinks, and hear a few short talks about the exhibitions. It’s a wonderful opportunity to connect with local creatives, explore new artworks, and share in an inspiring night at the gallery.

Exposed!
2025-10-16 18:00 - 2025-12-20 16:00
Members’ Exhibition

Caroline Galbraith Gallery & Up-Front GalleryOctober 16 – December 20, 2025Opening Reception: October 16, 2025

Our annual Members Exhibition, Exposed!, provides a unique opportunity to showcase the breadth of talent within our local art community. This exhibition offers the public a chance to appreciate the diverse approaches and styles embraced by our members, reflecting a deep engagement with artistic practice.

Whispers of Home
2025-10-16 18:00 - 2025-12-24 17:00
Marzieh Homayoun

Community GalleryOctober 16 – December 24, 2025Opening Reception: October 16, 2025Artist Talk: November 15, 2025 at 6PM

Marzieh Homayoun, an immigrant artist from Iran whose practice draws on the delicacy of Persian miniature painting. Her work blends natural imagery with surrealist elements, offering a unique lens on the world around her. We look forward to featuring her work in the Community Gallery this October as part of our ongoing collaboration with Mackie Lake House.

Marzieh Homayoun, Traces of a Life, 2025, ink on paper

Mini Artists
2025-10-23 10:00 - 11:30
Date & Time: October 23, 2025, 10:00–11:30 AMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Children under 5 (with parent or guardian)Admission: By donation

Join us for Mini Artists, a hands-on art program for little ones and their caregivers! Each session invites children to explore a variety of art materials and creative processes that foster creativity, sensory awareness, and early learning. Using safe, non-toxic materials, kids get to play, imagine, and create while developing fine and gross motor skills.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

Register for October’s Mini Artists Session

learn more about mini artists

Crit Club
2025-10-24 15:30 - 17:00
Date & Time: October 24, 2025, 3:30–5:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: TeensAdmission: Free + Pizza included!About the ProgramCrit Club is a free, hands-on workshop for high school students. Each month, a different local artist leads a session where teens can try new materials, explore techniques, and share their work in a relaxed, no-judgment space.

This month, we’re excited to welcome featured artist Chantelle Rae for a session in Gel Plate Printing! Teens will experiment with layering, texture, and color to create their own unique monoprints.

All supplies are provided, and we’ll take a break mid-session to enjoy some pizza. Whether you’re just starting out or already love making art, Crit Club is a fun place to create, connect, and be inspired.

👉 RSVPs are encouraged (so we know how much pizza to order!) — but walk-ins are always welcome.

RSVP for October’s Crit Club

Learn more about Crit Club

Chantelle Rae’s Practice

Art After Dark
2025-10-24 19:00 - 23:00
Friday, October 24, 2025 | 7:00 – 10:00 pmVernon Public Art Gallery | 19+ EventStep behind the gallery doors and into a world of after-hours intrigue and creativity. Proudly sponsored by Woolley & Co., Art After Dark transforms the Vernon Public Art Gallery into a speakeasy-style haven where art, music, and atmosphere intertwine.

Experience the gallery like never before:Live performances from local musicians, setting the perfect mood.Hands-on art activities inspired by current exhibitions, designed for both seasoned artists and those just looking for fun.Tasty bites and signature drinks, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, to enjoy as you explore.A photo room to capture the memories of a night unlike any other.

This is more than a night out—it’s an invitation to connect with your community, discover new creativity, and immerse yourself in a unique gallery experience after hours. Don’t miss your chance to be part of an evening of art, music, and secret charm.

Proudly sponsored by

Family Saturdays
2025-10-25 13:00 - 14:30
Date & Time: October 25, 2025, 1:00–2:30 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Kids of all agesAdmission: Individuals: $3/members $5/non-members. Families (4 or more): $10/members $14/non-members.

Join us for Family Saturdays, a fun, hands-on art program for kids of all ages and their caregivers. Explore art, learn new skills, and create together in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Each session begins with a short tour of the current gallery exhibition led by Samantha, our Learning and Community Engagement Curator. After the tour, families participate in guided, hands-on art projects inspired by the exhibition. Materials are provided — all you need is art-appropriate clothing and a willingness to get creative!

Family Saturdays is designed to foster creativity, connection, and a sense of community. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether it’s your first time making art or you’re a seasoned creator.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

Register for October’s Family Saturday

Learn more about family saturdays

First Friday Art Trail — Featuring Rachel Prins
2025-11-07 12:00 - 16:00
Date: Friday, November 7, 2025Time: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave, Downtown VernonAdmission: Free | Everyone welcome

As part of Greater Vernon’s First Friday Art Trail, the Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to host local artist Rachel Prins for an open studio experience. Visitors are invited to drop in throughout the day to meet Rachel, learn about her creative process, and see her artwork in progress.

About the ArtistRachel Prins is a contemporary painter living and working in Vernon, BC. Through images of landscapes and interiors, her paintings weave together the inner world of personal reflection with the outer natural environment, exploring the sensitivity and connection between the two.Rachel studied Art and Design and Psychology, earning her Bachelor of Arts (2014) and Bachelor of Education in Art Education (2018) from the University of Alberta. Her work has been exhibited across Canada and the United States and is held in private collections throughout Canada.

Artist Website

Discover more about the First Friday Art Trail and explore participating artists across Greater Vernon — or get involved as a featured artist at VPAG.

Learn More / Apply to Be a Featured Artist

Artist Talk: Marzieh Homayoun
2025-11-15 13:00 - 14:00
Join Mackie Lake House Artist-in-Residence Marzieh Homayoun for an in-person artist talk on Saturday, November 15 at the Vernon Public Art Gallery. Homayoun will discuss her residency at Mackie Lake House, where she created the work on display in her exhibition Whispers of Home. She will share the personal and cultural influences that shape her practice, including her engagement with the delicacy of Persian miniature painting and her blending of natural imagery with surrealist elements.Through this talk, attendees will gain insight into her creative process, the ideas behind her works, and the ways in which memory, culture, and place inform her artistic vision.

Mini Artists
2025-11-27 10:00 - 11:30
Date & Time: November 27, 2025, 10:00–11:30 AMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Children under 5 (with parent or guardian)Admission: By donation

Join us for Mini Artists, a hands-on art program for little ones and their caregivers! Each session invites children to explore a variety of art materials and creative processes that foster creativity, sensory awareness, and early learning. Using safe, non-toxic materials, kids get to play, imagine, and create while developing fine and gross motor skills.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

Register for November’s mini artists session

learn more about mini artists

Artist Talk: Mark Thibeault
2025-11-27 18:00 - 19:00
Don’t miss our artist talk! Secure your spot by registering today.Artist talk begins at 6:00 PM.Join northern B.C.–based artist Mark Thibeault for an online artist talk on Thursday, November 27, from 6–7 PM, where he will discuss his exhibition Populated, on view at the Vernon Public Art Gallery from October 2 – December 24, 2025. The series features large-scale abstract paintings exploring the shifting connections between people and the natural world. Initiated during the pandemic and continuing today, Thibeault’s work embraces intuition and improvisation while drawing on the rich biodiversity of northwest British Columbia.Thibeault’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, music, and lutherie, with his work reflecting both the fragility of ecosystems and our shared responsibility to them.

Register for Zoom link

Crit Club
2025-11-28 15:30 - 17:00
Date & Time: November 28, 2025, 3:30–5:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: TeensAdmission: Free + Pizza included!About the ProgramCrit Club is a free, hands-on workshop for high school students. Each month, a different local artist leads a session where teens can try new materials, explore techniques, and share their work in a relaxed, no-judgment space.

All supplies are provided, and there’s pizza to enjoy during a mid-session break. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, Crit Club is a fun space to create, connect, and be inspired!

RSVPs are encouraged so we know how much pizza to order — but walk-ins are welcome!

RSVP for November’s Crit Club

Learn more about Crit Club

Family Saturday
2025-11-29 13:00 - 14:30
Date & Time: November 29, 2025, 1:00–2:30 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Kids of all agesAdmission: Individuals: $3/members $5/non-members. Families (4 or more): $10/members $14/non-members.

Join us for Family Saturdays, a fun, hands-on art program for kids of all ages and their caregivers. Explore art, learn new skills, and create together in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Each session begins with a short tour of the current gallery exhibition led by Samantha, our Learning and Community Engagement Curator. After the tour, families participate in guided, hands-on art projects inspired by the exhibition. Materials are provided — all you need is art-appropriate clothing and a willingness to get creative!

Family Saturdays is designed to foster creativity, connection, and a sense of community. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether it’s your first time making art or you’re a seasoned creator.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

register for November’s family Saturday

Learn more about family saturday

Giving Tuesday
2025-12-02 00:00 - 23:59
Double Your Impact This Giving Tuesday

Thanks to VantageOne Credit Union, every dollar you give will be matched up to $2,500, doubling your support for the arts!

Your gift helps the Vernon Public Art Gallery:

• Present inspiring exhibitions by emerging and established artists• Offer workshops, artist talks, and programs for all ages• Create community events that connect people through the arts

Your support fuels creativity, sparks curiosity, and brings people together across our community. It allows artists to share their voices, learners to explore and grow, and audiences of all ages to experience the joy, inspiration, and connection that art provides. Every contribution strengthens our programs, expands access, and ensures that the arts remain a vital part of life in the North Okanagan.

Together, we can keep art vibrant and accessible in the North Okanagan.

Donate to Giving Tuesday

First Friday Art Trail — Featuring Kel Taylor
2025-12-05 10:00 - 12:00
Date: Friday, December 5, 2025Time: 10:00 PM – 12:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave, Downtown VernonAdmission: Free | Everyone welcome

As part of Greater Vernon’s First Friday Art Trail, the Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to host local artist Kel Taylor for an open studio experience. Visitors are invited to drop in throughout the day to meet Kel, learn about her creative process, and see her artwork in progress.

About the ArtistKel Taylor Contemporary Figurative Artist Artist Biography Kel Taylor was born and raised on the unceded traditional and ancestral territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She spent most of her adult life on the east coast of Canada before returning to B.C. to live on the unceded traditional and ancestral territory of the Syilx Okanagan People. Her formal art training began with an Occupational Therapy degree, but it was not until 2017 that she began to study drawing and painting both in the UK and Canada. Kel works with acrylic and mixed media, usually on cradled wood panels and with a variety of tools, to explore the mark making needed to tell her stories. Although the initial driver was to understand and integrate on a personal level, Kel now finds that sharing her stories provides the fuel. Kel believes that finding common ground, remembering that we are in this together, is critical now more than ever in a world that can feel so divisive and defended. We need to come home to ourselves, and each other, and art has a powerful role to play.

Artist Website

Discover more about the First Friday Art Trail and explore participating artists across Greater Vernon — or get involved as a featured artist at VPAG.

Learn More / Apply to Be a Featured Artist

Mini Artists
2025-12-18 10:00 - 11:30
Date & Time: December 18, 2025, 10:00–11:30 AMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Children under 5 (with parent or guardian)Admission: By donation

Join us for Mini Artists, a hands-on art program for little ones and their caregivers! Each session invites children to explore a variety of art materials and creative processes that foster creativity, sensory awareness, and early learning. Using safe, non-toxic materials, kids get to play, imagine, and create while developing fine and gross motor skills.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

Register for December’s Mini Artists Session

Learn More about mini artists

Family Saturdays
2025-12-20 13:00 - 14:30
Date & Time: December 20, 2025, 1:00 – 2:30 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Kids of all agesAdmission: Individuals: $3/members $5/non-members. Families (4 or more): $10/members $14/non-members.

Join us for Family Saturdays, a fun, hands-on art program for kids of all ages and their caregivers. Explore art, learn new skills, and create together in a relaxed, welcoming environment.

Each session begins with a short tour of the current gallery exhibition led by Samantha, our Learning and Community Engagement Curator. After the tour, families participate in guided, hands-on art projects inspired by the exhibition. Materials are provided — all you need is art-appropriate clothing and a willingness to get creative!

Family Saturdays is designed to foster creativity, connection, and a sense of community. Everyone is welcome to participate, whether it’s your first time making art or you’re a seasoned creator.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

register for December’s family Saturday

learn more about family saturday

Gallery Closed: Winter Break
2025-12-25 08:00 - 2026-01-01 17:00
The Vernon Public Art Gallery will be closed during this time and will reopen January 2, 2026.

First Friday Art Trail — Featuring Sara Wiens
2026-01-02 12:00 - 16:00
Date: Friday, January 2, 2026Time: 12:00 PM – 4:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art Gallery, 3228 31st Ave, Downtown VernonAdmission: Free | Everyone welcome

As part of Greater Vernon’s First Friday Art Trail, the Vernon Public Art Gallery is pleased to host local artist Sara Wiens for an open studio experience. Visitors are invited to drop in throughout the day to meet Sara, learn about her creative process, and see her artwork in progress.

About the ArtistGrowing up in the Coast Salish territory of Musqueam, Squamish, Stó:lō, and Tsleil-Waututh nations implanted the power and beauty of the ocean, mountains, and forest in Sara from a young age. Seeking to understand local ecologies and their connection to wider global ecologies has been a stubborn passion. Her work is informed by rigorous academic pursuits paired with local projects focused on equity and accessibility of large ideas and aesthetics for all people. Sara brings together her years in education, community organizing, and consistent interest in conservation to her art practice to move collectors and participants to contemplation and action to protect the natural world. As a parent to 3 teens and partner to another advocate for youth, she values mentoring the next generation with hope. Sara Wiens is a current graduate student in the Ecological and Sustainable Practices MFA program at Emily Carr University. She holds a BA in Studio Arts and a Bachelor of Art Education both from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Currently, she works from her studio situated on the stolen lands of the Secwepemc people of the North Okanagan in Salmon Arm, British Columbia.

artist website

Discover more about the First Friday Art Trail and explore participating artists across Greater Vernon — or get involved as a featured artist at VPAG.

Learn More / Apply to Be a Featured Artist

Kitchen Corner
2026-01-08 18:00 - 2026-03-11 17:00
Samuel Roy-Bois

Topham Brown Memorial GalleryJanuary 8, 2026 to March 11, 2026

Kitchen Corner is the title of a Depression-era photograph by Walker Evans. While not adirect source for the works assembled here, its rediscovery during the preparation of thisexhibition proved resonant. Evans’s image operates as a portrait of a context articulatedthrough objects. Documentary in nature, it renders a modest interior where things—a frayedrag, a slanted broom, a patinated chair—assume the status of characters seemingly asking tobe observed, “objects in a moment of pause between use.”1 What is striking, however, isthat Kitchen Corner withholds the very signifiers conventionally associated with a kitchen(no sink, no stove). In this disjunction between title and referent, the photograph underscoresthe complexity of representation and the capacity of objects to exceed their functionalidentity.

The works in this exhibition similarly dwell in thresholds of recognition. They positionobjects, sculptures, and bodies in states of indeterminacy: what reads as structure functions assupport; what appears fragmentary gestures toward wholeness; what suggests immediacyproves resistant, even opaque. Produced over the course of eighteen months, these workswere not initially conceived as a unified installation. Their subsequent convergence, however,revealed affinities of form and sensibility, generating conditions for thought and affect thatexceed the sum of individual pieces.

The works composing this exhibition invite tension into the domain of the built environment.Each references architecture obliquely: through the evocation of house foundations, theabstracted language of the maquette, or vestiges of timber-frame construction. Despite theirvaried scales and spatial logics, they converge around a shared problematic: the negotiationbetween the self and the possible. In their oscillation between recognition and estrangement,they foreground the contingencies of agency and the fragility of ideals. Failure, unfulfillment,and speculation emerge not as deficiencies but as constitutive modes of experience, openingonto a broader meditation on how subjectivity is continually shaped, unsettled, and redefinedthrough material encounter.

1 Richon, Olivier. Walker Evans: Kitchen Corner. MIT Press, 2019.

Art from the Heart
2026-01-09 10:00 - 2026-02-07 17:00
SD#22 Elementary Students

Caroline Galbraith, Up-front, and Community GalleriesJanuary 9 – Febuary 7, 2026

Opening Reception: January 10 at 1pm

The Vernon Public Art Gallery is delighted to welcome back Art from the Heart, our annual exhibition showcasing the creativity and imagination of elementary students from School District No. 22. This community favourite celebrates the joy, curiosity, and honesty found in children’s art, offering a vibrant snapshot of how young learners see and interpret the world around them.

Featuring a wide range of mediums and subjects, Art from the Heart fills the gallery with colour, energy, and excitement. We invite families, teachers, and community members to join us in supporting these emerging young artists and celebrating the value of arts education in our schools.

The Vernon Public Art Gallery extends its deepest gratitude to the dedicated art educators across School District No. 22. Their unwavering commitment to nurturing creativity in the classroom makes this exhibition possible each year and plays a vital role in fostering the next generation of artists and community leaders.

Crit Club
2026-01-23 08:00 - 17:00
Date & Time: January 23, 2025, 3:30–5:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: TeensAdmission: Free + Pizza included!About the ProgramCrit Club is a free, hands-on workshop for high school students. Each month, a different local artist leads a session where teens can try new materials, explore techniques, and share their work in a relaxed, no-judgment space.

All supplies are provided, and there’s pizza to enjoy during a mid-session break. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, Crit Club is a fun space to create, connect, and be inspired!

RSVPs are encouraged so we know how much pizza to order — but walk-ins are welcome!

RSVP for January’s Crit Club

Learn More about Crit CLub

Mini Artists
2026-01-29 10:00 - 11:30
Date & Time: January 29, 2025, 10:00–11:30 AMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: Children under 5 (with parent or guardian)Admission: By donation

Join us for Mini Artists, a hands-on art program for little ones and their caregivers! Each session invites children to explore a variety of art materials and creative processes that foster creativity, sensory awareness, and early learning. Using safe, non-toxic materials, kids get to play, imagine, and create while developing fine and gross motor skills.

Parents or guardians must accompany children for the duration of the session.Register online to ensure space and materials:

Register for January’s Mini Artist

Learn More about mini artists

Crit Club
2026-02-27 15:30 - 17:00
Date & Time: February 27, 2025, 3:30–5:00 PMLocation: Vernon Public Art GalleryAge Group: TeensAdmission: Free + Pizza included!About the ProgramCrit Club is a free, hands-on workshop for high school students. Each month, a different local artist leads a session where teens can try new materials, explore techniques, and share their work in a relaxed, no-judgment space.

All supplies are provided, and there’s pizza to enjoy during a mid-session break. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to refine your skills, Crit Club is a fun space to create, connect, and be inspired!

RSVPs are encouraged so we know how much pizza to order — but walk-ins are welcome!

RSVP for February’s Crit Club

Learn more about Crit Club
