Current/Upcoming Exhibits
Current Exhibition:
Due to COVID-19 our Exhibition Schedule is subject to change.
Quilt of Belonging:
Feb 29, 2020 – October 31, 2020 (EXTENDED)
Opening Reception and Artist Talk, Saturday February 29th at 2PM.
A richly hued portrait of the human family, Quilt of Belonging is a 120 ft long collaborative textile art project. The 263 blocks portray the rich cultural legacies of all the First Peoples in Canada and every nation of the world.
Over 3 million visitors have seen the Quilt and the artwork is also used in a variety of projects and education programs creating an impact nationally and around the world.
Quilt of Belonging was begun in the fall of 1998 by artist Esther Bryan. In 1995 she went on a life-changing journey to Slovakia with her parents to find the family and home her father had left behind 43 years earlier. The dream of 
making this artwork was born as she recognized that everyone has a story to tell, each culture has a unique beauty and that the experiences and values of our past inform who we are today. In this textile mosaic, each person can experience a sense of belonging and find a place in the overall design – there is “A Place for All”. Together they record human history in textile, illustrating the beauty, complexity and sheer size of the human story.
This monumental artwork, Canada’s most comprehensive textile art project, is the work of volunteers from Victoria to Newfoundland to the Arctic Circle. From across Canada, participants were invited to contribute their talents and ideas, reflected through the prism of their cultural backgrounds. The range of materials is astonishing, from sealskin to African mud-cloth, from embroidered silk to gossamer wings of butterflies.
Units on the project are in school textbooks across Canada in both official languages. This work of art is creating an impact as it is used in a variety of projects and educational programs nationally and around the world. Free educational resources are available online for Teachers.
Check Teacher Resources Online
Witness Blanket
December 12, 2020 – Feb 26, 2021
The blanket is a universal symbol of protection.
For many of us, it identifies who we are and where we’re from – we wear them in ceremony and give them as gifts.
Blankets protect our young and comfort our elders.
Inspired by a woven blanket, the Witness Blanket is a large scale art installation, made out of hundreds of items reclaimed from Residential Schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures including Friendship Centres, band offices, treatment centres and universities, from across Canada. The Witness Blanket stands as a national monument to recognise the atrocities of the Indian Residential School era, honour the children, and symbolize ongoing reconciliation.