Presentation House Gallery history and mandate:
The Presentation House Gallery is located in North Vancouver and for the past three decades, it has had over 300 exhibitions of photographic art including local and international artists, work from North Van students in the Chester Fields program, and major artists such as Stan Douglas, Ansel Adams and Andy Warhol. Their mandate is to “exhibit and disseminate photography and media art, emphasizing contemporary Canadian work within a context of historical and international art”. They give tours for their exhibitions and they have a publishing program as well as a bookshop that is dedicated to books about photography, film and video. Their exhibitions are free but donations are welcomed. Artwork submissions are also welcomed, however, their exhibitions are not programmed through submissions. Their involvement with the community includes offering public event and art education programs, allowing for people from all walks of life to experience and visit the gallery space. They also organize national and international tours of exhibitions as well as produce publications.
A bit about the building:
The Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver was built in 1902 and once was a police station and a temporary City Hall until 1976. It is also a building for the North Vancouver Museum as well as the Presentation House Theatre. They are currently working in collaboration with the City of North Vancouver Council to build a new home for the Gallery since the original building is in decline and no longer has sufficient space for the exhibits. The Council has provided strong financial support for the 15 million dollar project, since the space is meant to become a cultural hub and gathering spot for the community as well as the re-building of the Lonsdale Waterfront. This new space is called the Polygon Gallery, designed by the BC firm Patkau Architects, and it will be a 23-thousand square foot facility which will include the following: exhibit space, a café and wine bar, educational space, public event rental space, bookstore and gift shop, retail shops, and a waterfront walkway and public plaza for outdoor events such as performances and movie screenings. This will be great for us as well, thanks to its much more accessible layout as well as diverse space to feature more artworks.
This is the PHG now:
This is what the new Polygon Gallery will look like:
For more images of the Polygon Gallery click here:
Current update:
PHG is currently having an exhibition called Screens and Thresholds, which will runs from October 7th to December 4th of this year. It is a collaborative exhibition curated by Raymond Boisjoly that features five artists (Scott Benesiinaabandan, Tricia Livingston, Mike MacDonald, Karthik Pandian, Postcommodity, Krista Belle Stewart) with works that examine the “anxieties and possibilities in visualizing cultural knowledge”, and its fluid transfer of knowledge. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday from 12 to 5 pm.
Here is a downloadable information/summary page I made for PHG: