After three years away, we were overjoyed to be back in Heritage Hall for our 18th annual INCLUSION Art Show. Thank you to all our artists, volunteers, and guests for an AMAZING day! The show was a long-overdue celebration of community and creativity—you could feel the joy in the air. Thousands of artworks, livestreamed artist demos, and musical entertainment…it was a show to remember.

This is our first year hosting a hybrid show, and the fun continues online! We’ve extended our online sales at www.inclusionartshow.com through Sunday, October 16. Keep an eye on our social media for some prize giveaways. You can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

A display of paintings hanging on a lattice. Text graphic reads: INCLUSION Online Art Show and Sale extended! Online Sale Open Through October 16. InclusionArtShow.com

Welcome to the Show

The show began with some opening remarks from Director of Community Engagement, Monique Nelson, followed by a traditional Indigenous welcome offered by Shane Pointe. Watch it below:

 

 

It was a busy morning, with a non-stop stream of guests coming to browse the hundreds of artworks. This was our largest show to date, with over 1,200 original pieces for sale—paintings, pottery, photography, art cards, glasswork, jewelry and more. We proudly hosted work from more than 200 artists. The show takes place in October each year to coincide with Community Inclusion Month, a time when we recognize that a thriving community requires the full inclusion and participation of all its members. As BC’s largest disability art show, INCLUSION is a showcase for artists with disabilities and diverse abilities to share their unique talents and reach a wide audience.

Artist Demos

We had four live artist demonstrations, taking place in person and shared virtually by our friends at Curiko! Our thanks to Curiko’s Lead Community Curator, Sarah, for her assistance. Margaux Wosk demonstrated how they use paint markers with acrylic to create their vibrant, retro-inspired paintings. Brianna Piccolo, from Artists Helping Artists, specializes in fibre arts and showed off her passion for knitting. Dan and Sheri Lynn from PotteryWorks teamed up for a pottery demo, showing us the process of handbuilding and glazing clay. And finally, painter Trevor Buddin demonstrated his whole creative process, starting with a blank canvas and creating a new abstract work from scratch.

Live from Our Stage!

Once the art demos wrapped up, we transitioned into the next part of our program. Guests continued to browse the show and chat with artists while our sales table stayed very busy! And live entertainment in the afternoon and evening added to the celebratory feel of the event.

Lara Gunkel and Deepi Leihl joined us a co-emcees, helping to announce door prize winners and musical performances as we headed into a lively afternoon. Guests enjoyed Disney tunes, jazz classics, old standards, and pop hits from pianists Manuel Hii and Dixon House, who each took a turn on stage. Monique Nelson returned to present this year’s holiday card contest winner. Our final performance of the evening was from singer and impressionist Ben Simcoe.

At the end of a long, busy day, Lara offered some closing remarks about the power of art and creativity. We finished the show on a note of—what else?—inclusion and community.

The INCLUSION Art Show is made possible with the help of our sponsors & donors! Through generous corporate and community support, we’re developing our dream of an inclusive arts community. Thanks to BCGEU Community Social Services, the City of Vancouver Cultural Services, and Glacier Media Digital.