The Vancouver Art Gallery is launching a new year-long exhibition about one of the most significant artists in Canada’s history, Emily Carr (1871–1945). Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape will feature more than 20 of the artist’s signature forest paintings, recognizing the natural world as one of Carr’s lifelong inspirations.
Emily Carr, Old Time Coast Village, 1929–30, oil on canvas, Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust, VAG 42.3.4
Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape
Visitors will encounter a densely hung group of paintings of thick forest scenes faced off on the opposite wall by a single Carr painting of a clear-cut landscape with an open horizon. The exhibition deliberately draws out the physical experience of the opening and closing-off of space in Carr’s forest scenes.
From a Broadway musical to Dine Out, comedy, VSO Pops, and nature walks, the events calendar this weekend is filling up nicely! Here are our top picks for fun things to do around Vancouver between Friday and Sunday:
Early Music Vancouver (EMV) presents Bach Ties the Knot, a captivating exploration of J.S. Bach’s wedding-related works, and you can enter to win tickets! This concert will feature renowned German soprano Dorothee Mields alongside EMV’s in-house orchestra, Pacific Baroque Orchestra (PBO) under the direction of Alexander Weimann.
Bach Festival 2019, Purcell, Hail Bright Cecilia; Photo Credit: Jan Gates
Bach Ties the Knot
Date: February 15, 2025 at 3:00pm
Location: St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church (1022 Nelson St #100, Vancouver)
Tickets:Available online now from $25 to $79. Free tickets for Indigenous persons. $10 Student Rush tickets at the door.
The Vancouver Art Gallery presents Celebrating Black Futures throughout the month of February. The program focuses on the intersection of art, music, literature and film.
Celebrating Black Futures at the Vancouver Art Gallery
The bespoke lineup, brought together in honour of Black History Month and in partnership with Artspeak, Nooroongji Books, Space Lab, the Vancouver International Film Festival, Vancouver Black Library and We the Roses, celebrates Black Futures in Vancouver, Canada and beyond.
Music on Main presents the Big Bang Festival, an adventurous and interactive music festival for young audiences, coming to the Roundhouse on Family Day Weekend. This lively event offers a day filled with music and free family-friendly activities for children ages 5 and up.
Music on Main’s Big Bang Festival for Family Day
Date: Sunday, February 16, 2025
Location: Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre
Tickets: Entry to the festival is free, with tickets available for the Musical Journey at $15 and the Qing Ensemble Music Room at $5. Book online now.
The Big Bang Festival will showcase the rich and diverse cultural tapestry of the city. At the heart of the festival is a Musical Journey through three unique Music Rooms. When they book their tickets for a Musical Journey, children and their families will discover new sounds and cultures including whimsical vocal performances by Belgian vocalist Naomi Beeldens, a mesmerizing soundscape by Vancouver’s virtuoso santour player Saina Khaledi, and the Qing Ensemble‘s powerful re-creation of a storm using traditional Chinese instruments. The Qing Ensemble’s Music Room also can be booked as a single 18-minute concert.
In addition to the Music Rooms, the festival opens with an Indigenous Welcome and Salish songs from Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack), and throughout the day, the lively Carnival Band will fill the Roundhouse with joyful sound.
Other free activities include an interactive light and colour exhibit called Tone the Colours, a music-infused bouncy castle experience called Bounce House, face painting, temporary tattoos, and more.
