Surrey Art Gallery

After 45 years, Surrey Art Gallery is forging a bold future in digital art. The second largest public art gallery in the Metro Vancouver Region, it’s building on the successes of its cutting-edge TechLab, Open Sound, UrbanScreen, and media galleries. The facility has plans to shift and become a full-fledged Interactive Art Museum, embracing the digital world by supporting studios for artists in residence, maker labs, exhibit halls, and a small theatre. At the same time, it will continue supporting and showcasing the work of Surrey’s brilliant local artists, as well as contemporary art in all forms of media. Think of it as Surrey Art Gallery 2.0.

Internationally recognized for its programming, the Gallery is celebrated for its exhibitions of contemporary art by local, national, and global artists, and digital and audio art have long been important parts of that mix. Today, visitors can always learn more about art at one of the Gallery’s engaging artist talks or tours, participate in a symposium, or make art by themselves or with family and friends. The facility offers demonstrations, workshops, and school programs with artists, educators, and other specialists.

In 2019, the Gallery celebrated 20 years of digital art programming in its TechLab, which shows a wide array of digital art, including artificial intelligence, interactive and immersive virtual environments, telerobotic sculptures and flash game installations, and much more. Surrey Art Gallery continues to showcase leading-edge digital art and experimental new media.

The Cultural Plan for Surrey and the Gallery Strategic Plan identified that the Gallery needs to evolve to serve its rapidly growing city. Adopted in January 2017, the ensuing City Centre Master Plan introduced the vision of future cultural facilities that would include the concept of an Interactive Art Museum. Now, in the City’s 5 year capital projects budget, this downtown contemporary art museum will soon be able to house multiple programs centred on digital art and more.

The Gallery has come a long way from its beginnings, when it was constructed for Canada’s Centennial in 1967 (and originally named the Centennial Arts Centre). Back then, the only place to exhibit art was on the walls of the corridor by the theatre. In 1973, the City dedicated funds to build a proper gallery—an experimental space for leading artists in Western Canada—and in August 1975, Surrey Art Gallery opened within the renamed Surrey Arts Centre. Soon, it needed improvements to expand to bring in bigger shows, and construction began in 1982 to expand the exhibit halls. The Gallery became certified as a Class A Museum in Canada because of the quality of its permanent collection storage area, the environmental controls of its display and storage, and the professionalism of its staff and programs. By the mid-’80s, Surrey Art Gallery had gained a national reputation for its contemporary art exhibitions and education programs and was touring them across the country.

In 2000, motivated by the City’s Cultural Strategic Plan, the Surrey Arts Centre underwent a significant redevelopment, adding a studio theatre, programs room, new classrooms and pottery studios, as well as expanded collection storage and exhibit halls with 20-foot ceilings. With a prototype TechLab now a permanent space, Surrey Art Gallery became the only art museum in Canada committed to supporting the production and presentation of digital media—the groundwork for the ambitious programming that will come in the next few decades at the landmark.