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Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouver Art Gallery

Vancouver Art Gallery
3.5
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 8:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
About
Discover the power of art on your next trip to Vancouver with a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery, one of North America’s most exciting and innovative visual arts institutions. Works by renowned Canadian Modernist painter Emily Carr are often on view as well as ground-breaking exhibitions and selections from the permanent collection. Open 7 days a week, a visit to the Gallery is an opportunity to meditate on more than a century's worth of Canadian and international art, from historical masters to contemporary visionaries. Enhance your experience by attending one of the Gallery’s engaging special events, educational tours or programs designed for families, youth and art enthusiasts of all ages. Weekly Family Programs are featured every Sunday and are free for children 12 and under. Spend time in the Gallery Store; a locals’ favorite or refuel in the Gallery Bistro (currently under renovation).
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  • Heather R
    Richmond, Canada483 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Gift store was more impressive than the exhibits.
    I think that $29 is a tad bit expensive for admission. I loved the internal & external architecture of the building. Granted, it was formerly built as a Court House. It is an expansive space on four floors & hence free portable chairs (albeit camp stools, to be precise) are available . Because many of the escalators are out of commission & the elevator is difficult to find, it felt like trying to find oneself out of Ikea. No joke! 😉 However, the security people were quite helpful. 👍🏻 It was an experience but not one that I need to replicate anytime soon!
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled solo
    Written October 7, 2023
  • Cannuckk
    Langley, Canada377 contributions
    3.0 of 5 bubbles
    Almost no permanent exhibits
    It's been a long time since I ventured into Vancouver to visit the Art Gallery. There was an Emily Carr exhibit I wanted to see and which got me motivated to go. While the Carr exhibit was good (only 25 ish works), I was pretty disappointed with the rest of the Gallery. The main floor was mainly given over to the Parviz Tanalovi,and the third floor was an exhibit on Whiteness. The 2nd floor is currently under construction ( I assume for the upcoming new temporary exhibits…?), but what really concerned me was there seemed to be few spaces for any permanent collections over the four floors on the gallery. Where is the space for the many excellent BC Artists the Gallery must have in its collections? We are a diverse province and I appreciate that the Gallery presents some of that diversity, but it seems to only be interested in temporary exhibits.
    Visited October 2023
    Travelled with friends
    Written October 22, 2023
  • Ravi
    St. Albans, United Kingdom130 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Well worth a visit ... despite the negative reviews !!
    I don't understand the negative reviews... We thought the gallery was full of interesting works of art, and the exhibition was simply great and very challenging on issues of race and culture. Staff are helpful and facilities up to date although all lifts etc weren't working when we went. It's worth a visit when visiting vancover
    Visited November 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written November 13, 2023
  • Dimitris L
    Sydney, Australia51,159 contributions
    4.0 of 5 bubbles
    Controversial Art Gallery
    The Vancouver Art Gallery dates its beginning to the early 1930s and is one of the largest in Canada. It has some very interesting exhibits and some quite controversial ones as well. The entry fee is a bit pricey!
    Visited September 2023
    Travelled as a couple
    Written January 10, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.

Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

Popular mentions

3.5
3.5 of 5 bubbles1,332 reviews
Excellent
315
Very good
414
Average
267
Poor
177
Terrible
159

Spence1980
Connecticut55 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
My review is pretty much exactly the same as Kathryn L's review. There is no actual art in this "art" museum. You will not find a single painting or sculpture in the traditional sense of those words. There doesn't appear to be any permanent collection on display at all, only temporary exhibits. Make sure you go to their website to see if what they are currently showing is of interest to you, because they literally have nothing else, and the admission is not cheap. We paid over $50 for two people only to be bored out of our minds by their current Yoko Ono and Artificial Intelligence exhibits. We were in and out of the building in less than 30 minutes and felt badly for the poor students on a field trip that had to do some sort of report on what they saw here. Both their website and front desk staff need to do a better job at explaining what this gallery is all about before people buy tickets.

Vancouver is a great city full of great experiences, but skip this one if you are looking for real art.
Written April 5, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

SailingGirl55
Frankfurt, Germany3 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2022
I regret going. When I visited, one floor was closed off, the escalators were out of order, and the museum felt small and dirty. It is not worth the price of admission. The Vancouver Art Gallery pales in comparison to even galleries in Toronto or similar cities. I do not recommend going unless you are able to get discounted admission into the museum somehow.
Written September 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Chad D
5 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jul 2021
I was sorely disappointed in this museum. The building itself is a beautiful piece of architecture, however I fail to comprehend how most of the content of the museum can consider itself art (a prime example being a displayed picture of a skid of apple jacks cereal in a grocery store). Many other displays had shallow intentions, with the sole purpose of being provocative and unsettling, while delivering on little else. I would recommend spending both your time and money on something more worthwhile.
Written July 28, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Kathryn L
1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2022 • Family
Despite the word “art” in its name, the Vancouver Art Gallery has so little of it that you’d have a better, more enriching experience just doing an online search for works of art at other museums than you would visiting this place.

It cost us ~$55 CAD to visit (2 adults + 1 3-year-old, who got in free), and of the four floors of the building, one was completely closed off, one had only 4 or 5 rare books under glass, at a height only a standing adult would be able to see, another had mostly video screens showing the power of AI (not video art installations; just videos like you’d see at the science center), and the fourth had mostly documentary-style photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s time together.

That’s it. I’ve given you the entire contents of the Art Gallery the day we visited.

For a cosmopolitan city like Vancouver to have such an unapologetically terrible art museum is so embarrassing. I’m ashamed that my city, in the province where Emily Carr lived and worked, doesn’t even have a permanent Emily Carr exhibit in its flagship art museum.

Please save your money. Visit the Museum of Anthropology instead. It’s excellent and actually worth the price admission.
Written March 19, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

hotelguest21
england109 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Jun 2022
Visited galleries all over the world but this one is unbelievably bad. Only 2 rooms open (not told) one of them for children which is fine. The other is about Artificial Intelligence....not great but hey. Not a single beautiful thing to be looked at. Outrageous poor customer care. we were charged $46 for less than 45 minutes. I spoke to an attendant who told us everyone is complaining but the gallery wont listen. I emailed the gallery they have not replied. I would like a refund
Do not waste your money there have to be better places out there.
Written July 1, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Professional-Pilgrim
Quebec, Canada1,343 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2019
This is a sad place, once you get through the impressive facade. The display of their permanent collection is basically non-existent: a handful of minor Emily Carr's, tucked away in a nook on the ground floor. The temporary exhibitions vary in quality. Those on display in December, 2019 did not impress us. No wonder Michel Audain took his paintings to Whistler, where he built his own gallery, of international quality! Perhaps, when they finish raising the millions of $$ to build a new gallery, it will improve?
Written January 30, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear visitor,, We are sorry to hear you did not enjoy your visit to the Gallery. We very much appreciate your comments as all feedback as it gives us an opportunity to view the Gallery from the eyes of our customers. I am glad you saw the Emily Carr paintings at the base of the rotunda on the 1st floor. These iconic paintings give the viewer a taste of her exceptional work. There is also an exhibition on the 4th floor with many of her works and those of her contemporaries. It doesn't sound like you made it to that floor so we do hope you come back to see it. We also have new exhibitions opening this month including that of an Inuk artist from Cape Dorset - Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds. We hope to see you again and again thank you for your comments. kind regards,
Written February 5, 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.

luv2trav2017
New York City, NY17 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Couples
Almost nothing from the permanent collection is on view. Do not expect to see much Emily Carr or any other Canadian artist. While it is the purview of curators to introduce lesser known work, patrons have an expectation that some of the pieces for which a gallery is well-known will be displayed when they are being charged a full-price entry fee. The staff does nothing to clarify how limited the exhibits are. This was a waste of time and money when it could have represented some of the best of Canadian culture.
Written November 3, 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

coalharborvan
Vancouver, Canada282 contributions
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Dec 2022
This is, hands down, the worst, by far, major art gallery in Canada with next-to-zero talent on display. This place is obsessed with the cult of wokeness, not art. It's absolutely laughable that the Vatican Museum costs half as much to enter than the Vancouver Art Gallery. You can see better stuff on display inside any public toilet stall. Seriously, don't waste your time and money on this dreck.
Written December 10, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Michael P
Ottawa, Canada1 contribution
1.0 of 5 bubbles
Sept 2021 • Friends
It has been some years since I had last visited the Vancouver Art Gallery, but I can vividly remember seeing many paintings from their magnificent collection of Emily Carr, which I understand is the largest anywhere. After visiting today I was sadly disappointed. Two of the four floors were closed and most of the rest was filled with mediocre contemporary art. There were just a few Carrs on display, all forest scenes, hanging on the walls of a gallery exhibiting the work of a California potter. The narrative on the wall tried feebly to make a non-existent connection between the two. None of Carr’s iconic First Nations paintings were to be seen (likely they have been banished from the gallery as “cultural appropriation”by a “settler artist”.)This will be my last visit to the VAG until I find out that it has changed for the better. I can see more and better Emily Carrs at home.
Written September 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Carolyn B
Toronto, Canada100 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
Oct 2023 • Solo
I usually do research a place before I go, but there are lots of museums and galleries I'll visit whenever I'm close because I trust I'm likely to encounter something interesting or see a permanent exhibition I know I enjoy. The Vancouver Art Gallery building is massive, its right in the heart of Vancouver and so I assumed it was a safe bet they'd have something I liked and I went in without doing any research first. The majority of the building was two large temporary exhibits which I personally found "meh" and I was in and out in well under an hour feeling like I'd like my $30 back. Though I'm sure there are people who went in the same day and found the content fascinating Given the cost of a ticket and the way the building is divided into 2-3 large temporary exhibits I'd tell people to just double check the exhibition page of the website first.
Written February 18, 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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VANCOUVER ART GALLERY - All You MUST Know Before You Go (2024)

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