I am used to the european galleries, so was expecting something much bigger with more classical art. It was a pleasant surprise to experience the more modern art that was on display, but strange that the gallery is so small. It was also a disappointment that none of the Emily Carr works were on display.

Unlike the European and even the US museums, there is no permanent display of paintings or sculptures. The gallery seems to focus more on visual and modern art with no focus on classical. Furthermore, this is a very small gallery and can be covered in a maximum of 2 hours.

There were some interesting exhibits here, including the artist Parvaz Tanavoli and a fashion exhibit. Neither were to my particular taste. I was hoping to see some work by Canadian artists, such as Emily Carr. It was quite expensive at $29 each and it didn't take long to look round the gallery. My favourite artwork was by Marie Khouri, called 'I love' which was on the ground floor in the rotunda. Be aware that even small rucksacks are not allowed in the gallery and need to be left in the lockers near the ticket desk. The coffee shop was nice and we sat outside on the terrace.

There were only 2 exhibits open when we went which was a disappointment. None of the paintings were on display. The exhibit on 'Fashion Fictions' was great. I am always disappointed when a museum has so much of the site shut down at one time. I would have rated this higher if we were able to see more.

So...I don't usually like Modern Art, so I wasn't surprised that I didn't like the exhibits. This included the usual you bad white person slapping that nearly all museums and galleries include. My beef isn't the content of the exhibits but that was ALL of the exhibits. Surely the state museum could have art from different era's and styles. There is enough space for both... in fact the museum had hardly anything on display....and for this I paid $30!

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!

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.

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