About Us
The Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists and Artists for Kids work collaboratively to program the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art.
The Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art is owned by North Vancouver School District #44 and is home to the acclaimed Artists for Kids and the Gordon Smith Gallery Permanent Collection of Canadian Art. For over thirty-five years, the Artists for Kids program has been acquiring masterworks from Canada’s leading artists, including our founding patrons, Gordon Smith, Jack Shadbolt and Bill Reid, as well as Robert Davidson, Graham Gilmore, E.J. Hughes, Russna Kaur, Rodney Graham, Guido Molinari, Elizabeth McIntosh and many more.
Who We Are
Established in 1989 by renowned BC artist-patrons Gordon Smith, Jack Shadbolt and Bill Reid, Artists for Kids was founded with the singular intent to support children, their art education and their future.
Through art specialists, Artists for Kids provides enriching art-making experiences for thousands of students each year across Canada, as well as professional development opportunities for educators.
Bill Reid, (Canadian, 1920 – 1998) XHUWAJI/Haida Grizzly Bear, (1990) Serigraph, 22 in x 22 in.
In 1990, the group published the first Artists for Kids Limited Edition Portfolio print, Xhuwaji / Haida Grizzly Bear. This print by Bill Reid, based on a ceremonial drum, marked the beginning of an extraordinary partnership with now more than 100 Canadian artists - from Kenojuak Ashevak to Ian Wallace - that has produced one of the most significant limited edition collections in the country.
Proceeds from the sale of prints fund educational programs, artist residencies, art camps, scholarships, bursaries, and future acquisitions for Artists for Kids and the Gordon Smith Gallery Permanent Collection.
Artists for Kids brings together educators and the community at large, to provide inspiring, highly relevant educational experiences and enrichment, for thousands of young people annually, while encouraging students to pursue and share their own artistic voice and narrative.
Through the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, established as Canada's first public art gallery for young audiences, Artists for Kids has created a space for young audiences and our community to experience the narrative of Canadian Art through a significant collection of visual art. As a visual arts catalyst in the community, Artists for Kids is proud to contribute to the development of a rich cultural aesthetic.
The continued growth and development of our acclaimed program in North Vancouver during the past three decades, provides substantial documentation that intentional art education in schools led by art specialists, can significantly transform young lives, inform programming in schools and ultimately shape a community in ways once thought unimaginable. We see clearly what can be accomplished and possible in education with intentional commitment, understanding and engagement.
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Established in 1989 by renowned BC artist patrons Gordon Smith, Jack Shadbolt and Bill Reid, Artists For Kids was founded with the singular intent to support children, their art education, and their future.
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The Gordon Smith Gallery is a space where education is seen not as an after-thought to curation, but as the purpose of each step we take. The Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists and Artists for Kids work collaboratively to program the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art and the exhibitions.
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The Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists was founded in 2002 to establish an endowment fund, the interest from which would fund ongoing visual arts enrichment opportunities for the children of British Columbia. The Foundation’s role has evolved to include the presentation of a diverse and accessible range of visual arts programming and the curation of high profile exhibitions at the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art.
