GALLERY HOURS
Wednesday | 12pm – 5pm
Thursday – Friday | 12pm – 6pm
Saturday – Sunday | 12pm – 5pm
Admission is free
Welcome to the Art Gallery at Evergreen.
Serving the Tri-Cities for over twenty-five years, the Art Gallery at Evergreen (AGE) engages visitors through curated exhibitions, activated by public programs and dynamic school workshops. The AGE focuses on contemporary art and ideas explored by professional artists working in all mediums. We believe that art is integral to the fabric of daily life and seek opportunities to connect people with artists and the creative process.
Image: Installation View of Lyse Lemieux: So dawn goes down to day (detail), exhibition at the Art Gallery at Evergreen, 2022.
Photo: Rachel Topham Photography.
Image: Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan, Untitled 2, 2019, collage. Courtesy of the artists. Photo: Rachel Topham Photography.
RISE: Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan
September 16 – November 26, 2023
About the Exhibition
Shedding the weight of the recent past, Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan’s artistic collaboration gives rise to a playful and fantastical environment ruled by extraordinary creatures. The artists merge their distinct visual vocabulary of silhouettes, figures, geometric forms, floral patterns and rich colour palettes into new hybrid forms. Snakes, horned figures, animal-human hybrids and more inhabit the gallery in this weird and whimsical exhibition. This cast of characters draws on the strength of women, both real and imagined, to create an inviting yet surreal and energetic space where all are welcome. Johal and Khan are artists, friends and mothers making work together for the first time, finding comfort and community through this creative process. Together, their artworks celebrate the joy, power and complexities of womanhood from their perspectives as two South Asian women artists who are mothers to young children.
Collaborative Youth Art-Making Workshop: September 28 & 29
Youth aged 13-18 are invited to join the artists of RISE for a two-session art-making workshop. On day one, learn more about their shared art practice and exhibition before getting creative in the studio. On day two, the artists and participants create a collaborative artwork. This artwork will be on display at the Coquitlam Public Library for one month starting mid-October. All materials and snacks will be provided.
About the Artists
SANDEEP JOHAL’s art practice engages drawing, collage, textiles and large-scale murals. Through her Indo-folk feminine aesthetic, she confronts themes of bleakness, despair and ugliness with their dissonant opposites: brightness, hope and beauty. Johal’s work typically centres around the stories of women’s resistance and resilience.
SARA KHAN’s art practice focuses on watercolour painting and includes recent experimentation with textiles, installations and murals. She reflects on the significance of the seemingly mundane aspects of daily life through her meticulous watercolour paintings, which often feature fantastical, uncanny creatures and veiled autobiographical references. pulling influence from Indigeneity, queerness, and science fiction. The rest of George’s artistic practice involves painting and sculpture, following similar themes in their illustrative work. When they aren’t creating, they can be found playing RPGs or curled up with a book.
Both currently based in Vancouver, Johal was born in Kelowna to immigrant Punjabi parents and Khan was born in England and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, where her extended family resides. Both of their families’ histories of migration follow the 1947 Partition of India at the end of British rule. The artists’ deep connection to each other stems, in part, from this shared, complex history. In fact, Johal and Khan’s friendship and resulting collaborative artworks are made possible by their meeting in Canada, far away from the imposed border and political history that would have kept them apart. Both artists speak from a wealth of lived experiences that converge and diverge, as two South Asian women artists who are mothers to young children.
VISIT THE ART GALLERY AT EVERGREEN:
Wednesday, 12 – 5PM | Thursday & Friday, 12 – 6PM | Friday & Saturday, 12 – 5PM
RISE: SANDEEP JOHAL AND SARA KHAN
EXHIBITION PUBLIC PROGRAMS
Collaborative Youth Art-Making Workshop
SEPTEMBER 28 & 29 | 4 – 6PM DAILY
Youth agesJoin artists and collaborators Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan for a two-session art-making workshop just for youth and create a collaborative artwork.
Free. Registration Required. Snacks provided. (Ages 13 – 18) Parents or guardians are not required to be present for the duration of the program. Registration and parental consent essential for participants under 18.
Creative Kits Weekend
OCTOBER 13 – 15 | 1 – 5PM DAILY
Inspired by our current gallery exhibitions, these free take-away Creative Kits are filled with art materials and instructions to get making at home. We’ll supply the materials so you can get creative!
There are 50 kits available, first come first served. One kit per family please. Donations in support of our public programs are welcome.
South Asian Artist Gathering
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14 | 3:30 – 5:30PM
In partnership with Coquitlam Heritage and facilitated by Gurdeep Birdi, board member of Diwali Celebration Society, we invite South Asian musicians, painters, singers, writers, poets and dancers ages 12+ to a meet & greet at Evergreen. Connect with fellow artists of all disciplines from the Tri-Cities and share stories of connection and empowerment inspired by themes in the exhibition RISE: Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan.
Free. Registration required. Refreshments provided. Wheelchair accessible.
Exhibition Tours
FRIDAY OCTOBER 27, 12:30PM | TUESDAY NOVEMBER 07, 2PM
Join us for a free, in-person tour of RISE: Sandeep Johal and Sara Khan with AGE curator Katherine Dennis on Friday, October 27th at 12:30pm, and AGE curatorial assistant Anna Luth on Tuesday, November 07 at 2PM.
Free. Visitors are welcome to drop in to this tour. Wheelchair accessible.
Tea, Tour & Textiles (Age 50+)
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 07 | 10:30AM – 12:30PM
Enjoy a private exhibition tour followed by complimentary tea, coffee, and snacks in our lake-side lobby. Then, take part in a textile craft-along inspired by your own creative practice and the gallery exhibition. Bring your own knitting, crocheting, and weaving projects, or join our arts educator to learn basic embroidery and create a mini artwork.
By Donation. Registration required. Wheelchair Accessible.
Talk: Sirish Rao, Director of Public Engagement and Learning (VAG) and
co-founder of Indian Summer Festival
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 23 | 7PM
Sirish Rao is an arts leader, writer, and cultural innovator with deep connections to the local and international arts community through his role as Director of Public Engagement and Learning at Vancouver Art Gallery and co-founder of Indian Summer Festival. Join us for a dynamic, illustrated talk to learn about Rao’s artistic journey and passion for South Asian art and culture.
Free. Registration is required. This event is wheelchair accessible.
ARTS EDUCATION AT EVERGREEN
MORE FAMILY-FRIENDLY PUBLIC PROGRAMS
FAMILY DAYS
Join us for a family-friendly tour of our current exhibitions and take part in a fun, free art-making activity!
Next Event: September 23, 2023 | 12 + 2PM
CREATIVE KITS
These free, take-away Creative Kits are filled with art materials and instructions to get making at home.
Next Event: October 13 – 15, 2023 | 1-5PM Daily
Connect with the Gallery Online!
Situated on the shores of Lafarge Lake in Town Centre Park, Evergreen Cultural Centre (ECC) exists on the unceded, traditional and ancestral core territory of the kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem) First Nation, which lies within the shared territories of the səli̓lwətaɁɬ təməxʷ (Tsleil-Waututh), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), qiqéyt (Qayqayt) and sq̓əc̓iy̓aɁɬ təməxʷ (Katzie), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) nations in the region known today as the Tri-Cities.