A list of Museums and Galleries you can now safely visit this summer!

As businesses and museums around Vancouver reopen, The Ubyssey has compiled an overview of what is open, what exhibitions are currently running and what their COVID-19 safety protocols are. (Plus, virtual arts programming, if they offer it!)

Museum of Anthropology at UBC

The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) is currently open to the public with modified hours: Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The MOA shop is open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m, while Café MOA will be closed until further notice.

To visit, tickets must be pre-booked online to reserve a timed-entry slot. No on-site tickets will be available. Entry times are every 30 minutes. You must enter MOA within 30 minutes after the reserved time slot on your ticket, or you will not be able to enter. This doesn’t mean you only have a half-hour to spend in MOA — only that you’ll be booking a specific half-hour time slot to enter.

(A note: while time-entry admission is in effect, cash and MOA gift cards cannot be used to purchase tickets. There are also no refunds or exchanges for timed-entry tickets, including if you miss your time slot.)

As far as exhibitions, all gallery spaces in MOA are open, excepting the Audain Gallery, where Kent Monkman’s Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience will open on August 6th. Daily guided tours will not be available until further notice. Hand-sanitizing stations are available. Masks are strongly encouraged but will not be provided. More information about MOA’s safety procedures can be found here.

UBC Botanical Gardens

Both the UBC Botanical Gardens and the Nitobe Memorial Garden have been reopened from Wednesday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Tickets must be purchased online pre-arrival and can be found here. Just like MOA, tickets for the UBC Botanical Gardens are available in 30-minute entry time slots. If you miss your entry, you will not be allowed to enter. So plan ahead!

Members and UBC cardholders are still required to show their membership or UBC card upon arrival.

Vancouver Art Gallery

The Vancouver Art Gallery (VAG) is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, Tuesdays 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. (5 p.m. to 8 p.m. by donation) and Fridays 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Online ticket purchasing is encouraged, as there will be a limited number of on-site tickets available. Much like MOA and the UBC Botanical Gardens, tickets will reserve a specific entry time—but at 60-minute intervals rather than 30-minute.

Regarding in-gallery safety, masks are strongly encouraged and are available for purchase if needed. Audio guides will not be available, and the public washroom in the Gallery Lobby will be closed. More information about the Vancouver Art Gallery’s safety protocols can be found on their website.

Currently, the VAG has six exhibitions open.

The newest, Modern in the Making: Post-War Craft and Design in British Columbia, is a collection of furniture, ceramics, textiles, and fashion from the mid-twentieth century that defined West Coast modern living and examines their ties to modernism as an artistic movement and set of design principles.

The Tin Man was a Dreamer: Allegories, Poetics, and Performances of Power is a selection of works from the VAG’s collection that address physical power and violence—specifically as a social display in Western cultures.

Next: Matilda Aslizadeh – Moly and Kassandra is a mesmerizing three-screen video and photographic installation from Vancouver artist Matilda Aslizadeh. Moly and Kassandra presents three operatic performances by a solitary woman standing within open-pit mines that resemble classical amphitheatres, meant to confront the relationship of culture and resource extraction.

Shuvinai Ashoona: Mapping Worlds is a collection of whimsical and complex large-scale pencil crayon and ink drawings from Inuk artist Shuvinai Ashoona. These pieces explore everything from imaginative otherworldly monsters against scenes of mundane life to community portraits and a homage to Titanic (1997).

Accompanying Shuvinai Ashoona is the exhibition Lineages and Land Bases, a selection of works from the VAG’s collection that explore subjectivity and personhood in relation to the natural world, focusing on the work and lives of Emily Carr and Sophie Frank.

Finally, Rapture, Rhythm, and the Tree of Life: Emily Carr and her Female Contemporaries is a collection of Carr’s paintings of the forest and coast, alongside pieces from her less-known contemporaries and baskets, cedar hats, and cradleboards made at this time by Indigenous women including Amy Cooper, Mary Little, and Gertrude Dick.

For those unable or unwilling to visit in-person, the Vancouver Art Gallery’s online ArtConnects program will continue to run until September 1. ArtConnects is a series of virtual discussions between VAG curators and members of local and international arts communities. They run live on select Tuesdays and Fridays, but don’t worry about missing out—previous sessions are available on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s website.

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (The Belkin) reopens July 17 with the 2020 UBC Master of Fine Arts exhibition, one sentence too many, one word too few.

Gallery hours are Tuesday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m, and Saturday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. There are no online tickets or timed-entry reservations, but you might be asked to queue outside if the gallery is at capacity.

As part of one sentence too many; one word too few, one of the artists, Rosamunde Bordo, will be hosting ten sessions of Life Drawing Class at the Belkin. Each drawing session will be 25 minutes long with six spots available. Drawings can be donated (anonymously or otherwise) to join her project, The Relationship Without Images (the Denise File), as part of the MFA exhibition.

Information about reserving a spot and participating can be found here on the Belkin’s website.

For those unable or unwilling to visit in-person, The Belkin's virtual programming, Everything This Changes, is available online here.

Everything This Changes, was developed in response to COVID-19 and the isolation of lockdown. It contains poetry chapbooks, solo musical performances from campus, a comic about outdoor art tours, and even choreographed mundane noises.

Rio Theatre

The Rio Theatre is now open for socially-distanced movies! A guide to their showings and showtimes can be found on their website.

If you’re headed to the Rio, here are a couple of things to note: advance tickets are strongly recommended, but not required. Due to physical distancing, at the door tickets might not be available. Additionally, aisle seats are no longer available, and the maximum number of patrons that can be seated together is six.

The Polygon

The Polygon’s ground floor gallery, gift shop, and bookstore are now open Thursday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is by donation.

Currently, The Canucks: A Photo History of Vancouver’s Team, an exhibition of rare photos from the 1950s, ‘60s, and onwards, is still running. Third Realm, a photography, film, and installation exhibition of contemporary Asian art from 2006-2013, opens September 4.

Gallery access will be limited to 30 people at a time to maintain physical distancing. Masks are strongly encouraged and can be provided if forgotten. More information about the Polygon’s safety measures can be found here.

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