The Gallery’s Fall/Winter 2025–26 School Programs will run from September 23, 2025 to February 12, 2026.
School Tours + Workshops take place Monday to Thursday at 9:30 to 11:30 AM and 12:15 to 2:15 PM. School Tours without Workshops take place Monday to Thursday at 10:45 to 11:45 AM and 1:30 to 2:30 PM.
School Programs have a maximum capacity of 30 students and up to 6 adult chaperones at no additional cost. All programs require advance payment to secure your booking. If you cancel within a 14-day window, your booking fee is non-refundable.
Every tour includes a comprehensive Teacher Study Guide, which features background information about the artist(s) and the exhibition that your class will explore, as well as pre- and post-tour activities. It is essential to prepare your group for their visit using the Teacher Study Guide, available here »
Registration for the Gallery’s Fall/Winter 2025–26 School Programs opens on Monday, August 25, 2025, at 9 AM. Space is limited, and sessions fill up quickly, so please book early to ensure your spot.
Schools Programs Exhibition Schedule:
Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head + Written in Clay: From the John David Lawrence Collection
September 23 to December 11, 2025
Available for Grades 2–12
This tour and workshop explores two exhibitions that centre on clay: Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head and Written in Clay: From the John David Lawrence Collection.
Monsters in My Head uses an immersive exhibition design of natural materials foraged from local public parks and forested areas to highlight Japanese artist Otani Workshop’s mythical clay figures and contemporary imagery. Students will discover new paintings inspired by Otani’s personal memories, alongside hand-built figurative and abstract ceramic sculptures in varying scales.
The complementary exhibition Written in Clay presents a history of ceramics made in British Columbia, told through the collection of John David Lawrence. Students will focus on the materials and processes used by artists and the stories behind the objects. The tour includes a touch station and interactive area. The workshop will use mixed media.
A Teacher Orientation will take place on Thursday, September 18, 2025 at 4 PM.
Exhibitions Preview
Watch this video with Gallery Educators Liz Scully and Rabiya Sididiqui for a preview of what you will see on your School Tour of the exhibitions Otani Workshop: Monsters in My Head and Written in Clay: From the John David Lawrence Collection.
©Otani Workshop/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
We who have known tides: Indigenous Art from the Collection
January 13 to February 12, 2026
Available for Grades 2–12
We who have known tides: Indigenous Art from the Collection asks students to question what it means to exist at the edges of the Pacific Ocean. Students will examine how the ocean—and living in proximity to it—has shaped the work of Indigenous artists, their relationships to territories across land and water, and their connections to communities that have witnessed the tides shift for thousands of years.
Drawn predominantly from the Vancouver Art Gallery’s permanent collection, this exhibition invites students to consider where we are on a deeper level, looking to the ocean as a way of understanding how this place is ever changing.
A Teacher Orientation will take place on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at 4 PM.
