PR – The Alley: Artist Trading Card Summit 2026

Calling all artists on the shores of the Salish Sea and beyond! You are invited to come for an afternoon of Artist Trading Cards.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 9
12:30 to 2:00pm
The Alley, upstairs from our store

What’s that? You don’t know what Artist Trading Cards are? Well, in short, Artist Trading Cards are self-made unique works or small series, signed and dated on the reverse by the artist/producer, exchanged and collected by the people who participate in this collaborative event. There are only 2 “rules”: the cards must be 2.5″x3.5″ (the same as modern hockey cards or baseball cards), and they are only to be traded, not sold.

We hold regular ATC meetups every month on the last Thursday of the month, but that doesn’t really work well for anyone who has to take a ferry so for our birthday month, we decided to have a ‘summit’ and time it in such a way that folks who have to travel from away can make a day of it and still get home and sleep in their own beds. See below for

Make them ahead of time, or make them on the spot. We’ll bring some blanks and other art supplies.

And this is a family-friendly event!

FERRY & OTHER TRAVEL INFO

Coming from Vancouver Island? Catch the 9:55am from Little River & head home on the 5:15pm (or 8:45pm) home

[Hot tip: the location is only 2 blocks from the Westview ferry terminal so you don’t even need to bring your car! Unless you want to zip around elsewhere after the summit before you head home]

Coming up the Sunshine Coast? You’ll want the 10:35am from Earl’s Cove, and the 4:55pm (or later) home.

Want to make a weekend of it and also attend our birthday party on Saturday, August 8? There are several accommodations within walking distance:

Waterways, A Boutique Hotel
Base Camp Suites
Beyond Bliss Suites

Plus loads more a little further away, and some truly amazing camping opportunities. Reach out to our wonderful Visitor Information Centre if you need any more information or advice.

PR – qathet art + wares: We are turning 5!!

Can you believe it’s been 5 years already?! Time is weird – sometimes it feels like it’s been forever, and sometimes like it was only yesterday we opened the doors.

As you have come to expect, our birthday (or is it an anniversary? birthaversary? we haven’t quite figured that out yet …) will be filled with all kinds of fun things like our Make Your Own Button and colouring table, yummy treats and fun prize draws. Stop by the store to pick up your button template before the party.

Please mark your calendars accordingly and stay tuned for updates of other fun activities throughout August as we finalize the important details.

GPAG: Book Binding 101

Learn to bind your own books for journals, chapbooks, or art books with Stephen Murphy at the Art & Words Festival, Sunday, August 23, 10:30 to Noon.

Learn the essentials of bookbinding including: papergrain and folding, sewing, and forming signatures to create a basic pamphlet book suitable for journaling or art projects.

GPAG: Kinfolk & Coastal Creatures | Dungeons & Dragons at GPAG

Take part in a collaborative storytelling experience in this Dungeons & Dragons one-shot adventure inspired by kin-between: monsters/beasts/relations and the natural world of the Pacific Northwest Coast with Sarah Ellis Fox and Matt Klassen of D&D comedy podcast Adventure.exe.

Join a party of adventurers as they venture into a mysterious, ancient forest. Form bonds with the spirits of the forest and vanquish the real monsters who seek to harm the relationship between the (super) natural world and the people who rely on it. No D&D experience or supplies are needed, and players of all experience levels are welcome. Character sheets, dice and snacks will be provided.

Find more information and register online. Limited to six people – register soon!

GPAG: Monsters: As Relation + In Relation | Online Talk with Ronnie Dean Harris

A look at the realm of Coastal and Interior Salish Transformer stories as a relational matrix of storied ecology rather than a collapsed box of morality lessons and mythology. Free, with registration required; a link to the event via Zoom will be sent to you after registration. Please note that this event takes place online only, on Thursday June 18th, 6pm – 8pm. Find more information and register online.

Ronnie Dean Harris is a Stō:lo/St’át’imc/Nlaka’pamux artist, researcher, and community leader based in New Westminster whose work bridges music, film, sound design, and Indigenous land-based storytelling. Ronnie’s research explores Indigenous history, cosmology, genealogy, and policy, informing his community-based projects and facilitation work.

GPAG: Artist Talk with Jeannette Sirois

Join us for an Artist Talk with Jeannette Sirois on Saturday, June 20th, 2pm – 3pm. Free to attend, no registration required. All are welcome!

Jeannette Sirois is a queer visual artist based on Salt Spring Island whose work focuses on representation, identity, and visibility. Sirois has exhibited her work in solo and group exhibitions across Vancouver Island and on the Lower Mainland. She holds a diploma in Design, a Bachelors of Fine Arts, and a Masters of Education in Visual Arts. Beyond her own individual artistic practice, Sirois also mentors visual arts students and collaborates with emerging artists and curators on exhibitions intended to foster dialogue and connection. At the Table | The Architecture of Control is a portrait-based exhibition highlighting the lived experiences, identities, and truths of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, and examining the structures and systems that have regulated and defined trans and queer lives.

Art Exhibition: Gumboot Cafe – EZMINA SAMAROO

to June 30th. DRIFT- This work is inspired by the ever- changing landscapes of the places the artist has called home, drawing on shifting horizons, light and atmosphere to evoke memory and sensation. Through a minimalist approach, the work explores liminal spaces where sky and land meet, capturing quiet transitions and a sense of boundless possibility.
Commissions are welcomed.

SC Arts Centre: Stash Swap!

Too many art supplies? Bring your extras to Stash Swap!

REDUCE WASTE * MAKE SPACE * BUILD COMMUNITY

If you’re a maker, you’ve got art supply Stash. Some of it you’re definitely going to use, and some of it just takes up space while taunting you and your best, inspired intentions.

Bring that Stash you’ll never use, and give it a new life
Discover new-to-you Stash for free or affordable prices
Make space in your studio
Foster a circular economy and our creative community
All are welcome to attend.

Please register to reserve table space for your Stash.

GPAG: Art Exhibition: THINKING OUT LOUD | Coralie Swaney

to June 17th. Inspired by the people who have said to Coralie Swaney “I’d love to see inside your head”, Thinking Out Loud melds portraiture with still life painting and explores the notion of the observer being able to look inside the mind of the subject. Whether illuminating simple thoughts, memories, fleeting notions, or a full-blown obsession, all portraits represent a reprieve from a world fraught with angst and tribulation. Also included are a family of sculpted characters, members of a fictional book club, with the interactions between these characters exposed and explored. An exhibition in Joe’s Lounge, on display May 28 – June 17th. Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, May 30, 2pm – 4pm. All are welcome!

GPAG: Art Exhibition – KIN-BETWEEN: MONSTERS/BEASTS/RELATIONS | Curated by Kamala Todd

to June 21st. A multi-media exhibition curated by Kamala Todd that opens space for the in-between, sharing expansive cosmologies that blur binaries, uphold radical kinship, and question the idea of what a monster truly is. With works expressing cultural knowledge and practices that are rooted in the interconnected world, featured artists include Senaqwila Wyss (Squamish Nation), Siobhan Joseph (Squamish Nation), Bracken Hanuse Corlett (Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations), Savanna Todd (Métis-Cree), and Candace Campo (Sechelt Nation). An exhibition on display in the Eve Smart Gallery May 28th – June 21st, 2026. Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday May 30th, 2pm – 4pm. All are welcome!

GPAG: Art Exhibition: JEANNETTE SIROIS | At the Table | The Architecture of Control

to June 21st. At the Table | The Architecture of Control is a portrait-based exhibition highlighting the lived experiences, identities, and truths of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. Large scale hyperrealistic drawings offer complete transparency, with differing conceptions of identity, vulnerability, and strength put prominently on display. Jeannette Sirois invites viewers to step closer, engage deeply, and contemplate the importance of being seen. While each subject’s story is distinct, together they convey a shared truth, asserting that what 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals bring to the table is the same as anyone else; the right to exist authentically and without fear. In an era of increasing hostility toward 2SLGBTQ+ communities, this project provides a vital space for visibility, dialogue, and empathy, and encourages reflection on the systems that determine who is seen, heard, and valued. An exhibition on display in the Main Gallery May 28 – June 21. Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, May 30, 2pm – 4pm. All are welcome!

GPAG: OPENING RECEPTION | Jeannette Sirois, Kamala Todd et al., Coralie Swaney

Join us for the Opening Reception on Saturday, May 30th, 2pm – 4pm for the Opening Reception of our newest exhibitions. All are welcome!

In the Main Gallery, Jeannette Sirois’ At the Table | The Architecture of Control highlights the lived experiences, identities, and truths of 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. In the Eve Smart Gallery, kin-between: monsters/beasts/relations opens space for the in-between, sharing expansive cosmologies that blur binaries, uphold radical kinship, and question the idea of what a monster truly is. Curated by Kamala Todd, kin-between: monsters/beasts/relations features the work of Senaqwila Wyss (Squamish Nation), Siobhan Joseph (Squamish Nation), Bracken Hanuse Corlett (Wuikinuxv and Klahoose Nations), Savanna Todd (Métis-Cree), and Candace Campo (Sechelt Nation). In Joe’s Lounge, Thinking Out Loud by Coralie Swaney melds portraiture with still life painting and explores the notion of the observer being able to look inside the mind of the subject.

GPAG: The Language and the Land Are Connected — Keeping Our shashishalhem Language Alive

Join us for a special evening of shíshálh culture and connection at GPAG with Candace Campo. Free and open to all.

Candace, ancestral name xets’emits’a (to always be there), is a Shíshálh (Sechelt) member from the Sunshine Coast, BC and the co-founder of Talaysay Tours. Trained as an anthropologist and teacher, she shares the stories and history of her people, focusing on Indigenous language and cultural revitalization alongside Shishálh Elders and Educators while providing Indigenous cultural and outdoor experiences to students and visitors throughout the world. Candace’s mission is to work with her youth and community members to support reconnection to the land that their ancestors have stewarded and lived on sustainably for thousands of years. Candace’s art expresses her ancestral shishálh connections & deep love for family – the ones here & the ones passed – through paint, mark making, screen printing & sculpture.

Land-based education, Shíshálh language, arts and cultural revitalization are Candace’s life work.

Opportunity: Art on the Green call for Artists

A one-day outdoor art fair at the beautiful Coopers Green Hall in Halfmoon Bay on Sunday June 28th, 10 am-3 pm. We are currently seeking artists and artisans for this event. Pay $50 and supply your own tent, or $70 for a space within one of our larger pavilions. All profits remain with artists. Contact Ruth Rodgers at events@halfmoon-bay.ca for details and to reserve your spot before June 15th!

Children of Gaza Quilt Exhibition

Jun 5 & 6, 2-7pm St Hilda’s; Jun 7, noon-5pm Sechelt Sr Activity Centre.

A community project honouring children who were killed in Gaza. All children are our children. Beautiful quilts. Each comes with a little booklet introducing the children, including photos and background info.

Wood Expo

The Wood Expo showcases the Sunshine Coast’s talented wood users.
Learn about their craft, view their creations, and take-home unique pieces available for purchase.
Our local Woodcrafters Guild will be attendance with a wealth of talent and knowledge.
If you are interested in joining Wood Expo as a local wood craft artist, please sign up on our website.