Vancouver Art Gallery gets $40M private donation for new facility

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – The creation of a new Vancouver Art Gallery building is one step closer to reality thanks to a private donation of $40-million.

Staff from the Vancouver Art Gallery say the donation from the Chan family is said to be the largest single private donation to an arts and culture organization in B.C. The donation brings the private sector funding for the new gallery to $85 million.

The new building will be named the Chan Centre for the Visual Arts.

“With this unprecedented gift to the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Chans are demonstrating a profound investment in the future of this city and country and one that will impact many generations to come,” said Gallery Director Kathleen S. Bartels in a release. “We are also extremely grateful for the incredible generosity of the Board of Trustees and the many significant donors from across the community for helping us reach this milestone as we continue to work towards the new Vancouver Art Gallery Building,”

A campaign has aimed to raise the funds from private sources, which would help see the gallery’s new $300-million facility move to W. Georgia and Cambie, by the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.

At the announcement, the final design for the proposed 300,000-square-foot gallery was also unveiled.

“With a generous designation of the land at Larwill Park from the City of Vancouver in place and $135 million in total private and public sector funding secured, including an initial investment of $50 million from the Province of British Columbia, the next step for the Vancouver Art Gallery Capital Campaign will be to continue its work with senior levels of government and the private sector to secure the additional funding needed to begin construction,” read a release from the Gallery.

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart spoke at the event, pledging to lobby Ottawa for more money to go ahead with construction.

-With files from Martin MacMahon 

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today