Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery

Location: 332 Water St Unit 200, Vancouver, BC V6B1B6

322 Water Street is found within one of Vancouver’s critical districts for art galleries. Gastown is known as a heritage zone that uniquely maintains both trendy tourist destinations and local hang out hot spots. Built-in the year 1912, the building is known for its architectural value and was designed in association with Stuart and White. Bertram Dudley Stuart and Howard E. White, two architects that made a partnership from 1885-1977 and throughout the Edwardian era prepared this structure and planned for potential future expansions. Even back then, this building exemplified Vancouver’s unique styles becoming its own shopping arcade building known as the "Homer Street Arcade" and was also known as “Cloth Hill” throughout its one hundred years. In the 1980s, it was re-named “Le Magasin.” This was thanks to Howard Meakin, an entrepreneur who had the creative idea to firmly name the building to better suit its historic value. The front of the building on Cordova St. can be recognized for its yellow bricks and a traditional red pressed brick holds the building strong on Water St. which faces the Waterfront. In 2017, the Coastal Peoples relocated into the exquisitely restored Le Magasin building which holds an original pressed tin ceiling. The expansion of the Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery has generated an additional boost in raising awareness of the exceptional and diverse contemporary art. For more than 25 years, the Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery has supported and created a mindful and positive environment for its visitors. The Gallery represents artwork by First Nations artists that are from British Columbia’s northwest coastal tribes and Inuit communities from the Arctic region of Canada. Though the building is not Indigenous-owned, it holds a truly phenomenal and monumental collection of traditional, hand-crafted textiles, paintings, carvings, and jewelry. This gallery also holds many exhibitions and steller group talks with local artists. It’s a great place to learn and build community awareness about First Nations culture.

References

Coastal Peoples Fine Arts Gallery: Northwest Coast Native Art Gallery. (2020, November 08). Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://coastalpeoples.com/

Homer Street Arcade. (n.d.). Retrieved November 27, 2020, from https://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=2553