What is AIRS?

You are most warmly invited to join us for the opening of our year-end AIRS Exhibition on Tuesday May 20th in the Student Gallery and Rm. 180 at the VSB Education Centre from 4:30-7pm. Students docents will be present to share about their work and there will be some formal remarks just before 5pm.

This years exhibition, I AM Resilience and Reciprocity, brings together select student works from artist residencies in 18 elementary schools.  Themes include resilience, inner strength, courage and emotional awareness and art processes that allow students to attune to their internal voice and authentic self.  Adjacent to this are projects that cultivate our reciprocal relationship back out into the world, nurturing connection to the land, waters, ancestors and neighbourhood communities.   Rendered in diverse media (drawing, painting, puppetry, poetry, assemblage, light, stickers, printmaking, film, photography and new media), these works speak to the way that art cultivates the capacities for creative joy, integrity, compassion and mutual care that are needed now more than ever for holding true to the vision of a more just and equitable shared word. 

We look forward to welcoming you there!

The third volume of ART WAVES is out. ART WAVES provides updates on what’s happening behind the scenes at AIRS and a glimpse of some of the incredible art projects unfolding in the studios for students with artists. 

AIRS program hosted a 3 day pop up exhibition at ARTspeak Gallery, a public gallery  in downtown Vancouver from April 23-26, 2025 featuring masks, poetry, abstract works,  collage animations and soundscapes created by intermediate students at Pierre Elliot Trudeau, John Henderson and Chief Maquinna Elementary.  Led by artists Kelsie Grazier, Monica Cheema and fanny Kearse, students worked with  diverse media (sound, light, colour, shadow, gesture, words, archival photography, and found ephemera) to explore the space where image and language intersect  This is the spaces between silence and sound, seeing and speaking, where intimations and expressions of our authentic self and our being in the world can emerge. The opening was an inspiring celebration for students and their parents, featuring student poetry performances and a panel of student artists.  This powerful exhibition, opened up space for intergenerational exchange where young people model the practice of being true to ourselves, and vulnerable to the possibilities of our creative transformation through art.   

This residency and exhibition is funded through a City of Vancouver CASC grant and made possible through the generosity of ARTspeak Gallery. 

With the 2025/2026 school year on the horizon, we are urgently expanding our funding base. To ensure the sustainability of our program, we've launched a Giving Tuesday fundraising campaign with a goal of $25,000 by December 3rd. These funds are crucial for providing high-quality arts education to underserved elementary public schools in the long run. Please consider a donation to our program. Every contribution makes a difference; all donations above $25 will receive a tax receipt.

Donations to AIRS Program Society can be made directly through link below.