What is AIRS?

The fourth 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. 

We’re happy to share this year’s AiRS Annual Report. It provides a comprehensive review of projects, partnerships and impacts for students, teachers and artists that have shaped AIRS this year. 

On  May 20, 2025, AiRS hosted our annual year end exhibition at the VSB  education centre. This exhibition brought together a selection of  individual and collaborative student works - including prints,  paintings, puppets, textiles, multi and digital media - working  alongside artists through studio residencies in 18 elementary schools  over the 2024/25 school year. 

The title I AM Resilience and Reciprocity, encapsulates resonant themes across diverse project concepts, studio  settings and art processes and calls attention to the relational nature  of growing and learning as human beings, as a continual dialogue and  choreographed movement between inner reflection and communal  interaction; inside and outside, self and world.

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.