Community art projects
Community Art Program
The Community Art Grant program has closed for 2024 and will reopen in the Spring of 2025.
The Community Art Program supports projects that engage practicing artists with residents in a collaborative, collective, creative process which results in a temporary work of art. It is as much about process as it is about the artistic product or outcome. It is a way for the community to engage in with arts in a meaningful and interactive way.
Three projects of up to $5,000 will be considered each year based on the applications received and reviewed. The program welcomes artists from any discipline and encourages unique and creative ideas.
The objectives of the Community Art Program are:
- Animate publicly accessible community spaces where arts are not traditionally offered;
- Encourage the creation of publicly accessible, temporary artworks that have artistic merit and community benefit;
- It addresses community concerns and/or reflects community identity;
- Incorporate the community in some aspect of the program. Simply creating a piece to be viewed by the public or allowing the public to view the creation of the piece is not sufficient community engagement for this program.
It’s advised that applicants should connect with Cultural Services Staff at culture@kelowna.ca prior to completing an application to determine eligibility of the project.
Community Art Guidelines
Our current community art grant recipients
People in Kelowna - Shoaib Shabir
Shoaib Shabir was born in Doha, Qatar, in 1985 and grew up in Pakistan. At the age of 14, he moved to Toronto, Canada, marking the beginning of a new chapter in his life.
Five years ago, Shoaib discovered his true passion for photography. Driven by a desire to connect with people and his community, Shoaib started out with street photography. He created an Instagram account called "PeopleInKelowna," where he captures beautiful, spontaneous moments in everyday life. His commitment to engaging with the community is evident through his active involvement in local events such as Denim on the Diamond, Altitunes, and Fireside. For the past four years, Shoaib has also served as the official photographer for Kelowna Pride, using his talent to highlight and celebrate the rich and vibrant stories of the people around him.
Our Okanagan - Sarah Rambold
Sarah is passionate about creating positive change locally and globally through her work and volunteerism, and has been recognized with multiple awards for her leadership and contributions. In 2023, Sarah self-published Kelowna Art Book featuring more than 30 artists from Kelowna. In 2024, she concluded her second term serving on the Board of Directors at the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Our Okanagan is a large-scale collaborative mural created from one of Sarah’s photographs, showcasing an iconic Kelowna landscape. The photograph was originally featured in the Kelowna Art Book, which highlights the work of several local artists. This installation will celebrate both the city's natural beauty and its vibrant artistic community.
Electric Light- Jordan Doody
Jorden Doody is an interdisciplinary artist who examines the transitional spaces between tangible material and digital media. Jorden received her BFA and MFA from UBC Okanagan and continues to exhibit widely across Canada.
Electric Light is a community art project that illuminates the dynamic intersection between historical and contemporary public art in Kelowna. The project will use projected light to activate one of Kelowna’s most iconic landmarks. Electric Light brightens the night and showcases a visual experience celebrating the beauty of water in all its elemental forms.
In - tension, Jackie McLaughlin
Jackie's interactive installation was displayed from September 12-16, 2024 on the walkway between the Art Gallery and RCA. The installation featured a large container - an abstracted metal cornucopia - that held a floral sculpture that spilled out of the container and onto the ground. The piece called for community participation by indicating to those passing by the sculpture, that they may take a flower. Each flower had a ribbon tied to the stem that provided a message of sustainability.
The purpose of this action was to show that every person has a part to play in the consumption of our natural resources. While we may all appreciate nature and wish to enjoy it, by taking from the sculpture you mirrored the many habits with which we are all participants of, in some way or another: overconsumption of resources, destruction of habitat, lack of environmental awareness and so on.
This piece pushed us to analyze the deep-rooted and impermeable cause and effect lifestyle that we so faithfully live out. The take with very little give, as manifested in this piece, mirrored our passive approach to sustainable life.
Weaving the Wool Future - Larissa Beringer
With an emphasis on the interwoven narrative between textiles, place and community, this project explored what it means to create a local, handwoven, biodynamic textile. The geographic, environmental and cultural implications of using raw unspun wool sourced from the central Okanagan guided the direction of this community art project.
While focusing on the value of sourcing locally, the traceability of materials, and paying attention to the organic and sensorial qualities of sheep's wool, this project valued direct material experiences and local artisanal skills.
Weaving the Wool Future culminated in a large rya tapestry using raw wool sourced from small grazing orchards that actively implement regenerative farming practices. The weaving was collectively woven in public spaces on a custom built, upright, warp-weighted loom constructed from wood sourced from a local mill.
Books of Hope - Sarah Gagnon
Through a series of workshops, Sara Gagnon engaged with a group of women who received services from Karis Support Society for addiction and mental health challenges. Through public engagement and outreach the artist invoked words of hope, inspiration and wisdom to share with the community. These inspirational phrases and words were accompanied by custom illustrations created by the artist to produce Books of Hope. These Books of Hope will then be distributed to the group along with other community members who will benefit from it.
TRAILART - Inner fish and The Bike Ride Collective
Inner fish and the Bike Ride Collective presented TRAILART a one-of-a-kind experience connecting art to this place and this land. TRAILART was a public, outdoor, site-responsive performance along Kelowna's Rail Trail. It featured local artists performing various forms of creative and artistic theatre. Audience members navigated between performances on foot, bicycle, skateboard…or any human-powered vehicle suitable for the Rail Trail where audiences discovered interpretive dance, visual images, representative and metaphorical performances, live music, and more! There were 3 modules, providing a unique experience for a mobile audience.
Hanna Karin – Art For Change
Art For Change is an inclusive, community-based exhibition featuring the creativity and innovation of local and international artisans finding earth-friendly solutions to postconsumer waste. Art For Change features art, inventions, films, music, fashion and design. It includes three exhibits (Jenga Jenga, Beauty In The Beast, Think Big), one film fest and one fashion and design competition.
Ana Luyben Eries – Empowered Women of the Okanagan
In late 2019, local artist Ana Luyben Eries received a Community Art grant for her project, Empowered Women of the Okanagan. The project was designed to highlight the attributes of real women who built up this community and to explore the concept of self-empowerment with the community. Portraits were painted of local women in the Okanagan and their stories were collected and posted alongside the portrait. Community members were invited to participate in the project by contributing their thoughts on empowerment for the artist to compile.
Uptown Rutland Business Association – Rutland Mural Fest
In 2019, the Uptown Rutland Business Association (URBA) received a Community Art grant for its inaugural Rutland Mural Festival. In collaboration with local businesses in the Rutland area, seven murals were painted over the Summer to enhance the vibrancy and sense of ownership for residents in the Rutland area. Students from Rutland Senior Secondary were invited to participate in the project, learn about painting murals and try their hand at mural painting in the Rutland Lions Park. The murals were completed in August of 2019 and URBA is hoping to host this festival as an annual event.
Okanagan Chinese Canadian Association – Chinatown Heritage Mural
In 2018, the OCCA received a community art grant to create a mural on the building of the Kelowna Gospel Mission in memory of the historic Chinatown in Kelowna. Multiple sessions were held to intake ideas, designs and quotes from the community at large. Mr. Charles Chau, a Kelowna resident and renowned artist from Hong Kong, led the project with his idea Seeds of Hope. Local residents and the Kelowna Gospel Mission were invited to participate in the preparation and painting of the mural. The mural was completed in June of 2019.
