School Programs

BAG’s outreach programs are designed to bring original artwork and art supplies right into your classrooms! 

We offer in-person and virtual programs that fit into your curriculum needs and class times. Available for booking between October and June.

To book an Outreach Program, fill out an booking form and email it to [email protected].

Forest For The Trees

Monday-Friday, September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025
Grades K-7
Art Education, Ecology, Indigenous Art

Explore the world of landscape-inspired artwork through this engaging program. Using the forms of trees, waterways and mountains, students discuss ideas of landscape and place. Building on these ideas, participants use techniques of layering, colour mixing and collage to create a ‘forest’ of trees.

Coast Salish Contemporary

Monday-Friday, September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025
Grades 2-7
Indigenous Art, Community, Art Education

Referencing works from the City's Permanent Art Collection, participants explore the progression of themes and technique in contemporary Coast Salish art. Discussions on appropriation and use of copyrighted work will be discussed within this program. Students will finish the workshop by creating their own collograph print.

Creative Communities

Monday-Friday, September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025
Grades 2-7
Art Education, Social Studies, Geography, Math, Design, STEAM

Explore community, local identity, and common ground through the lens of city park planning. This program uses works from City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection, encouraging students to collaboratively design and construct their own mini urban green space.

Tantalizing Tessellations: Exploring the Work of Dylan Thomas

Monday-Friday, September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025
Grades 2-7
Art Education, Earth Science, Indigenous Art, Math, STEAM

Discover the interwoven worlds of math and art. Using tessellations as a foundation, each workshop explores the pattern making and mathematical elements of design work. Workshops examine the artwork of Coast Salish contemporary artist Dylan Thomas and how he has connected math and geometry to his art practice.

Coastal Waters

Monday-Friday, September 16, 2024-June 27, 2025
Grades K-7 
Art Education, Earth Science, Indigenous Art

Join us in exploring the complexity of the BC coastline. Students are immersed in ideas of interconnection, ecosystems, water cycles and shoreline wildlife, inspired by works from City's Permanent Art Collection. Using watercolour, drawing and collage, students develop individual mixed-media works.

Fees

Part-day outreach (1.5 hour program)

Students are invited on an instructor-led tour through the current exhibition, followed by a hands-on art workshop. Participants learn how to engage with art using hands-on techniques, while developing observational and art-language skills.

To book a Gallery Tour, fill out an booking form and email it to [email protected].

Find out more about our current exhibition

Art & Me

September 16, 2024-June 2, 2025
Preschool and kindergarten 

This active tour is perfect for busy minds and bodies, introducing the world of art, artists and art galleries. Children learn about simple artistic concepts and are encouraged to express their ideas about the artwork verbally, physically and visually. In the studio, magic happens as kids experiment with printmaking, drawing and more.

A Studio Quivering in Readiness

September 13-November 24, 2024
Opening Reception | Thursday, September 12, 7-9 pm
Art Education, Social Studies, Community

Gordon Adaskin / Todd Baker / Wayne Eastcott / Max Ernst / Miriam Haworth / Brian Fisher / Roy Kiyooka / Tony Onley / Bill Reid / Lin Chien-Shih / Gordon Smith / Jack Wise

A Studio Quivering in Readiness explores a breadth of West Coast art sustained through the friendships and collecting practices of lifetime supporter and patron of the arts, Harry Locke. Representing some of the province’s most significant artists, this exhibition brings together vibrant works on paper from the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection, offering a radiating vantage into life in the studio and the relationships that sustain an artist’s way of being and creating.

Ruth Beer: Seep | Swell, an exhibition in two parts

November 30, 2024-January 26, 2025
Opening Reception | Saturday, November 30, 3:30-5 pm at the Burnaby Art Gallery
Community, Industry, Ecology, Art Education

The Burnaby Art Gallery and the Art Gallery at Evergreen in Coquitlam co-present Ruth Beer: Seep | Swell, an exhibition in two parts. Taking place across the two galleries concurrently, this exhibition contemplates Beer’s artistic research on the entwined relationships between humankind and our industries.

Kim Kennedy Austin: Booster Club

February 7-April 20, 2025
Opening Reception | February 6, 7-9 pm
Community, Industry, Ecology, Art Education

Kim Kennedy Austin employs mediums including drawing, watercolour, and craft materials and is interested in issues of repetition and labour. This solo exhibition expands on ideas of advertising, popular culture, and meaning making in the 20th century.

Artist Apprenticeship 2025

May 2-June 1, 2025
Opening Reception | May 1, 7-9 pm
Art Education, Social Studies, Community 

Senior Secondary students explore the theme of what lurks in our shadows in this year’s intake of Artist Apprenticeship, a 9-week fine art program. This exhibition is the culmination of their hard work, showcasing their responses to artworks from the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection.

Arts Alive 2025

May 2-June 1, 2025
Opening Reception | May 1, 7-9 pm
Art Education, Social Studies, Community 

Awesomeology: Gratitude in the Little Things, sees Burnaby students grades K-7 explore the little pauses and moments of awareness in our everyday lives. In this year's Arts Alive exhibition, students were encouraged to work collaboratively as a class to create these works of art.

Fees

Days of the week available: Wednesdays and Thursdays. Program capacity varies.

Lesson planning is made easy with BAG in a Box!

Three unique educational kits are available, featuring original artwork by local artists, resource materials, art supplies and detailed lesson plans for theme-based art-making activities in your classroom.

Suitable for Grades K-7.
Available for booking September 28, 2024 to May 31, 2025.

To book BAG in a Box, fill out an booking form and email it to [email protected].

Ink Trails: The Vibrant Life of an Artist

Find inspiration and explore artistic techniques, subjects, and themes featured in the works of Chinese Canadian master printmaker, Anna Wong. These include nature prints, exercises in abstraction, travel themes, and mixed-media projects.

The Printmaker’s Pets

Discover relief printmaking techniques, drawing and mixed-media, while exploring how printmakers portray cats, dogs, birds, and more.

Structures and Cities

Imagine, balance, construct, and combine materials to create an exciting mini-city. This program builds skills in architecture and design through a horizontal learning approach.

Fees

Pick up on Saturdays, return on Fridays or Saturdays

The Burnaby Art Gallery offers a number of Career Placement opportunities for secondary students. 

For further information about these programs, please contact the programming department at 604-297-4858.

Artist Apprenticeship Program

Grades 11-12
January 10, 17, February 7, 14, 21, 28, March 7, 14, and April 4, 2025
9 am-3 pm
Free (participation required for all 9 sessions)

Senior secondary students take on the role of a professional artist to create an exhibition in the gallery. Guided by practicing artists, curators, and programmers, students create artwork and learn how to develop and promote their show. Volunteer hours accrued may be used towards career placement programs.

Arts Alive Career Placement

Grades 10-12
March-May 2025
Free

Arts Alive is an annual showcase of works by students held in collaboration with the Burnaby School District. The following career placement positions are available: Photo Documenter, Virtual Gallery Creator, and Label Management. In these positions, students learn behind-the-scenes processes of developing an exhibition.

BAG Career Placement

Grades 10-12
September 2024-June 2025
Free

Our Career Placement positions offer experience in program delivery and community engagement in a professional art gallery setting. Highest availability is during summer and spring break. Hours and positions vary. Please call 604-297-4413 to find out more.

Burnaby Art Gallery can cater specific professional development of your staff's needs. Please contact us at 604-297-4422 to register or ask about additional offerings.

Out of the BAG

Learn more about our permanent collection by exploring our art modules designed for at home or at school creativity! 

Suitable for adults, families and schools using materials easily sourced.

Step Out of the BAG today! 

Contemporary Art and Curriculum

Friday, November 22, 12:30-3 pm
$31.40 + tax per session

Join the Burnaby Art Gallery programs team in a two and a half hour session as we guide you through how to incorporate contemporary art into your lesson plans. Program will be using watercolour and teaching watercolour techniques. There will be opportunity to ask about our Outreaches, Tour and Studios, and Arts Alive program.

Printmaking in the Classroom

Fridays | October 25, 12:30-3 pm; November 22, 9:30 am-12 pm; April 28, 9:30 am-12 pm
5:30-6:30 pm
$31.40 + tax per session

Join the Burnaby Art Gallery programs team in a two and a half hour session as we guide you through how to incorporate printmaking into your classroom. There will be opportunity to ask about our Outreaches, Tour and Studios, and Arts Alive program.