Burnaby Art Gallery (BAG) offers a variety of curriculum-based learning for school groups across the Lower Mainland. The cultivated selection of kits, in-classroom workshops and exhibition tours with studio time provide everything students need to engage with art. The programs encourage creative thinking, conversation and skill development by exploring exhibitions and art from the Permanent Collection and Art Education Collections.
Professional development sessions and opportunities for youth are also available upon inquiry.
Book your next art adventure today!
School programs for the classroom
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 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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)
| In-person | Virtual | |
|---|---|---|
|
Zone A Schools: Burnaby School District Minimum 2 workshops booked per school per day. |
$135 per class |
$135 per class No delivery fee |
|
Zone B Schools: New Westminster, Vancouver (east of Main), Coquitlam, Port Moody Minimum 3 workshops booked per school per day. |
$140 per class |
$135 per class $11 delivery fee |
|
Zone C Schools: Vancouver (west of Main), North Vancouver, Richmond, Surrey, West Vancouver, Delta Minimum 3 workshops booked per school per day. |
$145 per class |
$135 per class $16 delivery fee |
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
Exhibitions
New Acquisitions
September 12-November 2, 2025
Opening Reception | Thursday, September 11, 7-9 pm
Art Education, Indigenous Art, Community
New Acquisitions celebrates recent gifts and purchases to the City of Burnaby’s art collections, a creative resource that tells the story of our community and connects Burnaby to artists and practices worldwide.
Marika Echachis Swan ƛ̓upinup: A Circle Strong Enough to Carry Both Sides
November 14, 2025-January 25, 2026
Community, Indigenous Art, Art Education
Marika Echachis Swan ƛ̓upinup main creative practice explores feminist Nuu-chah-nulth values through woodblock printmaking, often layered with other visual arts techniques such as carving, stencil, and photography. Swan’s artistic practice asserts the celebratory force of reclamation and of the enduring strength of family, community, and cultural bonds.
Bobby Burgers: Assembly
February 6-April 19, 2026
Community, Art Education
Bobbie Burgers is a Vancouver-based artist celebrated for her large-scale floral works that explore themes of ephemeral beauty and refined strength through expressive, gestural abstraction. Her work captures the tension between decay and vitality, inviting viewers into a sensorial experience of colour and form.
Myfanwy MacLeod: Trophies
June 12-August 30, 2026
Community, Art Education
This exhibition will engage with Burnaby Art Gallery's history as a former fraternity house. Through historical research of the site, ancient Greek art, and cinematic portrayals, Myfanwy MacLeod examines the connections between ancient Greek rites and sculpture and the visual and performative codes of contemporary fraternity culture.
Artist Apprenticeship 2026
May 1-31, 2026
Art Education, Social Studies, Community
This year we encouraged our grade 11 and 12 Artist Apprenticeship students to investigate the action of change through the theme of transmutation. This exhibition is the output of their hardwork over a 9 week intensive art program. Showcasing their artwork responses to the theme and the City of Burnaby Permanent Collection.
Arts Alive 2026
May 1-31, 2026
Art Education, Social Studies, Community
(de)Construction challenged Senior Secondary students to think through the process of dismantling for Arts Alive 2026. What does art look like when you take it apart, then put it back together? What about breaking down your beliefs? Or building up something that was broken? This exhibition showcases works from students in grades 8-12 of the Burnaby School District.
Tours
Art & Me
September 15, 2025-June 26, 2026
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.
Fees
Days of the week available: Wednesdays and Thursdays. Program capacity varies.
| Length | Price | |
|---|---|---|
|
Preschool-K: Art & Me |
1.5 hours |
$103 |
|
Grades K-2 |
1.5 hours |
$107.50 |
|
Grades 2-12 |
2 hours |
$127 |
|
Guided Tour without studio (K-12) |
30 minutes-1 hour |
$53.50 |
Lesson planning is made easy with BAG in a Box!
Three unique educational kits are available. Each kit features 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 27, 2025 to May 30, 2026.
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
| Price | |
|---|---|
|
Cost for 3 weeks |
$40 |
| Additional class | $40 |
|
Refundable deposit |
$64.50 |
Teachers and secondary student career programs
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 9, 16, February 6, 13, 20, 27, March 6, 13, and April 10, 2026
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 2026
Free
Arts Alive is an annual showcase of works by students held in collaboration with the Burnaby School District. This year’s exhibition highlights work by Senior Secondary students from across the city. The following career placements 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 2025-June 2026
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 offers three distinct Professional Development Programs. Please contact us to book or ask about additional offerings. Call 604-297-4858 for more information.
Coast Salish Contemporary: Understanding Cultural Appropriation
Referencing works from the City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection, participants explore the progression of themes and techniques in contemporary Coast Salish art. Appropriation and use of copyrighted work will be discussed within this program. The workshop concludes by creating a collagraph print.
Contemporary Art and Curriculum
Want to incorporate Contemporary Art into your lesson plans? This workshop teaches watercolour techniques and guidelines, while sharing creative ways to incorporate contemporary art into your lesson plans.
Printmaking in the Classroom
Printmaking can be an expressive art form that is easily accessible with some common materials found in the classroom. Tricks, tips and how to's abound in this fun and interactive session.
Book a school program at BAG
To book a school program or to request more information about the programs available, please contact:
- Education Assistant (available Tuesday-Thursday)
Phone: 604-297-4414
Email: [email protected]
Booking forms
Burnaby Art Gallery
Contact Us
- General Inquiries
- 604-297-4422
- Fax
- 604-205-7339
- [email protected]
Hours:
Admission
Suggested donation is $10.
Public transit
Visit Translink Trip Planner.
Parking
- The Burnaby Art Gallery has limited parking. Visitors are encouraged to walk, roll, bike, carpool or use public transit when possible.
- Two electric vehicle spaces are available on Deer Lake Avenue.
- Deer Lake Avenue also has some street parking. After business hours, there may be additional free parking areas at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and the Burnaby Village Museum.
Accessibility
- There are two designated parking stalls provided in the surface parking next to the gallery entrance.
- There is a paved path leading to a wheelchair lift that provides access to the main floor of the Burnaby Art Gallery. The lift is located to the left of the front entrance. The second level is not wheelchair accessible.
- There is a wheelchair accessible washroom located on the main floor.
Administration hours
Monday-Friday, 10:00 am-4:30 pm