The numbers pale when compared to the more than 10,000 works amassed by the Vancouver Art Gallery, but the West Vancouver Museum is slowly starting to acquire a choice selection of pieces by artists associated with Canada’s wealthiest neighbourhood. The guidelines are loose—the museum’s sole Emily Carr, for instance, was donated by a family who’d known the artist in Victoria—but the works are significant; also featured are Jack Shadbolt, Gordon Smith, and B.C. Binning.

The problem, though, is that the museum’s cramped quarters have meant that most of its 200-plus artworks have rarely been displayed—until now. For the duration of the annual Harmony Arts Festival, museum director and curator Darrin Morrison and his staff have taken over the nearby Lawson Creek Studios, and the best of their holdings will be on view.

“If you’re not familiar with the West Vancouver Museum, we have a very small exhibition space, and an even smaller collection space,” Morrison admits in a telephone interview. “But we started acquiring works by a number of significant Canadian artists about five years ago, and the collection has grown from nothing to approximately 200 works of art. Unfortunately, we don’t always have good opportunities to present them, so we felt that Harmony was a great opportunity to highlight our collection, and also some of the important artists who’ve lived in our community.”

Morrison’s particularly proud of the 21 Binnings that have recently made their way to the museum, at least three of which will be on view.

“He lived in our community, he built a very significant home in our community, and a lot of the artwork that he did was based on living and working here,” the curator explains. “He used to cycle around on his bicycle with his sketchpad and do pen-and-ink and pencil drawings of local scenery. But until we acquired these works from the estate, he wasn’t represented in our community. He was everywhere else but here, and we thought that was a big oversight, so we worked with the estate and acquired these works. It was a major show of support.”

Morrison is also hoping the Lawson Creek Studios show will drum up enthusiasm for a new West Vancouver Museum building, presumably with a much-enlarged exhibition hall. “We’re currently working with a development board on a new facility here,” he says, “and this is a way for us to profile the calibre of works that we’ll be collecting and exhibiting.”

Of course, Shadbolts, Smiths, and Binnings aren’t the only attractions the Harmony Arts Festival has to offer. Those looking to do more than merely view art might want to take their chequebooks to the two Friday art markets, featuring approximately 80 vendors, or get their fingers dirty with hands-on felting, woodcarving, and pottery workshops. Culinary delights include art-inspired entrées and appetizers at RARE, in the Lawson Creek Studios next Thursday (August 8). And there’s a full lineup of bands, including local stalwarts Spirit of the West, Cousin Harley, and the Paperboys.

Should this week’s heat continue, however, a visit with Binning’s cool abstractions could be the real headlining event.