Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art has announced a celebration weekend on Saturday and Sunday (June 16 and June 17) to mark its 10^th anniversary and fete its new renovation.

The weekend will feature free admission, performances, tea, and bannock. The two-day weekend anniversary celebration unfolds across a new 650-square-foot gathering space, where Squamish artist Allison Burns-Joseph will hold an open studio on June 16 from 11 a.m. to 3pm, with Nisga'a artist Samuel McKay slated for the following day. A children’s corner will feature colouring sheets designed by Haida artist Shoshannah Greene, and Northwest Coast authors will perform readings for storytelling sessions at 10 a.m. on both days.

The recently completed $1.8 million renovation boasts a new mezzanine gallery and the new educational and social gathering place mentioned above. A new covered pavilion space will be revealed at a later date.

The Raven’s Trove, where the gallery's namesake, Bill Reid, has his jewellery on permanent display is one of the areas that's gotten a high-design facelift. Among its touches are custom vitrines by Sholto Design Studio that were cut from eight 40-foot cedar logs; they're fitted with locally made curved glass cases for a 360-degree view, and hand-finished by carvers led by Haida artist and Bill Reid Foundation board member Corey Bulpitt. 

The gallery officially unveils the new look designed by Merrick Architecture to the public when it reopens on June 8 with the launch of its new exhibit Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest.

A formal 10^th anniversary gala is slated for June 14.
 
“We have transformed the Bill Reid Gallery by creating new programming space to achieve the capacity required to better represent the diverse Indigenous cultures of the Northwest Coast, and showcase Reid’s extraordinary work in the round,” said gallery director and CEO Alexandra Montgomery in a press statement today. “Our new light-filled, open space is both human in scale and majestic — it is a beautiful platform that allows us to honour Reid by bringing Indigenous and other peoples together through art.”