Post-secondary students pursuing visual arts studies in B.C. will soon have greater access to the Vancouver Art Gallery. The VAG in collaboration with the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts announced today (September 10) a five-year initiative to provide subsidized VAG memberships to students across the province.

“Recalling how much I enjoyed and benefited from my Metropolitan Museum of Art membership in the 1950s, I feel confident that B.C. students who participate in this new initiative will reap many rewards from affordable access to the Gallery’s exhibitions and public events,” Michael Audain, chair of the Audain Foundation stated in a news release.

The subsidized membership program will launch Wednesday (September 11) with nearly 2,000 students at Emily Carr University of Art + Design. VAG representative Debra Zhou told the Straight by phone that the Audain Foundation will subsidize $40 of the $45 annual student membership, so Emily Carr students will only pay $5.

A student membership to the VAG includes unlimited admission for one year, two free guest passes, access to exhibit openings, access to the VAG library, a 10 percent discount at the VAG gift shop, admission to FUSE events, a subscription to the gallery’s newsletter, access to concerts at the VAG, discounts on lectures, and reciprocal memberships to four other major art galleries across Canada.

The program is expected to accommodate 10,000 visual arts students at post-secondary schools across B.C. by 2018.