Northern British Columbia Artists & Art Galleries
 Dawson Creek Art Gallery,
Don Pettit/ PhotoGraphics photo
Aboriginal art figures prominently in many towns and communities across the region. Discover towering totem poles, carved canoes, and argillite carvings at the Haida Heritage Centre on the Queen Charlotte Islands; or intricately-detailed masks and unique ceremonial art at the Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert.
The region is also home to emerging contemporary artists who create in a variety of mediums. The Two Rivers Art Gallery in Prince George sources regional, national and international art, and the Dawson Creek Art Gallery showcases work evocative of its beautiful Peace River region.
Aboriginal Art
Northern BC is a hotbed of Aboriginal art. Creations by Aboriginal artists of Haida, Nisga’a, Tsimshian, and Tlingit descent are housed in the Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert. Witness ceremonial art bearing centuries of history, or view contemporary masks and argillite carvings by north coast artisans. Watch totem poles being carved at the nearby carving shed.
For art that is distinctly Haida, head to the Haida Heritage Centre on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Contemporary art, paintings, traditional masks, totem poles and an extensive collection of argillite carvings – all representing the history and culture of the Haida peoples - can be viewed. Witness Bill Reid’s self-proclaimed masterpiece the “Loo Taas” - a 4.5m/15ft war canoe carved from a single cedar -which was paddled up the Seine River in Paris as part of an exhibition.
Make time to stop at the Prince George Native Art Gallery in Prince George to see unique cedar wood carvings and bead work, and discover works by artists from the Omineca and Coastal regions.
Art on the Queen Charlotte IslandsLook no further than the Queen Charlotte Islands for the region’s artistic hot spot. On the islands, where visitors can drive from end to end and often see no one, there are a smattering of small galleries and home-based studios.
Both Haida and non-Haida artists contribute to the island’s thriving arts scene, who supply the galleries and gift shops with carvings in argillite and wood, gold and silver jewellery, paintings, cedar basketry, and ceramics and pottery.
Drive the “Art Route” to connect with local artists and discover hidden galleries. While the Art Route is open year-round, some galleries are open by appointment only.
The Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate is not only impressively housed in five adjoining contemporary cedar longhouses, but it features the work of some of the island’s finest artists. Marvel at huge, ancient poles from the villages of Skedans and Tanu, and enjoy the fine-detail work of cedar marks.
The Queen Charlotte Islands are accessible from Prince Rupert via BC Ferries.
Popular Art Galleries
The Dawson Creek Art Gallery occupies the rather unique space of a renovated grain elevator annex and primarily showcases local and regional based exhibits. Touring exhibits that have come from as far as Japan and Holland are also featured. An eclectic mix of contemporary artists, painters, fabric artists, woodworkers, potters, metal workers and sculptors make up the regional talent.
Prince George’s Two Rivers Art Gallery. Focusing on the visual arts, the gallery highlights painters in any media, sculptors, photographers and installation artists. Drop in on the “Make Art, Make Sense” program (open year-round) to better understand the exhibits by making art. And, look for woodwork made from pine beetle wood in the gallery’s gift shop.
Look to smaller communities in Northern BC for a dose of local art. Tucked away in the backwoods community of Telkwa is a gallery where creations by Bulkley Valley artists and artisans are on display in a former 1950s BC Forest Service ranger station. And, in the quaint town of McBride is a gallery brimming with glasswork, woodwork, quilting, paintings, jewellery and pottery.
Public ArtTowering totem poles are scattered around the region: the Kispiox Valley boasts more than 50 totem poles in the surrounding area, while the Gwaii Haanas National Park on the Queen Charlotte Islands is home to incredibly majestic – and crumbling - mortuary poles that date back centuries.
Discover more than 50 intricately carved chainsaw sculptures in Chetwynd depicting local animals and scenery.
And, brightening the walls of alleys in nearby Dawson Creek are colourful murals that recall the town’s history and the building of the Alaska Highway.
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