History
The Kelowna Art Gallery is a Canadian public art gallery located in Kelowna, British Columbia founded in 1976. The gallery has become a leading public art gallery serving the central Okanagan region. The gallery was incorporated as a not-for-profit charitable society in 1977. The gallery’s permanent collection started with the acquisition of After the Rain by Okanagan resident Irvine Adams (1902–1992) in 1977. Since then, just over 700 objects have been acquired by the gallery through donation and purchase.
The Kelowna Art Gallery was originally housed in the Kelowna Centennial Museum. In 1996, a 15,758-square-foot (1,464.0 m2) facility meeting national standards for secure, climate-controlled storage and exhibition of artworks was constructed by the City of Kelowna and leased to the museum.
On November 1, 2006, the Kelowna Art Gallery was granted “A” status by the Minister of Canadian Heritage.
The facility is divided into a number of galleries, including the Treadgold Bullock Gallery, the Reynolds Gallery and the outdoor Rotary Courtyard.
Classes, community presentations, lectures, and other outreach programs are delivered in the Kiwanis-Hiram Walker front hall and Scotiabank Classroom.
