Playhouse features artworks from over 20 Canadian artists and presents the Gordon Smith Gallery as a place to experience stories, meet characters, and transform the spaces we inhabit in order to unveil unseen narratives. The exhibition sets the stage for us to consider ways in which the physical, social, cultural, and imagined qualities of a place are intertwined.

Playhouse is inspired by comics, broadly interpreted as characters acting in frames, asserting control over their own narratives. Comics are accessible forms of sequential storytelling where the reader builds a relationship with characters over time. Throughout the exhibition we encounter sculptures, animation, paintings, and textiles containing active forms and figures performing within their panels and waiting to be interpreted by readers of all ages.

The works of contemporary Canadian artists Whess Harman, Hannah Jickling and Reed H. Reed, Guna Jenson, and Cindy Mochizuki are shown alongside works from the Artists for Kids’ Permanent Collection.  The perspectives of elementary and secondary students across the Lower Mainland are featured through textile artworks and zines. 

This exhibition at Artist for Kids (AFK), Gordon Smith Gallery, was co-curated by visiting artist Annie Canto and AFK curator, Amelia Epp. Open from September 2024 - February 2025, this show will be visited by classrooms of the North Vancouver School District and is accompanied by professional development workshops for teachers as well as programming for all-age engagement.