Richmond BC, Canada #richmondartgallerybc
An in-person talk with artist Jan Wade, in partnership with Emily Carr University of Art & Design.
All are welcome! Free drop-in.
Jan Wade was born to a Black Canadian father with familial origins in the American South and a Canadian mother of European descent. Raised in a relatively segregated but close-knit Black community within the city, her formative years were heavily influenced by her local African Methodist Episcopal Church. She was also greatly influenced by Southern US Black culture and aesthetics from the perspectives of her paternal grandmother and great-grandmother.
Wade studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design (1972–76). She moved to Vancouver in 1983 and became part of the underground art and music scene in the city, with its innovative performances, do-it-yourself art shows, anti-establishment ethos and spontaneous happenings. During this period Wade began her research into African diasporic spiritual practices and decided she wanted her art to reflect where she came from and who she is, commencing her unique artistic journey marked by self-sufficiency, empowerment, hope and radical joy. The artist produces a wide range of mixed-media works made entirely from found or readymade objects and recycled materials.
After three decades spent on the fringe of the cultural mainstream, Hamilton-born, Vancouver-based artist Jan Wade (b.1952) is receiving overdue acknowledgement for her unique contributions to Canadian art. Jan Wade: Soul Power—the landmark first solo exhibition by a Black woman in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s ninety-year history—presents the artist’s mixed-media assemblages, paintings, textiles, and sculptural objects from the 1990s to the present day.
In partnership with Richmond Art Gallery’s exhibition “The Chromophiliacs”, January 24 to April 4, 2026 .
Presented by the Audain Faculty of Art at Emily Carr University of Art + Design in partnership with the Richmond Art Gallery.
