Jack Shadbolt, Night Garden Transformations, 1973-89, Collection of Artists for Kids and the Gordon Smith Gallery,
reflected in Alex Gibson, Image of a Garden Lattice, 2026, Courtesy of the Artist.
Photograph by Dylan Maranda
Curated by: Andrea Valentine-Lewis, Curatorial Fellow
Featuring Artwork by: Corey Bulpitt, Andrew Dadson, Alex Gibson,
Chantal Gibson, Tiziana La Melia, veto monteiro, Bill Reid,
Jack Shadbolt, Gordon Smith, Manuel Axel Strain, Isabel Wynn
In One Hundred Artists Deep, eight local artists were invited to create new work in response to artworks from the Artists for Kids Permanent Collection by founders Bill Reid (1920–1998), Jack Shadbolt (1909–1998), and Gordon Smith (1919–2020). Each of these artists left an enduring legacy, not only through their artistic practices but through their deep commitment to arts education.
Over the course of their lives, Reid, Shadbolt, and Smith taught and mentored thousands of young artists and apprentices. Their ideas, values, and approaches to making continue to circulate -- sometimes visibly, sometimes quietly -- through subsequent generations of artists.
The eight participating artists were selected for the strength and diversity of their practices, as well as for their sensitive and intuitive approaches to art-making. They were invited to respond to works by Reid, Shadbolt, and Smith from the Artists For Kids Collection, with full freedom in how that response took shape. The historical works and the contemporary responses are presented together in the gallery, creating a space for conversation across time.
The exhibition’s title is drawn from a phrase that Smith often used, saying he was “a hundred artists deep” and stood “on the shoulders” of artists past and present. Every artist emerges from a layered history of influence - artistic, personal, familial, educational, and cultural. One Hundred Artists Deep reflects on this accumulated inheritance and the many ways artistic knowledge is carried forward.
Self-Guided Tours of
One Hundred Artists Deep
Artists for Kids invites K-12 teachers to use the Gordon Smith Gallery as their classroom, by booking a time to bring a class for a half day self-guided tour at our spring exhibition,
One Hundred Artists Deep.
This is a unique opportunity for your students to engage directly with diverse works by Canadian artists and to learn through the lens of the arts.
Teachers can book self-guided tour slots (morning or afternoon) that are available on select dates in April through June.
Class visits can be
booked online here or by calling 604-903-3798.
We encourage teachers to attend an orientation of
One Hundred Artists Deep prior to visiting with your class.
Self-Guided Instructions and Gallery Expectations
Fall Grade 5 Gallery Program
Every October - February we welcome grade 5 classes (and classes split with grade 5) to the Gordon Smith Gallery for the Grade 5 Gallery Program. Teachers can sign up for a full-day gallery visit during which Artists for Kids art educators will lead classes in an interactive tour of the exhibition and a hands-on artmaking activity. Classes can visit from 9:30am - 2:30pm on select dates from October to February.
The program fee for North Vancouver School District classes is covered by NVSD.
Registration for North Vancouver School District classes opens early September
Out of District Schools
Registration for out-of-district schools opens late September
TOUR + WORKSHOP (4 hours of instructional time plus 1 hour break time)
The fee for out-of-district schools: $500
Please email Artists for Kids to inquire about availability.
