Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery
EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS
Lone Tratt
June 30 – August 10
There is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in
ARTIST RECEPTION: Tuesday, June 30, 6pm – 8pm
With a guitar performance by Ed Nesling
Lone Tratt’s latest body of work emerges from a profound sense of grief and concern for the state of the world. Confronting themes of loss, devastation, and resilience, her paintings offer a powerful visual meditation on the human condition. “The devastation, the loss of lives, has been too much for me to live with,” she says.
Inspired by Leonard Cohen’s Anthem, “There is a crack in everything, that’s where the light gets in,” Tratt turns to art to process and express what words cannot.
“I am fortunate to communicate with the world through a visual language, one without boundaries except the limits of my imagination,” Tratt explains. “A rich palette defines my work, and I employ techniques ranging from multilayered glazes of thin, translucent colour to thick, textured applications.”
Each work in the exhibition contains those “cracks” of light, a promise that illumination will ultimately prevail and a reflection of hope for the world.
Illustration: “Light” Acrylic on Canvas 4 x 3 ft
Size Matters
Darcy Mann, Kathy Marliss, and Sean Thompson
August 12 – September 7
ARTIST RECEPTION: Thursday, August 13, 6pm – 8pm
There’s something for everyone in this exhibition where scale is the unifying thread, and the artists enlarge or diminish the world around them in order to see it anew. Mann’s magnified bees are the size of seagulls, while Marliss transforms everyday objects into meticulously crafted miniatures, and Thompson perches his smaller than life sized hockey icons atop scaled down environments.
In the Beginning
Gillian Armitage
September 9 – October 5
ARTIST RECEPTION: Thursday, September 10, 6pm – 8pm
Gillian Armitage’s exhibition In The Beginning is drawn from her larger print series Giotto Revisited. Inspired by the early fourteenth-century frescoes of Giotto, commissioned for churches in Assisi and Padua, Armitage focuses on the small Old Testament portraits embedded within these monumental Christian narratives.
Drawn to the richness of the Hebrew Bible’s stories, Armitage re-centres these figures, highlighting their significance within Jewish faith, identity, and tradition rather than their supporting role in Christian art.
In The Beginning presents five episodes from the Hebrew Bible: the Archangel Michael casting the devil from heaven; the six days of Creation; Moses receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai; Moses striking the rock to bring forth water; and Elijah ascending to heaven in a chariot of fire.
Intimate Horizons
Michael Seelig
October 14 – November 9
ARTIST RECEPTION: Thursday, October 15, 6pm – 8pm
Michael Seelig views the world horizontally. Drawn to expansive perspectives, he has always been inspired by the horizon. His paintings, photographs, and collages explore the sea, waterfronts, shorelines, hillsides, open terrain, and sky, celebrating the quiet power of broad landscapes.
After an extended absence, his return to Vancouver in May brought an unexpected shift in perspective. He found himself captivated by the beauty of his own small garden. His attention moved from distant horizons to the intimate landscape just outside his door, where careful observation revealed new depth and wonder.
This exhibition brings these two ways of seeing together, celebrating both the grandeur of the horizon and the quiet beauty of home.
Peace by Piece
Barbara Cohen , Susan Remnant, Maciek Walentowicz , Olga Campbell
November 12 – December 7
ARTIST RECEPTION: Thursday, November 12, 6pm – 8pm
This exhibition brings together decades of collective art making by four artists: Barbara Cohen, Olga Campbell, Susan Remnant and Maciek Walentowicz. Though materials and techniques differ, each artist has approached their work as a way to explore, heal, and make sense of life’s shifting landscapes, piece by piece.
Peace by Piece is a metaphor for living and reflects both process and outcome. Just as their artworks are built of many elements, so too are their lives – layered with memory, history, challenge, and joy. By shaping disparate materials into coherence, the four artists discover balance by working through challenges. This exhibition invites viewers to reflect on their own processes by piecing together meaning, and to share in the possibility of art as a path to wholeness.
Pandora’s Collective & Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery Presentation
Sponsored by the Yosef Wosk Foundation
Poets will respond with original work inspired by the current art exhibits on display. Please bring paper and pen. There will be an open mic time when the audience will have an opportunity to write and read poems relating to the exhibit. Free admission.
EXHIBIT: Lone Tratt
Tuesday, July 21
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Featured Poets: Bonnie Nish, Daniela Elza, Hongyun Chen, Anna Eastland, Mary Duffy
Host: Natasha Boskic
EXHIBIT: Size Matters
Tuesday, August 25
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Featured Poets: Celeste Nazeli Snowber, Una Bruhns, Sherry Duggal, Rosemary Nowiki, Nikita Carter
Host: Mary Duffy
EXHIBIT: In The Beginning
Tuesday, September 15
6:30pm – 8:00pm
Featured Poets: tba
Selected Past Exhibits
Lilian Broca: Lilith (May 20 – June 29, 2026)
View Photo Book
CHIM’s Photojournalism: From War to Hope (April 22 to June 15, 2025)
View Photo Book | Exhibit Highlights Video
CALL FOR EXHIBITION PROPOSALS
The Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery at the JCC invites artists, whose work aligns with the Gallery’s mandate, to submit exhibition proposals for 2027/28. Proposals can be for solo, two person or group exhibitions. Find out more
THE GALLERY IS LOOKING FOR DOCENTS
The Docent Program will be a group of trained volunteers who function as part-time gallery docents. Those interested in being docents will be trained by the Gallery Director in late summer or early fall, and, once trained, will receive a briefing on all exhibits. Docents will average one four-hour shift a week. A docent calendar will be managed by the Gallery Director. Email gallery@jccgv.bc.ca for more information, and to sign up to participate.
STAY IN TOUCH
Please email gallery@jccgv.bc.ca for any information, or if you’d like to be on our email list.
COPYRIGHT
Each artist owns the copyright in his/her respective images. These images may not be copied, modified, duplicated or used in any way without the express prior written consent of the artist.