Mission Statement
The Pride in Art Society (PiA) produces, presents and exhibits with a curatorial vision favouring challenging, thought-provoking contemporary art that pushes boundaries and initiates dialogue, including through the Queer Arts Festival (QAF), an annual artist-run, transdisciplinary festival, and SUM Gallery, one of the only permanent spaces dedicated to the presentation of queer art worldwide. PiA brings diverse communities together to support artistic risk-taking, incite creative collaboration and experimentation and celebrate the rich heritage of queer artists and art. We harness the visceral power of the arts to inspire recognition, respect and visibility of people who transgress gender and sexual norms.
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History
Brief History: Pride in Art (PiA) began in 1998, founded by artists Robbie Hong, Jeffery Austin Gibson and a collective of visual artists mounting an annual art exhibition at the Roundhouse Community Centre. Spearheaded by visual artist SD Holman and pianist Rachel Kiyo Iwaasa, Pride in Art incorporated as a nonprofit in 2006, mounting their first multidisciplinary Queer Arts Festival in 2008. The organization obtained charitable status in 2012, later achieving operating status with the BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver and Canada Council in 2013, 2015 and 2025 respectively.
Since incorporation, PiA has developed from a tiny, grass-roots, volunteer-run, community-based organization to a renowned festival receiving funding from all three levels of government, employing a small team of year-round and seasonal staff, and providing hundreds of hours of volunteer opportunities yearly.
In 2018, PiA founded SUM gallery as a permanent space for year-round programming of the Queer Arts Festival, presenting multidisciplinary exhibitions and events. Since 2021, PiA has been led by musician Mark Takeshi McGregor, who succeeded SD Holman as Artistic Director.
Over the organization’s nearly 20 year history, PiA has presented over 4,000 artists in more than 1000 events, welcomed more than 200,000 patrons, and incited the creation of dozens of new Canadian works. As one of the world’s only festivals and gallery spaces focused on 2SLGBTQIA+ and intersectional Queer identities, Pride in Art continues to dedicate ourselves to uplifting Queer artists and bringing together diverse communities to support artistic risk-taking, collaboration, and experimentation.
To view work and images from previous Festivals, visit our archives.