North Vancouver School District breaks ground for new Education Services Centre and Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art

NORTH VANCOUVER, June 25, 2010—Trustees and staff of the North Vancouver School District welcomed representatives of local and provincial government, First Nations leaders and the arts community together to celebrate breaking ground on the School District’s new Education Services Centre and Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art, supporting Artists for Kids.

The $32 million construction project, scheduled for completion in the Spring of 2012, will serve the entire North Vancouver School District, with the main floor space dedicated to housing the new gallery and its collection of premier Canadian art, valued at over $2 million.

“It is as much our responsibility to protect and preserve this collection for generations to come as it is to create an accessible, welcoming space to share it with the community,” says Susan Skinner, chairperson of the North Vancouver Board of Education. “That we can bring both our education service operations together with a new cultural institution for the North Shore is a great success story.”

The highlight of the ground-breaking ceremony was the announcement of a $2 million gift from the Audain Foundation to the Gordon and Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists. The gift will be directed to support the construction of the Gallery as a cultural institution built to ensure the accessibility, security and permanent preservation of the collection.

“The Audain Foundation is proud to make this donation to the Gordon & Marion Smith Foundation for Young Artists,” says Michael Audain, chairman of the Audain Foundation. “I have been a fan of Gordon Smith’s beautiful art work for many years, but most especially his dedication to Artists for Kids. Thus we are privileged to help in the construction of this new space on Lonsdale Avenue.”

“I’m deeply honoured by this recognition,” says Gordon Smith, a founding patron of Artists for Kids and the Gallery’s new namesake. “I’ve been fortunate over the 20 years of Artists for Kids to have many opportunities to work with young people. Their interest in art is insatiable, and I am proud to be part of a program that does so much to connect and foster a greater understanding of Canadian art in young people.”

“Through the generosity of the Audain Foundation, the vision of Artists for Kids for future generations is secure,” says Bill MacDonald the director of the Artists for Kids program. “This is an unprecedented gift and a powerful endorsement that will resonate for decades.”

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The North Vancouver School District serves over 16,000 K-12 students with a vision to provide “world-class instruction and a rich diversity of engaging programs to inspire success for every student and bring communities together to learn, share and grow.”

Scheduled to open in 2012, the Gordon Smith Gallery of Canadian Art features a collection, valued at over $2 million dollars, of more than 500 works by some of Canada’s most prominent visual artists. The Gallery supports the work of the Artists for Kids program, by funding art education programs through the sale of prints by artists represented in the collection.

Michael Audain, Chairman of the Audain Foundation for the Visual Arts, is an avid Canadian arts supporter. He is chair of both the Board of Trustees of the National Gallery of Canada and the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation. In recognition of his philanthropy and cultural leadership Audain has been appointed to the Order of British Columbia and was recently announced as an officer of the Order of Canada. During his long business career, Audain established Polygon Homes Ltd. as one of British Columbia's leading home builders, where he continues to serve as chairman.

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