Aspiring Art Collectors: The 2025 Splash Auction Is Your Chance to Snag Some Gems

Tickets are sold out to the 43rd Splash Gala, the hotly anticipated annual fundraiser for youth arts organization Arts Umbrella, but art lovers needn’t cry about it: there are still two very cool ways to enjoy the 92 original artworks that are part of this year’s art auction.

The first won’t cost you a penny: all of this year’s works are currently on display at downtown’s free Pendulum Gallery. It’s an awful lot of talent crammed into just a few square feet beneath the perpetually swaying monolith of Alan Storey’s kinetic installation—walk through for a crash course in the country’s contemporary art scene. Ethereal paintings from Melanie Authier, sculpture from Suzy Birstein, self-portraits from Meryl McMaster are on exhibition until October 2. The majority are from Vancouver artists (Jean Paul Langlois and Zoë Pawlak among them), but all of these works are incredibly generous gifts from the artists in support of Arts Umbrella’s programming, many valued at thousands of dollars.

READ MORE: 33 Reasons to Love Vancouver Right Now (Including Arts Umbrella!)

And if you’d like to take one of these modern masterpieces home, you don’t actually need a gala ticket. Anyone can place their bids in the online Splash auction until October 4, the big day—we recommend dressing up in your best gala-wear if you’re going to watch the livestream—and bidding has already begun. Got your eye on a Johnny Pootoogook illustration or a hypnotic piece by Carla Tak? This is your chance to try to score. Artworks are available at a variety of starting bids, too, with several at price points under $1,000.

Of course, the big winners are the kids who benefit from Arts Umbrella’s programming—visual arts, dance, theatre, architecture and more are taught in the organization’s Granville Island facility as well as throughout inner-city schools and for community partner groups. So even if you’re not successful in collecting art once the auction comes to a close, you’ll at least collect some feel-good vibes along the way.

Splash 2025 Art Auction Exhibition
Now through October 2
Pendulum Gallery
885 W Georgia St.