The Michael Wright Art Gallery (MWAG), Outlet Gallery, City Hall Gallery, and Port Coquitlam Community Centre feature a rotating program of exhibitions by local and regional artists. The exhibitions advance knowledge, appreciation and understanding of the visual arts by integrating art into community life and contributing significantly to the cultural landscape of Port Coquitlam.
Every Saturday families are invited to take part in Art in the Gallery from 10am- 12pm This free drop-in program is offered at the Michael Wright Art Gallery in Leigh Square. Enjoy the exhibition and make an art piece to take home. All supplies provided, no registration required.
Exhibition Opening Reception
Thursday, February 6
6-8pm
Michael Wright Art Gallery
Join us for the opening reception of A Balance of Dichotomies by Leah Biggs, Darcy Mann, and Jenny Smith in the Michael Wright Art Gallery, Scheherazade Tells Stories… by Shahrzad Laali in the Outlet Gallery, and Place Portraits by Keely O’Brien in partnership with the community in the City Hall Gallery.
Current Exhibitions
A Balance of Dichotomies by Leah Biggs, Darcy Mann, and Jenny Smith
Michael Wright Art Gallery #200-2253 Leigh Square
January 15 – April 22, 2025
The Michael Wright Art Gallery presents A Balance of Dichotomies by Leah Biggs, Darcy Mann, and Jenny Smith. In this group exhibition Biggs, Mann, and Smith seek inspiration from the landscape that informs their art, and the aerial beings that dwell there. Driftwood, once inhabited by winged creatures, is transformed by Smith to embrace enigmatic aspects of the self, while Biggs’ and Mann’s winged creatures inhabit the paper on which they are drawn. Biggs’ drawing process of her crows alternates between brisk and measured ink marks that imbue each one with expression and personality, and Mann’s bees and flies verge on the scientific. Additionally, when Biggs and Mann aren’t drawing winged creatures on paper, they paint landscapes that try to express more than meets the eye (as with the crows and bees); Mann’s realistic paintings find beauty in unusual landscape elements (the “banal shrub”), and Biggs’ abstracted landscapes are inspired by a sense of place and her experiences within it. Each of the three artists’ tackle their art with the balance of what is seen, what is felt, and what works… a balance of dichotomies.
Leah Biggs, Darcy Mann, and Jenny Smith will give an artist talk at the City’s Cultural Roundtable on Thursday, April 17 at 5pm. Visit our Cultural Roundtable webpage for details.
Scheherazade Tells Stories… by Shahrzad Laali
Outlet Art Gallery #110-2248 McAllister Avenue
January 18 – April 22, 2025
The Outlet Gallery presents Scheherazade Tells Stories…by Shahrzad Laali. Laali is an Iranian immigrant artist based in Vancouver, BC, whose work is deeply rooted in personal and collective experiences. In this solo exhibition, she explores the layered realities of life as a female immigrant artist, revealing the shadows cast by censorship, patriarchy, sexism, and systemic injustice. Each piece in this exhibition, whether a meticulously crafted sculpture or a detailed drawing, invites viewers to witness the journey of hope, longing, and resilience shared by those who strive to build new lives in foreign lands. Storytelling is essential to Laali’s practice. Like Scheherazade in “One Thousand and One Nights”, Shahrzad (the Persian pronunciation of Scheherazade) uses art to weave complex narratives that address the unspoken, confront the painful, and reclaim identity. Here, storytelling is not just an act of expression; it is an act of survival, defiance, and profound hope.
Place Portraits by Keely O’Brien in partnership with the community
City Hall Gallery 2580 Shaughnessy St
January 15 – April 22, 2025
The City Hall Gallery presents Place Portraits by Keely O’Brien. Keely O’Brien is an interdisciplinary artist whose practice incorporates handmade objects with innovative theatre creation. During her Outlet Residency (September–December 2024), she worked on her ‘place portraits’ project which is centered around the concept of ‘home’ as a site of intergenerational memory and personal meaning. Inspired by the homes embedded in family histories, Keely invited community members to share significant places that resonate with them—whether current, lost, or transformed spaces. This work addresses the evolving meaning of ‘home’ in the context of displacement, memory, and the ongoing housing crisis. These ‘place portraits’ offer both a collective archive and a personal reflection on spaces that shape our sense of belonging.
AS I RISE by Nicole Melnicky
Port Coquitlam Community Centre 2150 Wilson Ave
January 15 – April 22, 2025
The Port Coquitlam Community Centre presents AS I RISE by contemporary artist Nicole Melnicky. In this solo exhibition, Melnicky embarks on a bold exploration of colour and its profound connection to queer sexuality and identity. Each piece serves as a powerful statement, embracing the complexities and nuances of self-expression within the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Through abstract forms and electrified colour, Melnicky envisions a mysterious, supernatural queer future, manifesting a dream of a queer utopia and eternal twin flame union.
Nicole Melnicky will be giving an artist talk at the City’s Cultural Roundtable on Thursday, February 20 at 5pm Visit our Cultural Roundtable webpage for details.