In light of the ongoing risks of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recent new variants, and taking into consideration BC's public health measures, the Staff and the Board of Access Gallery have discussed our concerns and decided to continue our slow approach to our organizational health measures through the spring.
Many artists and arts workers in our community have public-facing service jobs and will bear an increased risk as safety measures are removed. We choose to take a slow approach in order to support those most affected by the impacts of this pandemic (physical and mental)—including people with disabilities, those who are immunocompromised, young kids who can't yet be vaccinated & their parents, and those struggling emotionally to re-emerge for many reasons. We welcome you all to the space and hope that through our programming and safety measures, Access can be a safe and regenerative space for you to visit.
We are maintaining the following procedures:
- We will still require masks to be worn at all times while in the gallery
- we'll provide disposable masks should you forget yours at home when you visit, but we encourage you to bring your own when you're out and about. Our neighbours Massey Books also require masks!
- We understand young children may not be wearing masks, and welcome them to the gallery of course!
- We ask that you please do not attend the gallery or events if you are feeling unwell.
- We will continue to have hand sanitizers at the front door
- We respectfully remind you to wash your hands, and use good hygiene practices in order to keep common items such as doors, as safe as possible for our staff and visitors.
- In our spring exhibition, a bead, a breath, there are sculptural beads that kids can play with. We will wipe these down regularly, and make wipes available for visitors as well.
- We still encourage physical distancing in the gallery
- Please keep a respectful distance from other visitors
We will continue to assess recommendations from the provincial and federal public health, and make updates to our safety measures as needed.
Please note that due to some security concerns unrelated to COVID-19, our washroom is not currently accessible to the public.
We're so glad to be open again and look forward to seeing—the upper half of—your faces.