This past Saturday, I hosted a private art tour on Granville Island to celebrate a birthday — and it was a beautiful reminder of why these intimate, curated experiences are so special.
Private tours create a different rhythm. The group was engaged, and curious, allowing space for conversation, shared surprise, and those spontaneous ooh and ahh moments that don’t happen in larger settings. It felt less like “visiting” and more like being gently welcomed into the world of artists and studios.
We began with a hands-on introduction to printmaking, learning about different techniques directly from Peter, a master printmaker at his studio New Leaf Editions. These kinds of visits open up layers of understanding — not just how work is made, but who is behind it. The experience was personal, generous, and deeply human, the kind that stays with you long after you leave the studio.
From there, we visited Banquet Atelier & Workshop, a Vancouver-based studio whose thoughtfully designed, screen-printed works can be found in numerous stores. Seeing where everything is conceived, printed, and produced — all here in Canada — added richness to the objects themselves. The visit also included unexpected access to neighboring artists’ studios, offering a behind-the-scenes look into the creative ecosystem of Granville Island.
Our final art stop brought us to Wil Aballe — a space that consistently invites reflection and offers rare encounters with emerging and mid-career artists connected to Vancouver. This time, we experienced Charles Campbell’s Breath Portraits: luminous light boxes that propose an entirely different approach to portraiture.
Rather than depicting faces, the works confront us with breath — captured in precise fractions of a second and transformed into light. There was something quietly haunting and deeply poetic about standing before these works, while also being drawn into their conceptual rigor. The experience opened up conversations around time, presence, and intimacy, as well as the fascinating intersection of mathematics, technology, and visual art — a reminder of how art can slow us down and sharpen our attention.
We ended the afternoon gathered around a table at Alimentaria, continuing the celebration over food and conversation — a natural extension of the experience, where art gently turned into connection.
Private art tours are a great way to celebrate, connect, and explore Vancouver’s art scene with a bit more depth and care. Designed around the people in the room, they balance thoughtful curation with a sense of play, offering a slower pace, meaningful access, and moments of surprise along the way. They’re fun, original, and full of discovery — a refreshing way to experience the city and share something memorable together.
