One of the only permanent spaces worldwide dedicated to the presentation of queer art, SUM gallery brings diverse communities together to support artistic risk-taking, incite creative collaboration and experimentation, and celebrate the rich heritage of queer artists and art. SUM produces, presents and exhibits challenging, thought-provoking multidisciplinary art that pushes boundaries and initiates dialogue.
From its roots in the Pride in Art Society (PiA), SUM gallery was founded in 2018 as a space for year-round programming of the Queer Arts Festival. SUM is located in the Sun Wah Centre in Vancouver’s Chinatown neighborhood as part of the BC Artscape community cultural hub. Since 2021, the gallery has been led by Mark Takeshi McGregor, who succeeded founding Artistic Director SD Holman.
The SUM gallery name honours our location with multi-layered meaning:
○ Originally envisioned as a Dim Sum (點心) restaurant, our space features the traditional round window, now a striking feature of our office
○ The name pays tribute to the Pearl River Delta immigrants who settled our neighbourhood 150 years ago: Sum (心) means heart in their Cantonese dialect
○ Words for queer people in Chinese include the Sum 心 character
○ SUM = summation (∑), the sum of its parts, the sum total, 2LGBTQIA+
○ Some (art)