British Columbia

===Visual arts===
{{See also|Northwest Coast art}}
[[File:Emily Carr - Indian Church.jpg|thumb|upright=.7|[[The Indian Church (painting)|''Church at Yuquot Village'']] by Emily Carr (1929)]]
The earliest known [[visual art]] produced in the [[Pacific Northwest]], and what would become British Columbia, was by First Nations such as the Coast Salish, Haida, Heiltsuk, and Tsimshian, among others. Such Indigenous work comes particularly in the form of [[woodcarving]], as seen in [[totem poles]], [[transformation mask]]s, and [[canoes]], as well as [[textile arts]] like [[Chilkat weaving]] and [[button blankets]]. Traditional Indigenous art of the Pacific Northwest is typically distinguished by the [[formline art|formline style]], which is defined as "continuous, flowing, curvilinear lines that turn, swell and diminish in a prescribed manner. They are used for figure outlines, internal design elements and in abstract compositions."<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/northwest-coast-aboriginal-art|title=Northwest Coast Indigenous Art|author=Marjorie M. Halpin|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|publisher=[[Historica Canada]]|date=March 4, 2015|access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref>

[[Western art|Western styles and forms]] were introduced to the region through the establishment of British North American settlements in the late 18th century. Notable English-Canadian artists of 19th and early 20th century British Columbia include architect [[Francis Rattenbury]], designer [[James Blomfield]], and painter [[Emily Carr]].

Vancouver's [[art scene]] was dominated by [[lyrical abstraction]] and [[surrealist art|surrealist]] landscape painting in the mid-20th century through such artists as [[B. C. Binning]], [[Jack Shadbolt]], [[Gordon A. Smith]], [[Takao Tanabe]], [[Don Jarvis]], and [[Toni Onley]]. In the following decades, the city would undergo more artistic diversification with the emergence of [[conceptual art]], [[communication design|communication art]], [[video art]], and [[performance art]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/painting-modern-movements|title=Painting: Modern Movements|author=Ihor Holubizky|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|publisher=[[Historica Canada]]|date=March 9, 2017|access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref>

The [[Vancouver School]] of [[conceptual photography]] encompasses a cohort of Vancouver-based artists who gained notoriety in the 1980s. This school is generally considered to include artists [[Jeff Wall]], [[Ian Wallace (artist)|Ian Wallace]], [[Ken Lum]], [[Roy Arden]], [[Stan Douglas]], and [[Rodney Graham]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Modigliani |first=Leah |title=Engendering an Avant-Garde: the unsettled landscapes of Vancouver Photo-Conceptualism |date=2018 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-1-5261-0119-8 |series=Rethinking art histories |location=Manchester |pages=2}}</ref>

Vancouver maintains roughly 350 works of outdoor public art.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.destinationvancouver.com/activities/sightseeing/public-art-mini-guide/|title=Public Art Mini Guide|work=Destination Vancouver|date=July 31, 2016 |access-date=February 7, 2023}}</ref> Some notable works include ''[[A-maze-ing Laughter]]'', ''[[Digital Orca]]'', ''[[Girl in a Wetsuit]]'', ''[[Angel of Victory]]'', ''[[The Birds (sculpture)|The Birds]]'', and the [[Brockton Point]] totem poles.