The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation is proud to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Arts & Health: Healthy Aging Through the Arts, a collaborative project with Vancouver Coastal Health that celebrates older adults through creativity, connection, and community.

Over the past two decades, Arts & Health has delivered 25 innovative projects across the city, engaging a small but mighty cohort of over 100 seniors and Elders each year, and collaborating with over 55 professional artists. The initiative highlights the important role the arts play in supporting healthy aging—enhancing well being, strengthening social connections, and enriching quality of life.

Arts & Health challenges outdated perceptions of aging by placing older adults at the centre of creative expression and community life. As older adults represent the fastest growing demographic, arts-based approaches remain essential to fostering health, inclusion, and belonging. Since its inception, the project has featured a wide range of creative and impactful work, including an improvisational new music choir that performed at the Biltmore Cabaret, a large scale hand felted book documenting the history of the Renfrew neighbourhood, queer storytelling publications, a series of DIY music videos, and a mail art initiative during the COVID 19 pandemic that connected isolated seniors through shared self portraits, recipes, stories, and reflections.

To mark this milestone anniversary, a free public exhibition showcasing artwork created through Arts & Health will be on display at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre.

Public Exhibition Details

May 26 to June 4, 2026

Where: Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre
181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver

The exhibition features work from participants across nine Vancouver community centres and Tsleil Waututh Nation, highlighting the creativity, stories, and lived experiences of seniors and Elders from diverse communities.

The Vancouver Park Board invites the public to visit the exhibition and celebrate 20 years of artistic innovation and community connection through Arts & Health.