the reach gallery museum abbotsford

The Reach Gallery is a great venue. The exhibits change regularly (about every three months). Try to go a few times a year. Admission is by donation so you can "vote" with your dollars. But please make sure you always give something to keep this gem going or more if you really enjoyed it. Have gone to many of the shows and enjoyed something from all of them.

I might as well say it up front that I love the Reach. I have volunteered there (as a docent, researcher, and educational program writer) since it's beginning six years ago and also for the museum's predecessor. No museums in the world have reached their potential or pinnacle of perfection in six years of operation but the Reach has done some very impressive things during its short life. Abbotsford is not particularly known as a fine arts city. The Reach fills a huge hole in the cultural fabric here. Yes, you can see larger more complete museums in other Canadian cities but considering its resources and support I think we can be mighty proud of this place. It follows a contemporary format of a combination art gallery and historical museum. Often the exhibitions blend the history together with related art making the show richer in texture. When the museum was built it was designed as a grade A facility which means that the internal environment is controlled, appropriate security is provided etc. This makes possible borrowing art treasures from the National Gallery in Ottawa and other cities like Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver (as well as local art and artifacts.) Because of limited space the gallery museum changes the exhibition four times a year which provides something new quite frequently for visitors to see. You wouldn't expect that every aspect of each exhibition would be geared to the same audience. Some items and programs of the museum are made for families and children and others are more admittedly adult. There is quite an array of programming and many astute local residents (and visitors) take advantage of this free gem. Don't settle for viewing one exhibit or program at the Reach. Come back often, sample more, put it all together and see what we really have here. I can't say I like every work of art or exhibit shown, but isn't variety a good thing? As time passes and new things are tried and improvements made this place will get even better. This is definitely a local resource worth supporting in an enthusiastic way!

I thought a museum was supposed to contain something historical? In the last six years all i've seen come out of this place is starwars and events for the upperclass. I'm sorry but this is not the family friendly, classy venue I voted for. Not worth the 600k tax payers pay for it per year. Put the money into things we need.

HI Jean, thanks so much for visiting The Reach in June of this year. Art and culture is such a personal experience and it's unfortunate you didn't enjoy those exhibitions. The wonderful thing about The Reach is we change every three months and will be opening new exhibitions on September 27th at 7pm. I hope you take the opportunity to visit us again. If you have any questions you can contact me direclty at kchow@thereach.ca.Thanks.Karina

HI Sablehrt,Thanks so much for your review. The Reach endeavours to bring the best in visual art exhibtions while also showcasing our community's history and it is gratifying when visitors have a positive experience with both aspects of our mission. I hope you get a chance to come by and visit this summer while we have Ties That Bind from the BC Jewish Museum and Archives and Zidane from the National Gallery. Again, thanks so much for providing your review of The Reach. I hope we see you again.Karina Chow

Thanks so much for your review and appreciation for what we bring to Abbotsford. The Reach is always trying to bring something different - a different perspective, world-view or experience and I'm glad you enjoy it.Our next exhibitions open this Thursday (April 12) at 7pm. Hope you can join us - admission is free!

Hi Isabel, thanks so much for your review of The Reach. We love it when people come for an event and stay to see our exhibitions. Goya was definately an impressive exhibition and we were so pleased we could bring it to Abbotsford. Hope you can come and visit for our next exhbition - which opens April 12 at 7pm. Thanks. Karina Chow

Thanks CdnGal1 for the great review. I'm glad you enjoy our changing exhibitions - our plan is to present something new every 2-3 months. Our next opening is April 12 at 7pm so hopefully you can join us. Karina Chow

Hi, (belated) thank so much for your wonderful review - I hope you've had a chance to come back and see our current exhibitions opening on April 12th. - Karina Chow