Introducing Tombolo: A Children’s Pop Up Art Gallery

Tombolo is a first-ever children’s pop up art gallery being brought to life in Vancouver by local creative professionals Anita Cheung and Ryleah Shae, September 13 to 15. With Anita and Ryleah being incredible creatives themselves, this is a really special opportunity to bring a wider community of art lovers young and grown together. We chatted with the pair to learn more. —Vita Daily

Can you share the inspiration behind Tombolo and how the idea of a children’s pop-up art gallery came to life?

Anita Cheung: As a devoted auntie, I’ve spent many hours drawing, colouring, and crafting with my nieces. The way they see the world is always so clever and inspiring which got me thinking that aside from classrooms and homes, children’s artwork doesn’t often get much fanfare or celebration. At the same time, I’m in that stage of my life where half of my friends have kids, and half of them don’t. When conceiving this gallery, we wanted it to be a space that welcomed everyone– even grown-ups who don’t have kids– because there is a lot to learn from these small humans in our lives. 

The word itself, Tombolo, is a word used to describe a strip of land that connects two larger areas of land (one which is often an island). To get a little philosophical, I chose this name because I believe that adults live in one world, and children exist in another– a world that is often unreachable by grown-ups once we’ve passed “through” into adulthood. The hope is that this gallery can bridge the space between the two. 

In terms of how the idea actually took shape– as a creative freelancer who can never stop dreaming, scheming, and working; my “retirement goal” was to open a kid’s art gallery “one day”. While I don’t have the land or funds to do that right now, I figured: hey, why not a tiny version of it in the form of a pop-up? Once the ball got rolling, I knew I had to loop Ryleah in because she is the absolute queen of activations, installations, and bringing 2D dreams into 3D reality. If it was just me, we would have a bunch of art on the walls; but with Ryleah involved, the event has become a full-on experience.

What are some of the unique features or experiences that children and their families can expect when they visit Tombolo?

Anita Cheung: Alongside a gallery wall with over 50 artists, we have a reading nook/ pillow-pit, an arts and craft station,  a “community post office” that folks can contribute to, and a “corner store” where people can pick up an exclusive copy of the “Tombolo Times”. 

Additionally, we’ve partnered with some key players in the city to bring some fun programming in to the space. Events planned for the weekend include: an opening night reception (for kids and grown-ups),  music and arts class with Chorus and Clouds, a kid-friendly happy hour with Witching Hour, a storytime & art class with yours truly, a pop-up vintage shop with Alligator Soup, and a panel discussion with professional creatives: Ciele Beau, Francis Arevalo, Mal Tayag, and Ryleah Shae. 

As creatives, how do you hope this event will impact the local art community and inspire the next generation of young artists?
Anita Cheung: It’s kind of cheesy but I really do believe that “you can’t be what you can’t see” so the hope is that this event will show young artists that their unique opinions matter and their views on the world is important. 

What challenges did you face in bringing this concept to life, and how did you overcome them to ensure that Tombolo would be a memorable experience for all attendees?

Anita Cheung: The biggest challenge was getting people on board without proof of concept. We both have experience running events but have never done something like this before (nor, to our knowledge, has something like this been done before). However, we are grateful that everyone who is involved – from partners to participants – understood the vision and is just as excited as we are to see it come to life. 

And honestly, the other big challenge is finances. Tombolo is totally self-funded, and volunteer-run. As a result, we tried to stay scrappy and get creative wherever we could – doing a lot of things ourselves, re-purposing materials, etc. There are lots of fun ideas we would love to create one day but maybe we’ll save that for when / if we secure a donor partner 😉 

How can interested families get involved in the Tombolo experience, and are there any special events or workshops they should look out for during the gallery’s run?

Families can still submit artwork up until August 30th! To learn more, visit www.tombolo.gallery or follow @hi.neets and @sincerely.studio on Instagram.