First Light, Accessible Art Exhibition and Auction at CICA is a focused initiative dedicated to supporting artists at the early stages of their practice by creating direct pathways into exhibition-making and the art market. Bringing together a diverse group of emerging voices, this project offers artists the opportunity to present their work within a professional institutional context while engaging meaningfully with collectors and new audiences.
The exhibition brings together 33 participating artists and over 70 works at CICA Vancouver, presenting a broad and layered conversation across painting, photography, ceramics, printmaking, lens-based media, mixed media, and sculptural practices. Across the exhibition, artists approach their practices through a wide range of mediums and visual languages. Some works draw from landscape, atmosphere, and natural phenomena, tracing how colour, shadow, weather, and horizon shape perception. Others turn inward, using the body, domestic space, personal mythology, or remembered places as sites where emotion and experience become visible.
First Light creates a constellation of distinct practices that move between figuration and abstraction, intimacy and scale, material experimentation and narrative detail. The exhibition highlights CICA Vancouver’s commitment to presenting contemporary art as a space of encounter, where diverse artistic voices can meet through shared questions.
The participating artists include:
Tiffany Blaise
Miguel Bustamante
Lydia Chen
Sichen Grace Chen
Garrett Andrew Chong
Joseph Cunningham
Jasonda Desmond
Ebony Dorsett
Becca Dugas
Carey Lynne Fruth
Berk Gunay
Karis Huang
David Hovan
Jean Huang
Uygar Kucuk
Nanna Lunula
Alex Reeder
Jordan Richert
Olivia Robinson
Jazmin Sasky
Hok Kiu Cindy Shum
Sophie Spinelle
Taaye
Grace Tao
Kaleb Thiessen
Biliana Velkova
Xinhang Wei
Sandy Wen
Yuan Wen
Zoe Winters
Sam Guangyuan Xing
Rin Wanchen Yu
Ketty Haolin Zhang
First Light opens at CICA Vancouver on Saturday, August 15, 2026, and remains on view through October 10, 2026. An opening reception will take place on Saturday, August 15, 2026, at CICA Vancouver.
Exhibition Details
Exhibition Dates: August 15 to October 10, 2026
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 15, 2026 | 3 – 6 PM
Please note that the Opening Reception is free with RSVP required.
