Owned and operated by Vancouver Native Housing Society (VNHS), Skwachàys (pronounced skwatch-eyes) Lodge and Residence were established by social housing organization, Vancouver Native Housing Society. The building is comprised of a boutique hotel, a fair-trade Indigenous art gallery, and also houses two social enterprises owned and operated by Vancouver Native Housing Society (VNHS). Please note that due to COVID-19 the hotel is currently closed to guests.
About
VNHS opened Skwachàys Lodge, the Urban Aboriginal Fair-Trade Gallery, and the Artists in Residence Program in June of 2012. The former Pender Hotel was transformed from a three-and-a-half-story derelict SRO hotel to a unique Indigenous social enterprise that combines a boutique hotel with a street-level art gallery, that supports on-site housing and studio space for 24 Indigenous artists.
VNHS identified the vulnerability of many urban Indigenous artists – artists in need of housing, artists who for various reasons are not able to properly represent and market themselves or their work. Often these artists are commercially exploited through a long established ‘street or underground’ market that takes advantage of their vulnerability. They try to live ‘off their work’ by selling on the street or in the bars or through the commercial dealer network that purchases original, gallery quality art for, at times, only five or ten cents on the dollar.
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- Monday09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
- Tuesday09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
- Wednesday09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
- Thursday09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
- Friday09:00 AM - 05:00 PM
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