A new community-driven art exhibition opening in January aims to bring Kamloops residents together to reflect on the loss of the Red Bridge and the shared experiences tied to it.
The DIS//CONNECT: Remembering the Red Bridge in Time opens Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Kamloops Arts Council and runs until Feb. 12. Organized by the Indigenous Resurgence Project (IRP), the exhibition features more than 40 works by over 20 artists responding to the bridge’s destruction and its lasting impact on movement, access, and connection within the city.
“We have put together a community group exhibition that has invited artists from all sorts of different backgrounds and different mediums and even experience levels to come together and connect and share their reflections and their memories and their experiences of the Red Bridge,” said Shay Paul, project director and one of the exhibition’s curators.
For generations, the Red Bridge served as a vital crossing and a familiar landmark in Kamloops. Its sudden loss altered daily routines and fractured established pathways between neighbourhoods. The exhibition responds to that rupture by creating a shared space for reflection, remembrance, and reconnection.
Visitors can expect a wide range of artistic mediums throughout the Alcove and Vault Gallery, including poetry, photography, acrylic and watercolour paintings, mosaics, woodwork, digital design, and mixed-media installations.
“When we were putting together this exhibition, we wanted it to be accessible to all sorts of different people, whether that was new artists or professional artists,” Paul said. “It’s a really interesting exhibition to see because there are so many different parts coming together to tell the story of community and how people from all walks of life are sharing their experiences.”
In addition to visual and written works, the exhibition includes interactive elements designed to encourage public participation. Paul said accessibility and inclusivity were central goals throughout the planning process.
“It is completely free to attend,” she said. “There is no cost and no expectations when you attend. It is open to all walks of life and all age groups. This is about community coming together.”
The exhibition is presented in partnership with the Kamloops Arts Council, the Kamloops Museum and Archives, and the Kamloops Heritage Railway. The museum and archives have contributed historical photographs, newspaper clippings, and a digital interactive display documenting the Red Bridge through time. The Kamloops Heritage Railway is providing remnants of the bridge walkway, along with historical context about the #2141 steam engine located beneath the former bridge site.
“When I heard about the exhibition I got goosebumps,” said Terri Axani, executive director of the Kamloops Heritage Railway. “My first job in Kamloops was under the Red Bridge at Two River Junction. Now, almost thirty years later, I have come full circle.”
Paul said the exhibition is meant to serve not only as an artistic response, but as a shared place for memory and healing.
“This bridge was a part of all of our lives,” she said. “I wanted to provide something to the community — a space for reflection, memory, and connection — not only for artists, but for the general public as well.”
The DIS//CONNECT: Remembering the Red Bridge in Time will be hosted at the Kamloops Arts Council, 7 Seymour Street West. A public opening reception will take place Saturday, Jan. 10, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. Admission is free.
