Vancouver Art Gallery is facing criticism over unaffiliated Charlie Kirk memorial

The Vancouver Art Gallery, the largest art museum in Western Canada, is facing criticism online over an unaffiliated Charlie Kirk memorial hosted near its grounds.

A flyer circulated online by Masha Kleiner, an activist who has organized pro-Israel protests in Vancouver, shows that Turning Point Canada is hosting a “Memorial and Candlelight Vigil” in Kirk’s memory on September 10.

The flyer advertises the event as happening from 6-8 p.m. at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Kirk, the right-wing political activist who founded Turning Point USA, was shot dead on September 10, 2025, while speaking at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, in an outdoor campus debate planned by his organization.

On Monday, the Vancouver Art Gallery posted a notice to social media that it was is aware of fraudulent emails being sent to artists by scammers falsely claiming to represent the museum—a trend that Urgent Matter has previously reported on in the art world.

The post was flooded with comments critical of the Charlie Kirk event, prompting a response from the museum.

“The Gallery is not affiliated with that event. The plazas and squares adjacent to the Gallery are public spaces, utilized by the community for numerous self-organized activities, protests and events,” the museum said in its reply to one commenter.

“The Gallery has no role in approving, determining or overseeing these activities. The opinions and subject matters expressed at events held on šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énk Square (formerly known as the Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza) and Robson Square are those of the event hosts, organizers and attendees.”

But commenters criticized the museum for offering “this same response copied and pasted several times.”

“Grow a back bone and state that you do not condone this memorial. As an Albertan, I am living the very real nightmare of Americans intruding on Canadian land,” Instagram user @edenthelx responded to the museum.

“We all need to be LOUD in speaking against racism and bigotry. Put a call out to the artist community to rally against this memorial!”

On Instagram’s Threads platform, Vancouver residents shared that they were organizing a rival “Love Is Stronger Than Hate Vigil” to counter the Turning Point event.

“It's a public space. There is nothing to do unless they break the law,” Threads user Jonathan Lomas said in a post. “A well-prepared giant counterprotest with great media coverage is likely the most effective response.”

The news comes after Italian-born artist Sergio Furnari said he would debut a monument depicting Kirk in New York City’s Times Square on the anniversary of his death.

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