Call to Artists: Haiku Exhibition 2026

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival In Partnership with the Museum of Vancouver

The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (VCBF) invites a unique opportunity for emerging and established artists, with priority being given to artists who identify as Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and/or Japanese Canadian, to produce an exciting new work to celebrate the 2025 winners of the Haiku Invitational and the transcendent fleeting beauty of the flowering cherry tree.

Interested artists will choose one of the six winning haiku poems and propose an original visual piece (or an adapted piece that works well in conversation with the poem that integrates the poem text into the artwork). Selected artists will be chosen by a panel of Festival artists.

🌸🌸🌸 Submit your application form here 🌸🌸🌸

Artist Application Deadline: December 5, 2025 (11:59PM PST)

About

The installation will be displayed at several of our Signature Events, including The Big Picnic, Blossoms After Dark, and Sakura Days Japan Fair.

It will consist of 6 illuminated cylinders independently supported to highlight the beauty of the cherry tree trunks and the cylinders will be 4’ diameter x 6’ high wooden structures that will support a printed translucent fabric (held at top and bottom only).  The translucent fabric will be backlit using LED flex light, located at the top and bottom of the cylinder.

Requirements

We invite you to showcase your creativity by displaying the winning haiku in a large, easily visible font on
a fabric canvas. Each artist will be responsible for designing one cylinder wrap. 

To view previous year’s featured artists and their artwork, visit Haiku Exhibition.

Artwork will be due on February 1, 2026. Each artist will receive a compensation of $2,000.

Artwork Specifications:

• Format: Landscape
• Original Artwork Size: 60″ x 135″ with a 1″ bleed
• Integration: The haiku text, along with the poet’s name must be clearly incorporated into the design.
• Medium: Both digital and traditional methods (e.g., hand-drawn or painted) are accepted. If you opt for traditional methods, please ensure that your final artwork is digitized to meet our submission requirements.

Important: All submitted art must be vectorized.
In order to print artwork, it needs to be in vector format. If you are unable to provide this, please check in with the VCBF team right away so that we can arrange to assist you.

If you have any questions or need further information, please don’t hesitate to contact our Executive Director, Andrea Arnot, at [email protected].

For more details, see the full document: Call to Artists_ Haiku Exhibition 2026.