EXHIBITION OPENING :

Friday October 13 th 5PM 

Capture The Moment

A favourite memory, or memory you hope to have one day

DEADLINE TO SUBMIT: Saturday October 24th, 2026 at 4pm

The theme this year is “Capture the Moment” draw a favourite memory, or memory you hope to have one day. As always, submissions are made through teachers in elementary schools across the Sunshine Coast.

We hope all elementary students on the Coast will participate by submitting a design. Last year we received over 400 submissions! We very much appreciate your work as an educator in support of this project, and look forward to seeing this year’s designs.

Some things to keep in mind:
● Please find below a specification sheet for paper and design size
● Encourage a creative approach to the theme!
● Please ensure that students use felt markers NOT crayons or pencil crayons to colour their designs in order to make colour matching possible.
● We recommend staying away from large expanses of brown or green (the banners using these colours get lost amongst the trees in Civic Square.)
● Ensure the following information is written on the back of each banner design: Student’s full name / school / division / teacher’s name

How the program works:
● Drop off your students’ submissions to the SCAC by Saturday, October 24th at 4pm. If you are unable to make this deadline, let us know and we will find a way to get them.
● The banner designs from all elementary schools will be shown alongside a special Sechelt Arts Festival exhibition relating to the Salish Sea. Twenty banner designs will be selected and hand-painted onto full-size banners by students and their families in the new year, and hung in the Civic Square (home of the recreation centre and library in Sechelt) in 2026/27.

Exhibition Visit:
Schools are warmly invited to visit the gallery to see their own work on display, celebrate the art of their peers between October 30th – December 4th! If you are interested in bringing your class, contact us at info@sunshinecoastartscouncil.com to find out more about how to book an exhibition self guided tour. Up to two classes are welcome at a time! Funding is limited, and we will disperse this as requests come in.

A Brief History
The Cowrie Street Banner Project began in 1994 as a joint venture between the Sechelt Chamber of Commerce and the Sunshine Coast Arts Council. In approximately 2003, the priorities of the Chamber of Commerce changed, and the project is now operated entirely by the Sunshine Coast Arts Council and sponsored by Clayton’s Heritage Market. From 1994–2014 the banners decorated Sechelt’s Cowrie and Wharf streets. As of 2014, the banners are hung in Sechelt’s Civic Square creating their own outdoor gallery.

The Process
From the time that the theme for the year’s banner is decided upon in September to the hanging of the banners in February there are a number of steps and variety of people involved. After the theme for the current year is chosen, elementary school students are asked to submit a design. Total entries from the various schools usually range from 300–500. After all the entries are received, they are put on exhibition in the gallery of the Sunshine Coast Arts Centre for four weeks. A committee selects the 20 finalists, and those selected are honoured at an awards ceremony on the final day of the exhibition where they are presented with a certification of appreciation. Each of the chosen designs is then projected, traced and hand painted onto a 6-foot length of fabric by volunteer artists. The banners hang from May to November in Civic Square.