Victoria Arts Council
1800 Store Street V8T4R4 Victoria, BC, Canada

What’s a better way to tell someone you might not be able to see this year that you are thinking of them than writing them a Christmas card? If you are looking for well-crafted, beautifully designed holiday cards, look no further! We’ve got you covered! In Little Gems, you can find illustrated cards made by local artists with unique designs you won’t find anywhere else, with very reasonable price! This Christmas, write your loved ones a card and support your local artists!!... We are open every day from 11 am - 5 pm till 20 December #holidaycards #handmadecards #christmascards #littlegems2020 #christmasartshow #yyjarts #yyjartists #supportlocalartistsyyj #christmasshopping #shoplocalyyj

Artist and new member of the VAC Stephen Mann @redheroncreations is here in the gallery with us today! Stephen’s favourite pieces in the Little Gems holiday show are Letting Go & Golden Sunset by Mara Szyp @szyp.ca Stephen said he loves the colour palettes of the ocean scenes and really appreciates the technical skills. ... You can find Mara’s work and Stephen’s own paintings in our holiday show & sale, along with beautiful works done by 50+ local artists! What better way to spend a sunny afternoon than looking at amazing art and supporting local artists! Come down today! We will be here till 5 pm! #holidayartshowyyj #littlegems2020 #victoriaarts #victoriaartscouncil #localartistsyyj #yyjartist #yyjarts #supportlocalartists #artsbc #artsvictoria

Our volunteer today is the loveliest human and amazing artist Marianne Goodrich. Here she is in the gallery with her friend (and VAC board member) Rose Cowles! We asked Marianne what her favourite piece is in the Little Gems show, and she said, I love them all, I can’t choose!... Mask on and join the fun (safely)! Come visit us this sunny afternoon! Here till 5 pm :) #littlegems2020 #victoriaartscouncil #communityartshow #holidayartshow #artsvictoria #artsbc #yyjartist

Lovely Lee, volunteer and friend of the Arts Council, is in the gallery today! Her favourite pieces in Little Gems are the beautiful watercolour illustrations by Lena Carpenter. Lee said I have chosen the artist Lena Carpenter who has two watercolour paintings that I really relate to, one is A Persuasive Raven and the other is The Steadfast Sparrow. I love the detail of the maiden’s hair and facial features, one has her eyes open and the other closed and you can just feel h...er love for the different birds depicted here. I particularly love the Raven artwork with the maiden’s long fingers and how she is communicating with the Raven. From my experience ravens are very smart and I admire them greatly. These birds figure prominently in different cultural stories and lore. I feel like it could be another fairytale about the maiden and the Raven. The other artwork depicts sparrows one sitting on the maiden’s head and the others are in flight. To me it’s a bit like looking at Rapunzel looking out her window. Both artwork have a fantastic arched window looking onto a darkened sky with trees and a starry night. Her play with foreground & background is quite evocative. You can also check out Lena Carpenter’s work in the latest issue of VAC’s UNTIL magazine, The Prequel. #littlegems2020 #victoriaartscouncil #yyjartist #yyjarts #artsvictoria #artsbc #supportlocalartyyj #yyjnonprofit #holidayartshowyyj

On view now at the VAC’s vault project space The Big Five Garry Neill Kennedy 6 November 20 December 2020... Victoria Arts Council 1800 Store Street TuesSat, 125pm Coming this fall to Victoria Arts Council's VAULT Project Space is an installation from one of Canada's most prominent conceptual artists, Garry Neill Kennedy. The country's five largest banks (in terms of assets, deposits and capitalization) are the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion, the Bank of Montreal, and Scotiabank. Together they account for more than 85% of the banking industry in Canada. Kennedy, whose work has often explored institutional power and the political implications of colour, has reassigned the colour schemes of the bank's corporate logos, shifting them one down the financial ladder. The CIBC logo appears in RBC colours, the RBC in TD colours, TD in Scotiabank colours, etc., thus disrupting the institutions' corporate identities. Garry Neill Kennedy is a recipient of the Order of Canada (2003) and the Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2004). In addition to an extensive international exhibition history, Kennedy was the president of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design for twenty-three years (1967-1990), establishing NSCAD as a forerunner in art education. Recently, MIT Press invited Kennedy to author a book, The Last Art College, NSCAD (1968-1978) which chronicles the first decade of his presidency. In 2012, the National Gallery of Canada published the catalogue raisonné Garry Neill Kennedy: Printed Matter, 1971 2009. Concurrent with this reprise of The Big Five is the exhibition NOW BULLETIN: Artworks, Letters and Printed Matter from the Garry Neill Kennedy Collection 1968 2019 presented Griffin Art Projects in North Vancouver. #garryneillkennedy #thebigfive #installationart #conceptualart #canadianartist #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc

The latest issue of UNTIL The Prequel is now LIVE! With special thanks to our guest editor Kemi Craig @kemi.craig The VAC is so excited to bring back our digital magazine UNTIL, created to make art more accessible to everyone in a strange and difficult time. We asked artists to think about what came before this? How does a deep dive into under-acknowledged histories allow for a better understanding of how to be now as well as how to be better for the future? Where do the ...lines of experience blur into what is felt, what is knowable, and what is needed? How does this location of an Island on which we find ourselves reinforce the possibilities of where we might end up next? Will their work be a re-imaging of this time and place? We received so many wonderful submissions and can’t wait to share some of them with you. Please use the link in our BIO or below to access this amazing medley of art. https://vicartscouncil.ca/2020/04/28/until-a-magazine/ #UNTIL #untilmagazine #theprequel #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #digitalmagazine #accessibleart #artsbc #kemicraig

The Victoria Arts Council is excited to announce our new exhibition in partnership with the Garth Homer Society: 4 Perspectives 6 - 28 November 2020 Victoria Arts Council, 1800 Store Street... Tuesday - Saturday 125pm wheelchair accessible, manual door entry required (attendant on site) ** No public reception will take place** 4 Perspectives is an exploration of the individuality of ArtWorks artists. Each artist is represented in four ways: self portrait / directed work / self-directed work / photo subject. Through this structure, the unique qualities of each artist are highlighted, while at the same time contextualizing the overall culture of the ArtWorks studio. 4 Perspectives provides four perspectives of each artist, and exponentially more points of view. ArtWorks is a unique visual arts program that serves adults in the Greater Victoria area who have developmental disabilities. The program mentors Garth Homer Society clients who have a passion for making art to develop their talents and showcase their work in the community. The goal of the ArtWorks program is for artist members to: Express their creativity Develop their unique style Choose to be an artist Show their work in public galleries and other community venues Be recognized as artists in their community In recognition of this partnership the VAC has installed an accessibility ramp for our main gallery space. #victoriaartscouncil #garthhomersociety #inclusivity #accessibility #victoriaarts #artsbc #artsvictoria

Brenda McCarthy, VAC’s member and participating artists in Little Gems 2020, is in the gallery today. Her favorite piece in the show is Cattle Point by Victor Lotto. Brenda said the mountain in the backgrounds reminds her of her homeland of the Philippines. Come check out more work by Victor Lotto and Brenda McCarthy, along with 50+ amazing local artists! ... #littlegems2020 #victoriaartscouncil #yyjartist #yyjarts #artsvictoria #artsbc #supportlocalartists

Stephen has just joined our volunteer team and his favorite piece in the Garth Homer Society 4 Perspectives show is The Zedmin Saga Graphic Novel by Caleb Hideg. Stephen said I like the comic book style of the painting and really admire that Caleb is such a talented young artist. I find his art and words very inspiring. Stephen is a wonderful artist himself and if you want to chat with him more, come by today to look at the show and find out more about Stephen’s art pra...ctices. 4 Perspectives group show will be on through 28 November. We are open Tuesday - Saturday, noon-five. Masks are required upon entry. #garthhomersociety #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc #groupshow

A Reading from the Ether, with bill bissett and Christine Walde presented as part of STANZAS produced by the Victoria Arts Council in conjunction with Planet Earth Poetry Thursday 22 October, 4:30PM PST (online)... Join Zoom Meeting: Email [email protected] for the Login instructions by 3PM Thursday. bill bissett bill bissett garnered international attention in the 1960s as a pre-eminent figure of the counter-culture movement in Canada and the U.K. In 1964, he founded blewointment press, which published the works of bpNichol and Steve McCaffery, among others. bissett’s charged readings, which never fail to amaze his audiences, incorporate sound poetry, chanting and singing, the verve of which is only matched by his prolific writing careerover seventy books of bissett’s poetry have been published. Christine Walde Christine Walde is a writer, artist and librarian whose work combines library and archival research with interests in experimental prose, poetry, visual poetry, performance, and the visual arts. Walde's latest body of work, In a New Order, is on view in the Victoria Arts Council VAULT as part of concrete is porous. #stanzafestival2020 #victoriaartscouncil #concreteisporous #concretepoetry #installations #artsbc #artsvictoria

Dear VAC members! Little Gems 2020 is now open for submissions! Payment through our website is available and appreciated! $10 per work. Please visit vicartscouncil.ca for more application information. ... The VAC is strictly following the provincial COVID guideline. Face masks are required upon entry. Physical distancing will be enforced by staff and volunteers. If you’d like to volunteer for this show, please email Monica at [email protected] We look forward to seeing you (safely) soon! Take care everyone! #LittleGems2020 #holidaypopupshow #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc #christmasshow #membersshow

The VAC is excited to be a part of this year's Bridge Studio Crawl! Our gallery is open to the public on Saturday from noon-5 pm with covid safety protocols in place (masks required!) Please drop by and check out some wonderful local art in a safe and welcoming environment! ... #bridgestudiocrawl2020 #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #archivegallery #errantartspace #ceciliapressstudio #groundzeroprintmakers #ministryofcasualliving #rockbaysqaure #VictoriaPRINT

Did you know that the VAC has three workshops planned for this Fall/Winter? These sessions will be held at our main gallery, 1800 Store Street. Attendance is limited to allow for social distancing. Today’s workshop, led by Leah McInnis, was about traditional & contemporary hand stitching techniques. We had a lovely, intimate time learning with our members in a safe environment. There are two more workshops coming up. Next one is Social Media 101 hosted by Arden Rose on Satu...rday, 14 November at 2 pm. In December, we will have a Match-Box Art workshop hosted by Elizabeth Carefoot on 12December at 2 pm. Interested in attending either/both of these workshops? Please email [email protected] to reserve your spot! Members - Free / Non-members - $10 #artistworkshops #vicartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc #handstiching #bookbinding #artbooks

Today our lovely volunteer Lee is in the gallery. Her favorite piece in the 4 Perspectives group show is Russell Marsh’s Japanese Flower Garden. Lee chose this piece because Russell has taken the famous portrait of Adele by Gustav Klimt and made his own interpretation into his artwork. I really love the colours and the black background with the silver swirls. I also love the bold pattern on the dress, and love her face and hands. Every time I look at the picture, i can’t he...lp smiling at how I admire all the details. What’s nice is that there’s also cards available with Russell’s image. If you are out enjoying the lovely clear sky today, make sure to pop by the arts council to say hi to Lee and check out the Garth Homer society group show 4 Perspectives (on view through 28 November). #garthhomersociety #russellmarsh #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc #localartists

Only two weeks left to submit to VAC’s digital magazine UNTIL... Deadline: 15 October @ 5 PM For the upcoming fall 2020 issue of UNTIL, the theme will be The Prequel with guest editor Kemi Craig. ... Swipe left to see more details about this issue and Kemi Craig’s work! The Victoria Arts Council is seeing submissions of literary works (poetry, prose, essays, criticism, and non-classifiable texts), visual art, moving image, and audio / musical arts to include in the upcoming issue of UNTIL: The Prequel. Please send us your art as either Word, Pages, PDF, Jpeg, PNG, GIF, MP3, MP4 or .MOV to be considered for this special issue of UNTIL to be published in Fall 2020. With your submission please include: - Bio (max 250 words) - Artist statement as it might relate to the theme (max 500 words) - Title, date, medium, and year of work ** All submissions must be sent to [email protected] with the subject line UNTIL: THE PREQUEL DEADLINE: 15 October 2020 @ 5PM All contributors will receive an honorarium as well as one free annual membership to the VAC. Kemi Craig is a film and dance artist living and working in the Lekwungen and WSANEC territories. A cis-gender woman and American of African descent raised in the Cherokee and Catawba territories, her work investigates gender and racialization through movement and installations. Kemi graduated from Emily Carr School of Art and Design with a Master of Fine Arts where she focused on embodiment, biopolitics, Afrofuturism, hauntology and analogue images. She continues to build on these inquiries through work in local galleries such as Flux, Legacy, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, and the Ministry of Casual Living. #victoriaartscouncil #artsvictoria #artsbc #untilmagazine #guesteditor #onlinemagazine #digitalmagazine