An out-of-this-world night of art, music & fun hosted by Artemis, the space-themed whisky bar! All celestial bodies welcome!
This is a fundraiser for the Victoria Arts Council. The proceeds will help us continue the great work we’ve done for over 50 years. This party will provide all the fun you’ve come to expect from us. There will be an art sale, raffle, and Mystery Bags to ensure you don’t go home empty-handed! Stellar entertainment will be followed by a DJ and dancing!
Grab some friends and join us for an out of this world event!
Come as you are, or try on your best space drags! Some looks to consider: Astronauts, Asteroids, Aliens, Black Holes, Mid-Century Atomic Realness, Comets, The Jetsons, Mork & Mindy, Meteorites, Milky Way, Stars, and of course Space Junk.
VICTORIA ARTS COUNCIL | Project Space 670 Fort Street | Thurs – Sun | 12-5
Rebranded as an experimental reading room/library, the Victoria Arts Council’s Fort Street storefront presents a continuation of their Shelf Life project for Winter/Spring 2025. This time, ANOTHER SHELF LIFE, refocuses on printed matter and artistbooks in an expansive way, encompassing the entire venue.
Loosely themed from month to month, with rotating titles on offer, VAC’s executive director and curator of the project, Kegan McFadden, assembles interpretations of what makes a book and where printed matter enters the realm of contemporary art, all while presenting a dynamic new way of engaging with the local art scene.
Highlighting local artists/publishers/writers, on view throughout these monthly exhibitions will be limited edition artistbooks, printed matter, ephemera, and [un]related items of interest.
Chapter 5: Also As Well Too
also as well too| selections from the artistbook library, with a special installation honouring Cliff Eyland
VICTORIA ARTS COUNCIL | Project Space 670 Fort Street
3-31 May 2025
Featuring publications by: Steven Leyden Cochrane, Erika DeFreitas, Hannah Godfrey, Greg A. Hill, Jeanette Johns, Kimiwan Magazine, Craig Love, Mary-Anne McTrowe, Mariana Muñoz Gomez, A.O. Roberts, Suzie Smith, Becca Taylor, Marlene Yuen, Collin Zipp, and more
Letch Kinloch + Kegan McFadden, co-curators
With the blooms of springtime, we turn over our Project Room to highlight a selection of holdings from the wild prairie artistbook library, Also As Well Too. Established in Winnipeg in 2015, this 10th anniversary presentation acts as a reawakening to invite a West Coast audience to learn about this experimental project through a selection of their collected and published books.
Presented alongside this reading-room style exhibit is an installation of the work, Some Authors, by the late Canadian artist and printed matter advocate, Cliff Eyland (1954-2020).
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Chapter 4: Some poetry does, others don’t
3 – 27 April 2025
featuring: Henry Heavyshield, John Latour, Ronnie Montreal, Corrie Peters, Chimwemwe Undi, and Carrie Walker
Screenings of experimental films at night in the windows of our Fort Street Project Space are presented with the financial support of the City of Victoria’s OUR DWTN IDEAS fund.
April’s film selections will feature work by: Big Top Collective, jaz papadopoulos, Grace Salez + Judith Price, and Judy Woo
For International Poetry Month, the Victoria Arts Council turns the page to poets with an emphasis on the visual forms of erasure and concrete poetry. Considering various applications of erasure in poetry, as well as expansive forms of the written work becoming visual and taking up space, Some poetry does, others don’t, builds on the 2023 Victoria Festival of Authors exhibition, as small as a world and as large as alone.
Please join us Thursday 24 April, 5-7PM for John Latour and Sue Hirst, in-conversation with curator Kegan McFadden.
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CHAPTER THREE: Women in Revolt!
From 6-30 March, the third chapter of Another Life unfolds.Titled “WOMEN IN REVOLT” this special presentation recognizes International Women’s Day and showcases printed matter and moving images and original works of art by local and international artists.
Artists contributing to “WOMEN IN REVOLT” include:
Sonja Ahlers, Collage Party, Samantha Dickie, Aganetha Dyck, Lynda Gammon, and Jeanne Randolph, with a special selection of books on loan from Jane Coombe.
Screenings of experimental films at night in the windows of our Fort Street Project Space are presented with the financial support of the City of Victoria’s OUR DWTN IDEAS fund.
March’s film selections will feature work by: LES666, Laura Gildner, Nikki Wilkson, and Marina Roy.
Please join us for an intimate Artists in Conversation with Jeanne Randolph and Marina Roy, Saturday 29 March from 2PM-3PM.
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CHAPTER TWO: “A Little Sugar in My Bowl”
Made popular by two Black American female singers thirty years apart, the song that has inspired this selection was originally recorded by blues singer Bessie Smith in 1931, and later interpreted by Nina Simone as part of her Backlash Blues album released in the throes of the civil rights movement. In the context of Another Life, (a project centering publications and related artworks) might these lyrics be about sex and intimacy, or just wanting to be seen?
From Thursday 6 February – Sunday 2nd March, the second chapter of Another Life unfolds.Titled “A Little Sugar in My Bowl” this special presentation recognizes Black History Month and showcases printed matter and moving images by local and international artists.
Artists contributing to “A Little Sugar in My Bowl” include:
Aya Behr +Kemi Craig, Ingrid Mesquita, and Paul Mpagi Sepuya with publications on loan from Blackspace Library.
This chapter includes the re-staging of the mural by Ingrid Mesquita that previously graced the exterior of our Pat Martin Bates Gallery on Store Street, a curated selection of titles from Blackspace Library, and a special presentation of zines, printed matter, and monographs by LA-based artist Paul Mpagi Sepuya.
Screenings of experimental films at night in the windows of our Fort Street Project Space are presented with the financial support of the City of Victoria’s OUR DWTN IDEAS fund.
Films presented in conjunction with “A Little Sugar in My Bowl” included: Wash Over by Aya Behr,Praying for Time by Kriss Munsya, and Battle Cry by Rhonda Hackett.
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CHAPTER ONE: MILE ZERO
Beginning Thursday 9 January, the first installment of Another Life is titled “MILE ZERO” and considers place and placelessness through the contemporary lens of printed matter and moving images.
Artists contributing to “Mile Zero” include:
John G Boehme, Cathy Busby, Jean Murray, Ed Ruscha, and Wendy Thompson, with additional publications by Ian Baxter&, Douglas Coupland, Ryan Foerster, Jeff Jones, Leah McInnis + David Peters, Tracy McMenemy, and others.
Screenings of experimental films at night in the windows of our Fort Street Project Space are presented with the financial support of the City of Victoria’s OUR DWTN IDEAS fund.
Films presented in conjunction with Mile Zero included: Cake by Leah McInnis and David Peters, 200 Seconds on Scafe Hill by Nick Noble, and Anastomosis of Sunlit Generations by Jeffrey Ellom.
The Victoria Arts Council acknowledges the partnership with The Bay Centre, and funding from CRD Arts, BC Arts Council, and the Province of BC, as well as our Members for their support.
With the ever-increasing costs to operate, the VAC is in the very unfortunate circumstance where we now need financial help from our core supporters — the community of artists, educators, and arts enthusiasts we’ve served for decades.
If you’ve enjoyed our programming, or have been one of the hundreds of artists we’ve uplifted through exhibitions and other opportunities, we’re now calling in the favour.
Please donate to the VAC today … no amount is too little or too much!
{charitable tax receipts issued at time of donation}
Though we have been able to increase and diversify our revenue stream over recent years, it just isn’t enough to cover costs anymore.
We’ve been there for you since 1968, and together we’ve built something incredible and unique to Victoria … please help us raise the much needed funds to keep the VAC going!
29 April – 22 July 2025 GVPL Emily Carr Branch 3521 Blanshard St #101, Victoria, BC MTWFS 10am-6pm / Th 10am-7pm
About the Artist and Work: As an artist I like to explore all mediums, but I focus predominantly on painting and photography. Being a lesbian artist I really struggled making artwork that represented my experience but at the same time didn’t exploit it. In the last 5 years my style completely shifted to abstract as I fell in love with the way I could capture senses beyond sight, like touch and sound.
Domestic versus public spaces have always fascinated me. They are a large theme in my work and the bed sheets that I paint on reflect that. All the sheets I work with are reclaimed. Upcycling sheets not only reduces my environmental footprint, it also is an avenue to introduce traces of humanity to my work – these sheets have been lived in. Though my works express incredibly vulnerable motifs, like my mine and my partner’s shared bed, I have stripped them down to the only parts that truly matter to be explored to me. I am always aware of two audiences for work; people who will relate to my experience and people who I am trying to explain it to, and this plays a large role in how I create. The works I have on display today are greatly influenced by Tammy Rae Carland, Tracy Emin, Laura Mulvey, and Helen Frankenthaler.
