Relocation services for British Columbia, Canada

Traveling for Art's Sake

Year-round Cultural Attractions in BC

by Sue Kernaghan
reprinted from Tourism BC

When a town has more art galleries than burger bars, you know you're onto something good. Here in Ganges, on BC's tiny Salt Spring Island, there are at least a dozen art galleries, several craft shops, and untold numbers of artists' studios and workshops tucked away in the woods.

Clearly art matters here, but not just on famously arty Salt Spring. Throughout the province, you'll find communities, dubbed “Arts Towns”, where creative work is the key industry.

Nelson

BC's best-known arts town is probably Nelson, a historic mountain town in the province's Southeast. Home to the renowned Kootenay School of the Arts and to many working artists, this scenic lakeside spot is so rich with cultural life it's been named, by John Villani in his book “The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America”, the number one small arts community in Canada. This bustling community is even due to have a new museum, archives, and art gallery open in its historic town hall in 2005.

Wells

Less famous, but equally intriguing, is the offbeat -- and off-the-beaten-track -- arts town of Wells, eight kilometers west of Barkerville and 76 kilometers east of Quesnel in the Cariboo region. Wells, a mountain village of brightly painted heritage buildings, has changed little, physically, since its days as a mining town in the 1930s. With a population of just a few hundred, it's home to several art galleries, performance spaces, and coffee houses, as well as to Island Mountain Arts (800/442-2787), a school and gallery which offer courses from late winter through to late summer in anything from belly dancing to pottery, song-writing to harp playing. The on-site gallery has an eclectic mix of local works, from paintings and carvings to Wells's signature dog hair socks. The 1930s-themed Jack 'O Clubs Casino and Music Hall operates in the summer, and a new performance space, the Sunset Theatre, is due to open in 2005.

Chemainus

Like Wells, Chemainus, about an hour north of Victoria on Vancouver Island, is a mill town turned arts centre with a fascinating history. About 20 years ago, when the local mill was set to close, residents decided that art, not industry, would keep the town alive. They invited painters from all over the world to create more than 30 murals representing events from local history on walls around town. The outdoor art, along with a lively theatre festival and a variety of galleries and craft shops, has made Chemainus a favourite stop on any Vancouver Island arts tour.

Duncan

Just twenty minutes south of Chemainus is Duncan, home to the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre (877/746-8119; www.quwutsun.ca), where you can see the works of some of the Northwest's best-known First Nations artists.

Another rewarding, if remote, place to see top caliber First Nations art and artifacts is Alert Bay, a 40-minute ferry ride from Port McNeill on Northern Vancouver Island. Here, the U'mista Cultural Centre and Museum (800/690-8222; www.umista.org) houses a world-renowned collection of Kwakwaka'wakw ceremonial regalia as well as stunning modern works in cedar, silver, and gold.

Also on Vancouver Island is the Old School House Arts Centre (250/752-6133; www.theoldschoolhouse.org ) in Qualicum Beach. This heritage building houses studios for photography, pottery, woodturning, textile arts, and painting, as well as classrooms, exhibition space, and a shop. Like many of BC's cultural attractions, the Old School House is not just a gallery. It's also a center for the arts, where visitors can meet artists and see their works in progress.

Self-guided studio tours

Another way to meet artists on their own turf is to follow one of the self-guided studio tours offered by some of the province's arts-rich regions. Though summer is the peak time, many artists keep their studios open year round.

• The Sunshine Coast's Purple Banner Tour (604/740-8288, www.suncoastarts.com), for example, leads to dozens of studios and galleries from Howe Sound to Lund; studios fly a purple banner when they're open for visits.
• Salt Spring Island's Studio Tour (www.saltspringstudiotour.com ) is a self-guided tour offered by over 30 artisans, from jewelry makers to basket weavers; maps are free at the tourist office in the island's main town of Ganges.
• Sooke Community Arts Council (250/642-6411) publishes a free Art Map of the Sooke Region, with directions to over 40 artisans on Southwestern Vancouver Island.

Vancouver

If you're in Vancouver, studio visits are even easier. Just hop a ferry to Granville Island, where you can stroll around dozens of studios and watch artisans create anything from handmade paper to kinetic sculptures and blown glass. While you're there, check out the show at Charles H. Scott Gallery, part of the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, (1399 Johnston St., 604/844-3811) or pop into any of the island's many galleries.

Of course, Vancouver, as a major urban centre, also boasts major urban galleries, including the Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby St., 604/662-4700, www.vanartgallery.bc.ca ), Western Canada's largest art gallery, and the Museum of Anthropology (6393 NW Marine Drive, Vancouver, 604/822-3825, www.moa.ubc.ca ), home to one of the world's leading collections of Northwest Coast First Nations Art.

For more details about cultural events in Vancouver, contact the Alliance for Arts and Culture (604/681-3535; www.allianceforarts.com ) or pick up a copy of The Georgia Straight, a free weekly paper distributed in coffee shops and newspaper boxes around town.

Victoria

Across the water in the capital, cultural highlights include the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1040 Moss St., 250/384-4101, www.aggv.bc.ca , which has one of the most important collections of Chinese and Japanese artifacts in Canada as well as a permanent exhibition of works by Emily Carr, arguably BC's best-known home-grown painter. Carr fans may want to call ahead for a visit to Emily Carr House (207 Government Street, 250/383-5843; www.emilycarr.com), the artist's birthplace, which has been restored to look as it did during her girlhood. Monday Magazine, Victoria's free weekly, has details about exhibits and events around town.

Other galleries

Other urban galleries in British Columbia include the Kelowna Art Gallery (1315 Water St. , Kelowna, 250/762-2226, www.kelownaartgallery.com ), a 15,000 square-foot facility which offers three exhibition spaces, classrooms, and a studio where visitors can create their own art. Opened in 2000 in a striking post-modern building, Prince George's Two Rivers Gallery (725 Civic Plaza, Prince George, 250/614-7800, www.tworiversartgallery.com ) has a changing roster of shows by local, national, and international artists, with a focus on Canadian works. In Prince Rupert, The Museum of Northern British Columbia (100 1st Ave. West, 250/624-3207, www.museumofnorthernbc.com), housed in a longhouse-style facility overlooking the city's waterfront, has one of BC's finest collections of coastal First Nations art, with some artifacts that date back 10,000 years.

From Prince Rupert, ferries and floatplanes leave daily for one of Canada's most exciting cultural destinations, Haida Gwaii, or the Queen Charlotte Islands. Here you can see an outstanding, and growing, collection of Haida art and technology at the Haida Gwaii Museum (250/559-4643) in Skidegate. The museum will ultimately form part of the Qay'llnagaay Heritage Centre, a cultural centre built in the style of a traditional Haida village. The centre, due to open in 2006, will include an interpretive centre, theatre, and art school all dedicated to preserving and celebrating Haida culture.

Whether your art tour takes you to remote Haida Gwaii or on a stroll around the galleries of Vancouver, don't leave without a copy of the latest Arts & Cultural Guide to British Columbia (888/981-9886; www.art-bc.com). Available free at Visitor Infocentres, this essential resource lists museums and galleries, both public and private, as well as artists’ studios throughout the province.

More information

Discovering British Columbia is as easy as calling toll-free 1-800-HELLO BC (North America) or HELLO BC (Greater Vancouver). This reservation and information service puts you in touch with a team of professional travel experts who can provide free help and advice in planning or booking every stage of your getaway, from travel ideas and tips to booking your accommodations, tours, and transportation.

And be sure to check out the Tourism British Columbia web site at www.HelloBC.com.

For more information about individual towns, contact:

• Chemainus Visitor Infocentre: 250/246-3944; www.chemainus.bc.ca
• Nelson Visitor Information Centre: 250/352-3433; 877/663-5706; www.discovernelson.com
• Wells Chamber of Commerce: 877/451-9355; www.wellsbc.com

Sue Kernaghan is a freelance writer based on Salt Spring Island.

Acknowledgements

This article and the images have been kindly provided by Tourism BC
All copyrights are acknowledged.

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