This spring I noticed that the Fifty Fifty Arts Collective had to issue an announcement limiting crowd capacity for performances at its Douglas Street location, that The Ministry of Casual Living is proactively soliciting patronage for its continued survival, and that a significant creative presence in the Brown House collective (Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie) have left Victoria to settle in Montreal. Finally, at a recent open house for the Vancouver Island School of Art some graduate students and younger instructors were talking very positively about the prospect of staying in Victoria and making it work...somehow.
I suppose this has brought to mind the question about making, exhibiting and selling art in Victoria...especially with regard to artists who have begun participating in local group shows or have had the attention of solo shows, and now wonder about strategies for maintaining a sense of momentum here and presence elsewhere...Putting aside momentarily the mere question of survival, what about the problem of trying to reach an audience past that show at the Lab or Open Space? How do we grow a more sustaining art scene?
J.L.
4 comments:
Good to see your blog John. Will be reading the articles slowly tomorrow.
It's June 28 today. On the bus home from Vancouver Island School of Art yesterday, I overheard a man say to the bus driver. "Much cooler today. It's so beautiful here and nobody is shooting at us." Bus driver adamantly agreed. That last part "nobody is shooting at us" kept turning over in my mind as I thought of places where just getting through the day is fraught with danger, and yet most people get through it. They even manage to create art. Some of the most evocative art I have ever seen is from Haiti.
I do not see Victoria becoming a major 'art scene' not with Vancouver and Seattle beckoning across the waters. What I see developing is more artists supporting each other. Reaching that Victoria and surroundings audience is difficult with so much calling for their attention. Politically the Victoria demographic seems to be split between conservative (small 'c') which favours traditional art work and labour (working class) who mostly see art as something largely irrelevant. There is a small minority who cannot live without art and cutting-edge culture and that's the group Victoria's contemporary artists have to reach.
In Montreal I had a group of supporters for my art. There were people who wanted to know what I was going to do next and when could they see my new work. Ah bliss. Was it a choice between living in a beautiful place 'with nobody shooting at us' (Victoria) and having an audience for my work (Montreal)? I'm still asking that question.
So my advice to younger artists would be to support your colleagues, appreciate your beautiful surroundings and make connections in the larger cities, like Vancouver and Seattle to show your work. At the same time, reach out to the Victoria's seemingly small audience. Create a web site with images of your work and get that URL out there.
Thanks for that… by and large I think that yes, the idea is to connect to larger centres, but also stay and work to keep things as interesting and supportive here as they can be. Recently, a colleague pointed out to me that I'm missing another consideration, which is the commercial art & illustration field. There is more to be said about the division (as such) between artists who work in applied fields, those who do not, and the many who have connections to both streams, and I'd like to write at greater length soon about it. For now I'll just say that my original question, as phrased, seemed a little provocative or naive, but that I remain very disappointed to see groups like the Fifty-Fifty or the Ministry struggle. I do at times feel that not enough is being done to connect disparate parts of the art scene (academic, commercial, independent, etc.) here, and that blaming some Victoria’s conservatism or provincialism is insufficient.
JL,
"Victoria's conservatism or provincialism?" Yes, I place that blame but I am referring to a disconnect between the larger audience of Victoria and the art community.
I applaud your idea:
"to connect disparate parts of the art scene (academic, commercial, independent, etc.) here"
but I am somewhat fatalistic about making huge connections to that larger Victoria audience. (Unless you want to paint a bear.)
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