Lorna Bergen, Nancy Dolan and Jan Dong at Metchosin Art Gallery

Vancouver Island Surface Design Association at the Metchosin Gallery

Current Threads 2013: Vancouver Island Surface Design Association Show runs September 5 – September 29

Opening party is Saturday, September 7, 2:00-5:00pm.

The Vancouver Island Surface Design Association, are set to exhibit at the Metchosin Art Gallery for the month of September. Current Threads 2013 is an excellent opportunity for art lovers to learn more about fibre art and its rich history. Fibre art has long been recognized for its domestic and utilitarian functions, this fact is something artists currently working in the field cannot escape. This has led to many artists using fibre to distort of revive these ancient traditions – the result being some powerful work that addresses gender stereotypes and cultural heritage.

The Surface Design Association is an International group of textile artists with area chapters. The Vancouver Island Chapter formed 3 years ago and has 33 members, most show and exhibit nationally and internationally. Members have lived all across the continent before settling here and bring a variety of approaches and viewpoints to their work.

New art space created beside Metchosin Art Gallery - July 20, 2013

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA. Shelf Life is a new, free art space, available for artists and their creative ideas.  The space is made up of an old trophy case, and a row of shelves that had been sitting empty in the hallway of the Metchosin Arts and Cultural Centre.  Curator of the Metchosin Art Gallery, Hailey Finnigan, decided to turn these empty shelves into a free installation space for artists – no commission and no fees.

By creating Shelf Life, artists can let loose and be more experimental, show works in progress, or try out new ideas.

“When you charge fees you limit yourself to the kind of art you can show,” commented Finnigan.  “Not everyone can afford to pay fees.  The Metchosin Art Gallery has to operate within that framework, and having Shelf Life here means artists can be creative without the concern of money or making sales.”  The creation of Shelf Life means people can come to the art centre and explore a wider range of art making.  “I foresee it being liberating for both artists and viewers,” said Finnigan, “I hope to see some wild and weird art here.”  Artists interested in Shelf Life should contact Hailey Finnigan, info@metchosinartgallery.ca.  Gallery hours are 12:00 – 5:00pm Thursday through Sunday.

For more information contact:

Hailey Finnigan

Curator

Metchosin Art Gallery

4495 Happy Valley Road

250-298-8063

250-478-9223

info@metchsoinartgallery.ca

www.metchosinartgallery.ca

Connie Michelle Morey at the Metchosin Art Gallery

Stinking Fish Artists at the Metchosin Art Gallery

Connie Michele Morey at The Metchosin Art Gallery

Bonnie Coulter, Angela Menzies & Margaret Heywood at Metchosin Art Gallery

Trish Shwart at Shelf life part of the Metchosin Art Gallery

" Elegant Eye " group exhibit at the Metchosin Art gallery

Elegant Eye - group show at The Metchosin Art Gallery

Will Gordon at The Metchosin Art Gallery

" Fair Fauna " at The Metchosin Gallery

Next Course at the Metchosin Art Gallery

Massively Mini Art at the Metchosin Art Gallery

Frank Mitchell & Sylvia Bews-Wright at The Metchosin Art Gallery

 "Monsters"

 Frank Mitchell and Sylvia Bews-Wright

Oct. 6 to 28, 2012 

 Monsters is an art show that continues the tradition of the political cartoon by using art as a form of political commentary.  Paintings of various dictators, tyrants and politicians will be on display.  Monsters will provides art lovers with examples of how art can be both creative and politically critical.  Mitchell and Bew-Wright make political art because each sees it as a valuable form of protest.  Bews-Wright noted, “My motivation is to make viewers test their own sense of history and personal responsibility…we are all complicit when we do nothing.”

Opening party is Saturday, October 6th at 1pm. 

The Metchosin Art Gallery 

4495 Happy Valley Rd.

open Thursday to Sunday 12 – 5pm.

Maggie Cole at The Metchosin Art Gallery

 

Maggie Cole: A Retrospective, is an exhibition of work done over a period of 14 years.  The origins of the artist's current painting are seeded in her early works in dry point and works on paper.  This show will feature select works from periods in Cole's broad body of work.  The artist described her process by stating, "When I begin I don't have a clear idea of what the finished piece will look like, but I do have a very clear idea of the aesthetic quality I am after. I am always trying to make objects that convey or make clear a feeling - often this feeling is a bittersweet one, reflecting I suppose, how life appears to me."

Maggie Cole has studied at the Victoria College of Art, with Bill Porteous, and is a member of the Abstraction Group.  She is a recipient of a Juror's Choice Award at this years Sooke Fine Art Show.