Previous Exhibitions

Cross Connections: Five Decades of Contemporary Art in the Pacific Northwest

January 6 to February 21, 2010

In June 2009, the Coast Art Trust Society donated an important historical collection of more than 100 works by forty-five established West Coast Artists to the University of Victoria. This exhibit features a selection of works from the collection.

The collection to date consists of paintings, sculpture, collage, mixed media and photography from three different decades of each artist's career, representing a historical overview of the works and careers of forty-five artists who live on the West Coast of British Columbia and who have been actively working and exhibiting locally, nationally and internationally for at least 25 years.

Ted Harrison Retrospective

August 19, 2009 to January 3, 2010

See the brilliant, colourful landscapes that have made Ted Harrison an icon on the Canadian art scene.  This exhibition celebrates 40 years of Ted Harrison in Canada and the launch of Katherine Gibson’s Harrison biography, Painting Paradise.

Taking Flight: The Art of J. Fenwick Lansdowne

December 10, 2008 to May 3, 2009

An exhibit showcasing the life's work of one of Canada's foremost avian artists, J. Fenwick Lansdowne. Born in Hong Kong, Lansdowne spent the majority of his life in British Columbia where he created delicate representations of birds and plant life. These renderings led to his being appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1976, followed by the award of the Order of British Columbia in 1995. "Taking Flight" features a variety of Lansdowne's works, including watercolor paintings, drawings, and prints.

Copper Thunderbird: Invention, Inspiration and Transformation

July 9 to November 30, 2008

"Copper Thunderbird: Invention, Inspiration and Transformation" featured painted works spanning three decades as well as costumes, drawings, and photographs created by UVic professor Mary Kerr from "Copper Thunderbird," a play about Norval Morrisseau.

Artists mediate realities and bridge worlds. The shaman lives in two or more inter-visible worlds and functions traditionally as the go-between to bring back what he sees to make art and transform the world. The stage artist has to bridge the stage world to the audience. We were looking for a stage environment that would be a container for Norval's Shaman and artist consciousness and Marie Clement's script. We needed a theatrical world in its own right and not an illustration of his paintings or a documentary of his life. I envisioned the stage design as representing the interior of Norval's mind, where everything in the play, all the events, real and imaginary, were seen through the shifting shapes and colours of shamanistic consciousness.