Author Archives: tsammut

Victoria and Expressionism’s Second Wave: The Point Group

January 11 — April 5, 2025

Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen territory

Victoria and Expressionism’s Second Wave: The Point Group exhibition features works of art owned by the University of Victoria. This group of modernist artists emerged in 1959 and cultivated a sense of cohesion through exhibitions of their work at the Point Gallery on Fort Street. They held open space for modern art in Victoria, first initiated by Emily Carr and then picked up by the Society Limners. Although many group members had long and illustrious careers, the artwork that appears in this exhibition is contemporary with The Point Group’s active period — the 1960s.

Featured artists:

Robert de Castro

Richard Ciccimarra

Nita Forrest

Flemming Jorgensen

Duncan de Kergommeaux

Virginia Lewis

Elza Mayhew

Michael Morris

Molly Privett

Herbert Siebner

Sylvia Sutton

William West

Curated by Carolyn Butler-Palmer, Williams Legacy Chair & Associate Professor, Art History & Visual Studies, UVic.

Image: Michael Morris, Untitled (Pat Bay Highway Renovation Series), 1962, U996.18.1, (detail).

Rooting for Reclamation

October 2 – December 7, 2024

Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen territory

Rooting for Reclamation is a space of Black reclamation by guest curator Madison Bridal. Featuring local artists Aya Behr, Kemi Craig, Nathan Smith, and Tajah Olson, this exhibition showcases each artist’s personal interpretation of what Black reclamation means to them. Themes of identity, connection to ancestry, Black beauty, Black joy, strength, representation, community, and home are all explored through the meaningful pieces shared in this exhibition.

Read the curatorial essay.

Image: Nathan Smith, Anansi (detail), 2019.

The Chorus is Speaking: Experiencing Identities of Blackness in Canada

September 18 – December 7, 2024

Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen territory

Ojo Agi – Christina Battle – Charles Campbell – Chantal Gibson – Dana Inkster – Karin Jones – Jan Wade – Syrus Marcus Ware; 8 artists of incredible insight and inventiveness brought together in an exploration of facets of the Black experience on Turtle Island through sculpture, drawing and painting, installation, film, and poetry.

Curated by Michelle Jacques and Jenelle Pasiechnik.

Read the curatorial essay.

Image: Karin Jones, The Bond, 2024. Image courtesy of Art Mûr.

Masked Identity: Artworks by Robert Burke

April 20 – September 7, 2024

Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen territory

Masked Identity focuses on the life and art of Robert Burke, Denesuline (Chipewyan)/Black artist from Fort Smith, NWT. As a residential school survivor of 10 years, Robert knows the power of art. Robert’s art speaks to his life stories that emerge from the various social and political injustices he has experienced throughout his life on systematic, community, and individual levels that have informed Robert’s intricate symbolism. Creating his own elements and symbols, Robert steps out of a defined cultural iconography to construct his own unique style. This exhibition calls viewers in to witness Robert’s artistic and personal transformation as a Survivor who found healing and reconciliation through art.

Explore the Masked Identity 3D virtual exhibition.

Image: Robert Burke, Spirit Mask (detail), 2003.

Fire Season

April 20, 2024 – September 7, 2024

Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen territory

Canadian artist collective Fire Season presents an exhibition of works from their biennial publication, an edited journal of written and visual sense-making on the topic of wildfires. The exhibition features poetry, visual art, photography, and video installation from contributors to the Fire Season book and archival wildfire materials from the BC Forest Discovery Centre to take a comprehensive and inclusive look at how wildfire continues to impact British Columbia in a kaleidoscope of cultural, political, industrial, and ecological ways.

Curated by Amory Abbott and Liz Toohey-Wiese.

Participating artists:

Amory Abbott
Sara-Jeanne Bourget
Ana Diab
Kerri Flannigan
Jonathan S. Green
Jude Griebel
Colton Hash
Eli Hirtle
Sylvia McKelvie
Andreas Rutkauskas
Kyle Scheurmann
Liz Toohey-Wiese

Image: Sara-Jeanne Bourget, Charcoal Studies II, 2021.