As part of the AGGV’s 2021 Celebration of Art — a new virtual program throughout the month of July — we have joined forces with arts and community groups in the CRD. We have collaborated with these fantastic organizations to create videos that highlight the important work that they are doing in the arts community. These short clips include tours of studio and gallery spaces, interviews with artists, members, and administrators working with these institutions, and even one virtual “Imagination Station”, which invites you to get creative from the comfort of your home. Watch the whole series to learn about all the great things that local arts organizations are doing in your community.
Learn more about Xchanges Gallery & Studios:
Website: https://xchangesgallery.org/
Facebook: @Xchanges.Gallery
Instagram: @xchangesartists
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is located on the traditional territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking peoples, today known as the Esquimalt and Songhees Nations. We extend our gratitude and appreciation for the opportunity to live and work on this territory.
Videography and editing by Marina DiMaio.As part of the AGGV’s 2021 Celebration of Art — a new virtual program throughout the month of July — we have joined forces with arts and community groups in the CRD. We have collaborated with these fantastic organizations to create videos that highlight the important work that they are doing in the arts community. These short clips include t …
Chapters
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Intro
Intro
0:00
Intro
0:00
About Xchanges
About Xchanges
0:13
About Xchanges
0:13
Bill Bartlett
Bill Bartlett
3:22
Bill Bartlett
3:22
Richard Waterman
Richard Waterman
4:21
Richard Waterman
4:21
Shannon Holmes
Shannon Holmes
5:25
Shannon Holmes
5:25
Gregory Varano
Gregory Varano
5:50
Gregory Varano
5:50
Susan Nonen
Susan Nonen
6:37
Susan Nonen
6:37
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Art Gallery of Greater Victoria4.5(420)Art gallery
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Intro
0:00
my name is heidi bergstrom i am the
0:02
president of exchanges gallery and
0:04
studios
0:05
uh this is my third year of being
0:07
president but i have been a member here
0:09
since 1999 when i first moved to
0:11
victoria
About Xchanges
0:13
so exchanges was founded in 1967.
0:16
during a time the late 60s early 70s was
0:19
when
0:20
many groups were starting to form
0:22
collectives and
0:23
artists run centers and the arts council
0:26
was formed at that time and
0:27
open space so these groups really
0:30
started to found
0:31
found the art scene here in victoria
0:34
exchanges is comprised of many different
0:36
artists from
0:37
many different media and walks of life
0:40
there’s an open door policy at exchanges
0:43
where we attract people from
0:45
all kinds of places so that’s a very
0:47
exciting community to be in
0:49
many times emerging artists come to
0:51
exchanges and this is their first
0:53
introduction to the broader art scene
0:55
especially after school
0:57
so exchanges has always been an
1:00
important
1:01
place in victoria we are funded through
1:04
the bc government
1:05
the gaming grant we are funded through
1:07
the crd
1:08
public arts program so they fund the
1:11
operation of the gallery we do a lot of
1:13
fundraising on our own
1:14
and of course we have members we have
1:16
over 128 members right now
1:18
and so those are comprised of artists
1:20
who are here in the studios and artists
1:22
who are out at their own studios
1:24
and in the community even as far away as
1:27
rhode island
1:28
and manitoba california all over
1:32
when the pandemic hit we had to stop all
1:35
of our life drawing programs
1:37
and all of our other programs that took
1:38
place here in the gallery and we we put
1:40
them all online
1:42
when we did that we were really stepping
1:45
out we didn’t really know what we were
1:46
doing in terms of how’s the community
1:48
going to respond
1:49
a lot of people said no no you can’t do
1:51
this it’s it’s you know nobody wants to
1:53
do life drawing online
1:54
well in fact it was the opposite we had
1:56
many people coming out who
1:58
sent us emails saying thank you i
2:00
haven’t been to life drawing for 10
2:02
20 30 years and suddenly they were back
2:05
at it and they were connecting with
2:07
people online
2:08
we had since may between may and august
2:11
we had
2:12
over 450 people participating in online
2:15
life drawing we also were able to hire
2:17
models from outside the city as well
2:20
we had models coming from california
2:22
from new york
2:23
um la all over the place and so it was
2:26
really exciting for us to be involved in
2:27
that we’re going to continue as well
2:29
when we get our in-person life drawing
2:32
going again
2:33
we will also include the online
2:34
community as we did in september
2:36
so that hybrid model of online and
2:39
in-person at the same time is really
2:41
important because
2:42
in fact we are all part of one community
2:45
and so
2:46
we teach people that um it’s all one
2:49
room
2:50
whether it’s online or in person we’re
2:52
all in the same room together and they
2:53
share the work at the end
2:54
and that kind of thing as well so it’s
2:56
very exciting and we also had our first
2:58
digital exhibition
2:59
online um our members show this show
3:02
actually had a digital
3:04
incarnation and we also had a covid show
3:06
so covid life
3:08
drawing during um the time of covet when
3:11
so that was very exciting we had over 68
3:13
people show up for the virtual opening
3:14
for that one
3:16
and literally hundreds of pieces of art
3:18
online right now that you can see
3:20
through our art gallery online
Bill Bartlett
3:24
hi welcome my name is bill bartlett
3:27
please come on into the studio
3:29
um i will say that i like to tell people
3:32
that there’s
3:33
viewer discretion as you’ll see from
3:35
looking around it’s all about the human
3:37
form
3:38
but you’re certainly welcome i’ve been
3:41
a studio member of exchanges now for
3:44
since 2014 but my involvement goes back
3:48
from
3:48
the early 70s when exchanges were still
3:51
at
3:52
signal hill and i got involved in
3:55
life drawing and i think the thing
3:58
about exchanges that’s really important
4:01
to me
4:01
is the people and the work that we do
4:05
and here in the studios there’s that
4:07
relationship between
4:08
your other studio mates um you know
4:11
exchanging ideas no pun intended uh
4:14
just the idea that we’re here and
4:18
we’re here for the same reason
Richard Waterman
4:23
hi i’m richard watchman and this is
4:26
my studio uh it’s a little crowded but
4:30
you’re welcome to
4:31
to come in um i’ve been part of
4:34
exchanges
4:35
for decades it’s i really value it as a
4:39
community affordable space but also
4:41
there’s other artists around to
4:43
gain ideas from get feedback from it so
4:45
it’s it’s a real positive thing
4:47
most of my work involves the viewer
4:50
physically
4:51
interacting with them so
4:54
masks masks open and and clothes and
4:59
viewers are in charge of of what happens
5:02
these ones are recent landscapes those
5:04
things don’t move um
5:06
but these ones these big ones do so the
5:10
viewer can
5:11
and reposition what’s going on with them
5:14
and and this collaboration with making
5:17
the painting
5:18
with the model and then there’s
5:20
collaboration between viewer and
5:22
artists in in seeing it hi my name is
Shannon Holmes
5:26
shannon holmes and i’m a new member with
5:29
the exchanges art gallery and i’ve also
5:31
just joined as a board member
5:33
for their marketing and communications
5:36
and
5:37
i’m really excited about being a member
5:39
because i think
5:40
exchanges is a hidden gem it has a
5:42
wonderful rich history
5:44
and it has a long long history in the
5:47
community
5:48
and i think you should come down and see
Gregory Varano
5:50
the show hi
5:51
i’m gregory varano i am a member of the
5:54
crossgrain photo society
5:56
and a member of exchanges
6:00
and a new member to the board of
6:01
exchanges but let me take you into
6:03
crossgrain
6:04
it’s victoria’s only wet dark room that
6:07
i know of
6:08
where you can print and process
6:11
traditional
6:12
film let’s have a walk in
6:17
this is our wet room facilities with two
6:20
enlargers
6:21
a sink with all traditional chemistry
6:24
and this is where you can come in and
6:26
process your film
6:28
the old fashioned way through tanks
6:31
reels and print them
6:35
traditional way too through analog
Susan Nonen
6:38
printing
6:40
so we do accept new members so you can
6:42
always
6:43
check us out on the exchange’s website
6:46
cross grains photo society
6:49
hello welcome to my studio
6:52
mine and chantals and this is my chaotic
6:56
work
6:56
over here um
7:00
my name is susan nonen by the way and
7:03
i am an oil painter i work in linen
7:07
i’m the picture i’m working on right now
7:10
i’m not sure if i’m ever gonna work on
7:12
it again
7:12
i’m at that point i already scrubbed it
7:16
and this was my before work this is all
7:18
exchanges work
7:20
um that i’ve done since i’ve been at
7:22
exchanges
7:23
and it’s it’s very dynamic place to work
7:26
and and being in the middle of the city
7:30
has just been
7:32
fantastic i think we’re good for
7:35
the city and the city being here is good
7:37
for us
7:39
so endless exchanges is wonderful you
7:42
get to be
7:43
completely who you are as long as you’re
7:45
willing to cooperate
7:47
cooperate it’s it’s an artist
7:49
cooperative
7:50
and so it’s essential that everybody
7:53
does everything
7:54
takes command everybody feels everybody
7:57
feels from the heart
7:58
here it’s really wonderful that’s it i’m
8:10
done
8:22
you
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