A unique art shows return to Saanich and parts of Victoria.
Artists working in different media will be opening their homes and creative processes to the public during the 15th annual Scattered Artists Art Tour May 19 and 20.
Twenty artists, from painters to potters, will showcase their work in nine private homes within an area bordered by Mount Douglas, Swan Lake, Blanshard Street, Shelbourne Street, and Hillside Avenue. Audience members can visit these private impromptu galleries between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Organizer Nancy Fraser, a local potter, said the show offers interested audience members rare insights into the artistic process that would not be available in more familiar, formalized gallery spaces.
“They go to the artist’s studio, they get to see where they work, the kind of things they work on, and get more of a feel for the artists,” said Fraser. “It is just more homey.”
This sort of environment creates a more familiar, more emotional relationship between artists and their respective audiences that benefits both sides.
For audience members, the tour offers them the opportunity to learn more about artists and their art in a relaxed ambiance, said Fraser. They may also get a chance to learn more about previously unfamiliar artists, since multiple artists share the same space.
For the artists, the show offers a chance to collaborate with other artists, depending on the venue.
Fraser, for example, will host a painter, who will paint her garden. At the same, audience members will offer them immediate insights about their work from audience members.
“When they are here, or when I am doing any other kind of show, I get to interact with them, so I can find out directly, what they may like or may not like about something,” said Fraser.
This synergy between audience and artists can, not surprisingly, aide sales. “If they [audience members] are part of the experience, they are more likely to be interested in purchasing one of the pieces,” said Fraser.
It should also be said that this show also offers a chance to explore Saanich — or least parts of it — on foot.
Three of the locations rim the Cedar Hill Golf Course, as many of the artists in the show work out studio space at the nearby Cedar Hill Recreation Centre. In fact, two of the locations appear almost directly opposite of that studio space.
Fraser said audiences can find the nine locations by looking for bright greens signs, and with the weather expected to beautiful, audience members will be in for an art-walkabout.
For a map and more information, see here:
