Art Galleries & Artists
Glass artwork (Danielle Hayes photo)
The Gulf Islands are home to an incredible number of artists, and Galiano Island is no exception.
Pick up the Trincomali Community Arts Council's annually updated Galiano Art Guide at the info booth in Sturdies Bay and local galleries. Purple seastar signs indicate home studios.
Sturdies Bay Galleries
The Galiano Twirly Tree Shop is a cooperative gallery and gift shop in the heart of Sturdies Bay village run by six island artists – Dorrie Ratzlaff, Dianne Laronde, Kathleen Buckley, Susanne Laughlin, Deborah Roberts, and Khadejha McCall.
In addition to their work and that of dozens of other Galiano creatives, the store carries local CDs (by islanders like Tamara Nile and Brad Prevedoros), photographer Henny Schnare's panoramic images and the aromatic products of the Galiano Coffee Roasting Co. (A sister gallery, Twirley Tree By the Sea, operates during the summer at the Montague Harbour Marina.)
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Also in "downtown Galiano" is Insight Art Gallery, an attractive space for painters Penny Prior, Kenna Fair, and Nancy McPhee, mixed-media artist Francine Renaud, lithographer Kia Hardy, and jewellery maker Sydney Massey. Arts workshops are held periodically in the adjoining Island's Edge Studio.
Art Weekend
Galleries present special exhibits and home studios are at their most welcoming during the BC Day "Art Weekend" at the beginning of August. Ride the Daytripper shuttle bus from studio to studio. And head to the Galiano Inn for its annual Art in the Garden exhibition and sale.
Mid-Island Arts Enclave
Home studios are scattered around the island, but a particularly interesting cluster of them can be found at the mid-point of Porlier Pass Road, the island's one main route heading north. Cedar Grove Pottery is an open-air gallery featuring the earth tone vases, tea pots, and sculpture of Sandra Dolph.
Steps down the road is Marcie DeVicque Glassworks, home base for this widely exhibited glass artist. Around the corner is the Ganner Drive ceramics studio of the internationally renowned Bill Boyd as well as painter Shera Street's gallery at the Serenity By the Sea guesthouse. The lovely garden settings at each of these studios is an added bonus.
Stoneworld
The magical Stoneworld on Bodega Ridge at the island's north end is notable for the dozens of sculptures and standing stones spread across its farmland horizon. Sculptor Steve Ocsko and photographer Barbara Geary have a studio here, and visitors are invited to wander with the sheep amidst Ocsko's remarkable, astronomically aligned "art installation."
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