Art Galleries & Artists
Glass artwork (Danielle Hayes photo)
Artists and craftspeople are drawn to the Sooke region by the quiet, the beauty and the opportunity to establish home studios in an inspiring west-coast setting.
The community also has some interesting galleries, art tours and events.
Sooke Fine Arts Show
This week-long adjudicated show in late July and early August has been showcasing up-and-coming Vancouver Island and Gulf Island talents since 1986. Over the years these have included First Nations' artists Victor, Edith and Carey Newman, the fabric artist Juno and the late Jimmy Wright, renowned for his whimsical bear paintings.
The Sooke Fine Arts Show is now widely recognized as one of the finest such exhibitions in western Canada. A broad selection of work in many mediums - painting, photography, jewellery, ceramic/glass and fibre art included - is featured and most of the work is snapped up by collectors long before the show ends. Live music, an art raffle and a silent auction are part of the schedule.
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Stinking Fish Studio Tour
Artists in East Sooke and its Victoria-side neighbor, the largely rural community of Metchoshin, open their doors to the public for a week twice annually - once in late July in tandem with the Sooke Fine Arts Show, and again in October. Some 20 studios are involved. The tour is so-named because First Nations people back in the 1840s told Hudson Bay Company representatives that the Metchoshin area was known as "s-met-sho-sun" or "stinking fish."
Art Galleries
The Sooke Harbour House is both a celebrated inn and a one-of-a-kind open art gallery. Every nook, cranny and available wall space is given over to the work of scores of local artists and artisans. Visitors are invited to stroll amidst the sculptures in the garden, and enjoy a diverse collection in the inn's hallways, assembled by the hotel's co-owner Frederique Phillips. Those awed by the price tags can pick up more affordable art in the gift shop.
The Visitor Centre's own gift shop carries a good selection of First Nations artists, hand-crafted items, pottery, books about the region and even a few gold nuggets from nearby Leechtown.
The South Shore Gallery (2046 Otter Point Road near the Stone Pipe Landing restaurant) specializes in paintings, cards and glasswork. Dominguez Art Gallery (2075 Otter Point Road) is a vibrant, colourful gallery featuring the works of over 30 local, national and international artists. The Sooke Fine Art Gallery (one block west at 2016 Shields Road) focuses on the watercolours, oils and pastels of Michel Des Rochers while also showcasing other local talents.
Sooke Artists
The Sooke Community Arts Council's brochure (available at the Visitor Centre) lists addresses and phone numbers for 20 artists in the region. Some maintain regular hours in their home studio/galleries, while others welcome visits by appointment.
Sooke-area artists include Carey Newman, a First Nations carver, mask-maker, jeweller and print artist; feather painter Bobbie Momsen (yes, she paints images on delicate feathers); fibre artist Sheila Beech; and oil painter Jill Winstanley. Aivars Logins, Phoebe Dunbar and Robert Martin are masters at creating velvety smooth bowls, platters and blanket chests from burls and other finely polished chunks of cedar, yew and red alder. Glenys Marshall-Inman is a potter who makes jewellery and functional pieces in an Otter Point studio notable for the llamas in the front yard.
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