Art Gallery of Greater Victoria facts for kids
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Main entrance to the art gallery
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| Established | 1946 |
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| Location | 1040 Moss Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V8V 4P1 |
| Type | Art museum |
| Visitors | 54,998 (2015–16) |
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an exciting art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It's in a neighbourhood called Rockland. The museum has a large building complex, which includes the historic Spencer Mansion and the modern Exhibition Galleries. The Spencer Mansion was built in 1889, and the Exhibition Galleries were added later, in the mid-1900s.
The museum first opened in 1946 as the Little Centre in downtown Victoria. In 1951, the museum was given the Spencer Mansion. It moved into this new building that same year. When it reopened at the Spencer Mansion, it was renamed the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. From 1955 to 1978, the museum grew bigger. It added more space for showing art.
The AGGV has a huge collection of art. It includes works by Canadian artists, Indigenous Canadian artists, and artists from all around the Pacific Rim. The museum also hosts many special art shows that travel from other places. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has the largest art collection of any museum in British Columbia. It has about 20,000 pieces of art in its permanent collection!
Contents
Discover the History of the Art Gallery
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria was started in 1946. It was created by artists and art lovers from the Vancouver Island area. They first called it the Little Centre. From 1946 to 1951, the Little Centre was located in an old car dealership in downtown Victoria.
In 1951, something big happened! Sarah Spencer donated her beautiful home, the Spencer Mansion, to the museum. The museum then moved into this mansion and was renamed the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Even though it became a museum, caretakers for the building lived there until the 1960s.
Soon after moving, the museum started to expand. They built new parts called the Exhibition Galleries. These galleries were built in different stages. The first new gallery opened in 1958, and the last one opened in 1978.
In 2012, the museum announced plans to make the Exhibition Galleries even bigger. In 2015, the city government approved these plans. The expansion would add more space for art shows. It would also include a new cafe and a lecture hall. The museum plans to close its building during this construction. They will show their art at other places in Victoria during that time.
Explore the Museum's Architecture
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria's building has two main parts. These are the Spencer Mansion and the Exhibition Galleries. The Spencer Mansion is an old Victorian style house built in 1889. The Exhibition Galleries are a modern style addition. They have seven galleries and were built between the 1950s and 1978. Together, the museum buildings cover a large area.
The Historic Spencer Mansion
The Spencer Mansion was built in 1889. It was designed by William Ridgeway Wilson. This mansion was once part of a much larger property. It had a big garden, tennis courts, stables, and a coach house. The mansion even had a special viewing tower called a belvedere. From there, you could see the ocean!
The Victorian house was first built for the Green family. They named it Gyppeswyk. This was an old English name for Ipswich. Later, when the original Government House burned down in 1903, Gyppeswyk was used for a short time. It became the home of the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. In 1951, Sarah Spencer gave the building to the art institution. This institution then became the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
The outside of the building has been painted many times. In 1975, it was painted a cream color. This was to match the brick of one of the new Exhibition Galleries. In 2004, it was painted back to its original colors. These were dark red, dark green, and pale salmon. Workers found these colors by looking through 15 layers of old paint! Some parts of the mansion were changed when the Exhibition Galleries were built. This means the Spencer Mansion cannot be officially recognized as a heritage building.
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The inside of the building has also changed a lot over the years. But some original features are still there. These include a fireplace, fancy tiles, and beautiful woodwork on the second floor. In 2004, some parts of the building were fixed up. This included rebuilding a special window on the roof. They also made the chimney safer in case of an earthquake.
Today, the first floor of the Spencer Mansion has the museum's gift shop. It also has an office where you can rent or buy art. The old bedrooms on the second floor are now the museum's offices and library. The museum's old records are kept in the attic.
Modern Exhibition Galleries
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From 1955 to 1978, the museum added seven new galleries. These are next to the Spencer Mansion and are called the Exhibition Galleries. They are built in a modern style. The first two fireproof galleries opened in 1958 and 1959. They were called the Centennial Galleries. This name celebrated 100 years since the Colony of British Columbia was formed. The last big changes during this time happened in 1978. They fixed up two large galleries and also repaired the Spencer Mansion.
More updates were made to the Exhibition Galleries from 2001 to 2003. During these renovations, a new climate control system was installed. This is very important! It means the museum can now host special art shows that need a specific temperature and humidity. This helps protect delicate artworks. The museum's entrance and hallways in the Exhibition Galleries were also updated during these renovations.
Discover the Permanent Art Collection
As of 2019, the museum has about 20,000 artworks in its permanent collection. This makes it the largest art collection in British Columbia! However, the museum building isn't big enough to show everything. Only about five percent of the collection can be displayed at one time. The collection is organized into different types of art. These include Asian art, Canadian art, contemporary art (modern art), decorative art, and Indigenous Canadian art.
Amazing Asian Art Collection
The museum's collection of Asian art is huge! It has about 8,000 pieces. This means it makes up 40 percent of the museum's entire collection. With so many Asian artworks, the AGGV has the second largest collection of Asian art in Canada. Only the Royal Ontario Museum has more.
The Asian art collection includes items from all over Asia. But it focuses mainly on art from China and Japan. The value of the museum's Chinese art collection has grown a lot in recent years. This is because China's economy has grown, and more people are interested in art from that region.
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The museum's Asian art collection has both old and new works. You can see bronze objects, ceramics, textiles, and carvings made from amber and ivory. The museum started its Asian collection in 1973. The first two items were Japanese prints bought in the 1950s.
Other amazing pieces include a Chinese painting. In 2016, it was valued at C$6 million! There's also a Japanese screen called a byōbu made by an artist named Kanō Sanraku. This screen shows a peacock with its beautiful feathers next to a pine tree. It's painted on gold leaf. The byōbu is very large, about 197 cm (77 inches) tall and 370 cm (145 inches) wide. It was given to the museum in 1995. It was carefully restored with help from the Government of Japan. In 2016, this screen was valued at C$500,000. The museum also has an outdoor Asian garden. In this garden, you can find the only Meiji era Shinto shrine in North America!
See Also
- List of art museums
- List of museums in British Columbia
