Open Archives/Archives Ajar

Open Archives/Archives Ajar
13-28 November 2021

The Victoria Arts Council has come a long way over the 53 years since our start as the Community Arts Council of Greater Victoria. We could not have met the huge milestones over the past five decades without the help of all the local artists we’ve worked with as well as without the support of our community.

We are excited to announce that the official history of the Victoria Arts Council (formerly the CACGV) will be preserved through a donation of our archival materials to the University of Victoria’s Special Collections / Vancouver Island Visual Arts Holdings.

Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Victoria Libraries documents arts and culture in Victoria, including records relating to individual architects, artists, musicians, printers, publishers, and writers as well as local arts organizations and theatre companies. Established in 1968, the Victoria Arts Council has played a role in promoting and advocating for the arts for over fifty years. The VAC is now preparing its archives for inclusion in Special Collections in order to provide access to students, faculty, community members, and other researchers interested in Victoria’s artistic and cultural history.

Have you been involved in VAC over the years? Help build the VAC archives! The following material is of interest:
· Photographs
· Posters / Flyers
· Publications (exhibition)
· Audiovisual recordings
· Meeting Minutes, Board Minutes
· Organizational files
· Project files
· Committee files
· Financial statements
· Reports / Studies

A special exhibit is being planned where community members and previous Council affiliates will be welcomed and encouraged to donate any materials related to our history that you may have been holding on to. This material will be processed by VAC staff and go on display immediately as part of Open Archives/Archives Ajar.

CALL TO ARTISTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS!
Do you have posters, invitations, press releases, photographs, brochures or anything else from our past that will help tell (y)our story? If so, bring it to the Victoria Arts Council’s main gallery + offices @ 1800 Store Street from 13-28 November.

Gallery hours: Wednesday through Sunday, noon to five.

For more information call 778-533-7123 or email [email protected] subject: ARCHIVES

VAC ARCHIVE COMMITTEE
Pat Martin Bates, VAC Co-Founder + Honorary Committee Chair
Lynda Gammon, VAC Board Representative + UVic Professor Emerita
Flo-Elle Watson, VAC Board Member (retired) + Artist
Kegan McFadden, VAC Executive Director + Committee Co-Chair