The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is aiming to better connect with Victoria’s artistic community with their exhibit Reverberations. For the exhibit, co-curators Nicole Stanbridge, Heng Wu, and Mel Granley selected emerging artists—including visual artists, poets, and composers—to collaborate with bodies of work from the gallery’s permanent collection.
“We worked with each of the collaborators to help them explore and see what resonated with them from our collection,” says Stanbridge. “That was a fun process and a great way to bring the collection out into exhibition and have new ideas for people coming to it from the community who are not as familiar with the collection, to look at what we have and then speak to those works. That is the overall premise of it.”
Since the gallery is a not-for-profit and a publicly-funded institution, its collection essentially belongs to the community of Victoria. Therefore, additions and exhibits are chosen based on what will best reflect the community.
“I think there is so much value in things that expand across generations and cultures,” says Stanbridge. “Typically the work is acquired from established senior artists or people who are well in their careers. In the last few years, it has not always been the case, and it is something that we have been shifting, so we are collecting the new works that come in that reflect what is happening now.”
While the AGGV permanent collection consists of work from established artists, the emerging artists provide a generational perspective. The exhibit’s age-diverse artists display the dynamic shift of modern-day art, making it relatable to more demographics.
“On the open-house day, it was so awesome to see that whole group come with their families and celebrate the work they put into the show,” says Stanbridge. “There were kids everywhere and people chatting, and that is what we were hoping for. People would come and see themselves in the space and be excited about being there.”
The AGGV plans to connect the exhibit with the community through various means, including podcasts.
“We are thinking of how far we can reach in terms of different communities,” says Stanbridge. “That means bringing folks in directly from those communities to collaborate with us to curate a program or lead these projects. We will be working with some of the artists to offer a workshop and some other interactive programs over the coming months.”
The gallery has grown its digital identity significantly and continues to expand on its use.
“We have been doing more exhibition interpretation work through our social media so that we are expanding and sharing more,” says Stanbridge. “If people can not come in to see the show, they are still getting a sense of the things happening at the gallery.”
The main objective of the exhibition, and the gallery, is to connect with the community. So, Stanbridge and her co-curators want to share with their audience as much as possible.
“The takeaway is for people to be excited and curious about not only our collection but about what artists in our community are doing right now,” she says. “There are so many creative, amazing people in Victoria; hopefully, they will stay curious.”
Reverberations
Until Sunday, September 25
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
aggv.ca