Art and architecture are intersecting at the House Tour 2022, put on by The Gallery Associates (TGA). The event—to be held virtually this year—marks the 70th year of The Gallery Associates raising funds for the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV).
This year, the tour includes five documentary films focusing on five very different homes. Rather than host in-person tours, TGA decided to produce a series of videos that would offer homeowner-guided tours where viewers will get a rare opportunity to hear the stories and inspirations for the home from the homeowner’s perspective.
“The Gallery Associates was started in 1952 as the Women’s Committee to raise funds for the Art Gallery, and it’s been going ever since,” says House Tour Committee chair Carol Ann Harper. “But we also promote community awareness and enjoyment of the AGGV.”
Over the years, TGA grew to promote further community engagement in local culture and arts, including arts education and programs for their members.
“We have monthly speakers and a book club as well,” says Harper. “The success of the house tours over the last decades have become a flagship fundraising event, often attracting over 1,000 guests.”
Due to the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, the house tours transitioned to a video tour. The first video they did was of one mansion, but this year they set their sights higher.
“This year we are filming five houses that wouldn’t be feasible on an in-person house tour,” says Harper. “Some due to location, one of them is on an island, and others due to logistics, so houses that even if we could go in person, we wouldn’t see these houses.”
The homes that were selected are unique and varied, from Modernist west-coast style to houses perched upon steep slopes; one home was designed by a well-known Victorian Modernist architect. Each home will exhibit floral art created by five local artists who are part of the Victoria Floral Artists Guild. Roger Brooks, a retired architectural photographer, provided expertise and continuity, and the production also included three local videographers.
“You get a personal tour with the home owner, an intimate telling of the history, what they’ve done, what they liked,” says Harper. “It was really about which houses would be different but not easily accessible and also, where the homeowner had an interesting story to tell about their house, with a willingness to tell them.”
House Tour 2022: Video Edition
Until Sunday, October 30
$35
aggv.ca/house-tour-2022-video-edition