Victoria’s Alternative Attractions - Legacy Art Gallery
I am back with another alternative attraction. If you read my last ‘alternative attractions’ article on the Monkey C Artcade, you would know that I am defining them as those secondary destinations that cities have. These places might not be on the top 10 list of what to do when visiting, but they are great places to visit and add to the richness of the city for tourists and locals alike. The Legacy Art Gallery fits this perfectly.
The Legacy Art Gallery is right in the middle of downtown at 630 Yates Street (on the corner of Yates and Broad). The gallery sits inside the old Bank of Toronto building, a beautiful, but small modernist building. You can read more about its historical value here. The Legacy Art Gallery was part of a huge bestowal to the University of Victoria from Michael Williams when he died in 2000. For those that don’t know, Michael Williams was a very prominent Victorian that brought many old buildings back to life. He was most known as the owner of Swan’s Hotel and Brewpub and as you would expect with this ‘Legacy Art Gallery’, an avid art collector. It was part of his wish that his art collection be put on display by the University and they have fulfilled that through the downtown location of the Legacy Gallery (there are two more Legacy Galleries on the UVic campus).
The Legacy Gallery has a rotation of shows throughout the year, they are always expertly curated and the presentation is professional. If it weren’t for the smaller size of the gallery, you would feel like you were walking into the the major art gallery for the city. One of the benefits of the Legacy Gallery is that it is free admission (I almost feel like it should be easier to leave a donation, you have to ask them to take it), so everyone can enjoy it and even do it multiple times for the same show.
Now is a great time to go down and visit the Legacy Gallery as it has on one of the best shows I have seen there. It is called Victoria and Expressionism’s Second Wave: The Point Group. This show is running until April 5th, so there are still a couple more weeks to see it. The show does a deep dive into an artist collective from the late 1950’s and 1960’s that formed in Victoria. I had never heard of them before and I left the gallery feeling that the rich artistic tradition that exists in this city is even deeper than I had thought. There is no unifying theme to the show except the broader large bracket of post-war expressionism. Much of the art in the show has never been shown before and many of the pieces had not even been framed before now.
If you can go down and see this show before it closes on April 5th you won’t regret it, and then in just a few weeks there will be a new show to make you go back and visit this amazing gallery again.
I would love to hear your thoughts on the Legacy Gallery and even on the current show. Let me know in the comments!
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