Dear Reader,
One of the first places I had the pleasure of exploring when I moved to the Island from Ottawa as a teen was the Comox Valley Art Gallery. I was struggling with depression and a growing sense of displacement after moving however the moment I walked through the doors of the gallery I felt relief and a sense of coming home (having spent a phenomenal amount of time avoiding my high school classes in lieu of touring through National Art Gallery of Canada as often as possible instead). Over a decade later, I feel similarly to the Comox Valley Art Gallery as I had when I walked through those same doors years ago, except what had been a fleeting feeling from a few hours spent in the space has been reaffirmed and experienced now many more times over, enough so that now I have come to think of the gallery as a kind of home. The Comox Valley Art Gallery, which is affectionately abbreviated to CVAG by us locals who know the place, is in fact one of my favourite places in the entire north island and I recommend the place to anyone and everyone I can, with passion and sincere love.
I was lucky enough to take on the opportunity to volunteer at the gallery while enrolled as a student at North Island College’s Fine Arts Diploma Program, before the Covid19 pandemic, and was later hired on as an intern by the gallery. I stayed for a long time, taking on many different roles that were funded for or budgeted, much to my delight and surprise each time. It has been a great blessing and a stroke of luck that I was afforded the opportunity to work along side the amazing team and community that surround CVAG. The years of working at the gallery were wonderful and challenged me to continue to pursue my own career as an artist. In doing so, I was lucky enough to receive some support from the gallery in my creative pursuits as well by being included in projects such as a publication in a digital anthology, giving a reading along side reputable and incredibly talented professional writers, participating as a student in incubator projects, exhibiting artwork and doing arts-based community research. I also felt very blessed for how well the gallery had positioned me during my time there to develop my career into doing community based therapeutic recreation as a health care provider (a change in my life and career that was also a result of the Covid19 pandemic). Despite my career development taking me elsewhere most days, I have the pleasure of still contributing to CVAG as a member of the board of directors, which is a great joy and pleasure in my life that makes me feel as though I'm returning a small piece of the joy back that the gallery has gifted me over so many years.
CVAG is a place of art, yes, but it is much more: CVAG is a public space where members of our community can gather and are not required to make a transaction to occupy a space for some time, it is a place that is full of good conversations and laughter, CVAG is a space where members of the public can learn and engage with one another in a safe and meaningful way, it is a place that incubates artist and fosters critical dialog, CVAG is a place where children can engage with artwork in a good way, it is a place where decolonization can occur and CVAG most importantly is a place where we as individuals and a community can grow a root love (also the name of a favourite exhibition of mine done a while ago) for ourselves, each other and our environment that is nourishing and desperately needed in these wild times which we find ourselves in.
The town where I live is full of beautiful places and I am blessed to say that there are many wonderful, exciting things to do. If asked by anyone, however, about my favourite stop to make on my days off from work in the town I live in, I would tell you it is the Comox Valley Art Gallery. Of course I am bias, I acknowledge this, but my lived truth still remains that the CVAG is one of the best places to be. Very few public contemporary galleries across Canada are as courageous and execute such original and dynamic programming as the CVAG. It also offers an opportunity to support local artists and arts students at North Island College by purchasing their work through the CVAG store SHOP: MADE, which is something I always like to do when I can. The exhibitions and convergent programming is always compelling and informative. The community based around the gallery remains to be one of the most lovely and warm places to spend time in. And the Courtenay downtown is a vibrant place to explore and host you after enjoying your time at CVAG.
Besides just wanting to share about CVAG for fun, it felt important for me to take the time to write this letter and share my passion with anyone willing to read these words because institutions such as CVAG only exist with the support of the communities they seek to serve. A little while ago, in the town adjacent to the one I live in, a public art gallery had lost favour with the elected leaders of their municipality and were on the brink of closer. If we do not affirm and perpetuate the CVAG’s existence with our support, as would be the case for any public insulation, it will cease to be. The thought of my community, the island and Canada at large loosing such a powerful and dynamic gallery is haunting. I can only hope it does continue on far into the future and attempt to do my part as best I can for as long as I am here and am able to.
If you are a local of the island, I encourage you to come and see the beautiful space where CVAG is situated. Doing such is not only pleasurable but is also a wonderful act of support. If you are unable to visit in person, I invite you to use the CVAG website to see what has been made available on CVAG’s online platforms. Even a small act like joining the CVAG Newsletter is a meaningful and helps guarantee that this wonderful organization will continue for many generations to come.
With much gratitude and hope you’ll find love for Comox Valley Art Gallery as I have,
Spencer Sheehan Kalina