Current exhibitions
Salish Lines
Sept 18 - Dec 6, 2025
Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen Territory
A selective retrospective of the art and life of SȾÁUTW̱ artist Doug LaFortune curated by Dr. Andrea N. Walsh. Since 1973, LaFortune has been working as an artist in several mediums, including carving, drawing, painting, and serigraphy. Several of his totem poles stand in Duncan, BC, and his welcome figures flank the entrance of First Peoples House at the University of Victoria. A carver for more than 40 years, Doug has been commissioned for various totem pole projects — large and small.
This exhibition will include an ‘archive’ of drawings dating back 40 years in which visitors to the gallery are invited to sit and meander through the decades of work.
Image: Photo by Amanda Laliberte.
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nunuukʷin (we sing): (re)connecting to the natural and spiritual worlds through song
Sept 18 - Dec 6, 2025
Legacy Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Lekwungen Territory
Curated by ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (huuʕiiʔatḥ /Huu-ay-aht First Nation), this exhibition is based on his personal connections to his homelands and ancestors. It explores nuučaan̓uł songs as methodology in the continued production of nuučaan̓uł knowledge and teachings that are integral in the continual transfer between humans (čaačaac̓iiʕasʔat, huuʕiiʔat, nuučaan̓ułat, and non-nuučaan̓uł peoples) as well as between humans and the natural (ḥaḥuułi, čaačaac̓iiʕas) and the spiritual (yakʷiimit kʷiyiis nananiqsu) worlds.
Image: yaa yaa yaa waay yaa huu, 2023, ḥapinyuuk, Dr. Tommy Happynook (ḥuuʕiiʔatḥ, Canada). Yellow cedar rounds, elk hide, sinew, ink.
Credits: Vern Theroux at Pat Bay Leather supplied materials for the drums. Emily Thiessen at Wachaiy Studios did the screen printing. The drums were made by the artist.
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Everything is Special: A Celebration of Queer and Trans+ materials from the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections & University Archives and University Art Collections
June 2, 2025 – January 11, 2026
Legacy Maltwood Gallery | Mearns Centre for Learning – McPherson Library
University of Victoria | lək̓ʷəŋən Territory
What’s special about Queer and Trans+ artists’ books, zines, and multiples? Everything. From one-of-a-kind limited editions to unique historical items, the University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections & University Archives and University Art Collections is not only home to the world’s largest collection of Trans+ archival materials, but also a range of printed matter, DIY creations, art, and ephemera representing Queer and Trans+ people and activism from a diversity of creators and communities.
As part of the inaugural Queer Island Festival of the Arts, it’s extra special for UVic Libraries and University Art Collections to be part of a larger conversation with other community partners and organizations, to show our colours and our Pride!
Curated by Michael Radmacher, Transgender Archives Metadata Librarian; Caroline Riedel, Interim Director, Legacy Art Galleries and University Art Collections; Lara Wilson Director, Special Collections & University Archivist and Christine Walde, Fine Arts Librarian, with Heather Dean, Associate Director of Special Collections.
Exhibition is open during regular library hours.
Image: Self Portrait, Joe Average, 1997.
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Located on campus, First Peoples House displays artwork from the university's collection through rotating exhibitions.
Walking in Spirit: Francis and Beau Dick
March 1, 2024 — November 2025
First People’s House | UVic Campus
Lekwungen Territory
Before his passing in 2017, cousins Beau and Francis Dick frequently talked about exhibiting their work together. This exhibition seeks to honour that wish and to foster a deeper connection to their relationship as parallel artists and family.
Walking in Spirit is an intimate display of serigraphs by Beau and Francis from the late 1970s to early 2000s, that explore the incredible cultural teachings of their artworks.
Curated by Teresa Sammut with Lorilee Wastasecoot.
Image: Francis Dick, Spiritual Truth, serigraph, 1998.
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