How Art & Women Shaped Victoria

Art teacher Sister Mary Osithe, lace maker Antoinette Borde, photographer Hannah Maynard, and painters Sophie Pemberton and Emily Carr—these are just some of the women whose art helped make Victoria so culturally rich.

On November 28, from 1-4 p.m. at the UVic Senate Chambers, UVic’s history in art department will host a public symposium on women and art in early Victoria. It is being offered in conjunction with the Maltwood Museum and Gallery’s exhibit “A Woman's Place: Art and the Role of Women in the Cultural Formation of Victoria, B.C.: 1850s-1920s” which runs until January 11.

The exhibition is the result of a UVic Community-University Research Alliance project and features over 200 pieces of art by women from local public and private collections. Based on the theme of the exhibit, the symposium will examine women and the cultural history of Victoria as it developed from fort to city in the 1850s and beyond as a result of the Gold Rush, and how art developed through the 19th and into the 20th century. The speakers will relate the little-known stories of some of the women artists of this period.

The speakers at the symposium include: UVic history in art professor Dr. Karen Finlay and B.C. Heritage Branch heritage stewardship officer Jennifer Iredale, co-directors of the exhibition, giving an overview and tour of the exhibit; historian John Adams offering insight into early Victoria; archivist and UVic history in art grad Kathryn Bridge speaking about early women artists in Victoria; art historian and UVic history in art lecturer Kerry Mason addressing Emily Carr’s early years; UVic cultural resource management student Adrienne Munro talking about photographer Hannah Maynard; UVic history in art student Jan Gates discussing designer Doris Holmes; and the Yale Historical Society’s Irene Bjerky speaking about First Nations basketry.

Admission to the symposium and exhibition is free. For more information call (250) 721-6313 or visit maltwood.uvic.ca.

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