Hotel win could mean cultural loss for Victoria’s creative community

Reliance Properties wants to convert the old BC Power Commission building into a hotel—and while it’s great to see more hotel space being created in a region that needs it, there will be casualties if the developer gets the go-ahead.

Upward of 200 artists from four galleries and five non-profit arts organizations who call the yellowish art-deco building at 780 Blanshard home would need to find new digs.

“We are indeed going to be displaced when the hotel conversion commences, and I am trying desperately to find a new, suitable location for us all, with little luck so far,” says Logan Ford, executive director of the Vancouver Island Visual Arts Society (VIVAS).

Ford founded VIVAS in 2022 in response to a lack of affordable space for artists in the Greater Victoria area. It was at that time that the nascent organization found the vacant former BC Power Commission building on Blanshard and Burdett. With its tall ceilings and perfect-for-ventilation openable windows, it quickly became the city’s atelier for artists.

“It’s the largest visual arts hub in the history of Victoria, and it’s a vitally important space for the city’s creative community,” says Ford, who also founded Rockslide Studio and Gallery, which occupies about 65% of the four-storey building.

Other art nonprofits, such as the self-described coworking club for creators Haus of Owl and the contemporary art society Ministry of Casual Living, have wings in the building, adding roughly 100 more artists who collectively use its many rooms and spaces year-round to craft and display their work.

Paintings and artwork adorn the heritage building’s hallways. Turn any doorknob and find a workshop brimming with activity and more art.

“Essentially, behind every door is a studio,” Ford says.

The Vault Gallery is one such room. Ford likes to call it “a three-dimensional blank canvas” because each month, a solo artist conducts a complete makeover of its floors, ceiling, and walls to transform it into a new 3D exhibit.

“It's very good for installations, sculptures, projections, light, and sound,” he says. “It's a very immersive space, so you really immerse yourself in the art,” is Ford's approbation of the room, which currently houses Liz Bentley’s the blue hours.

Liz Bentley’s the blue hours is showing through June 20 in The Vault Gallery. Photo courtesy VIVAS

Installations and displays throughout the building receive a lot of eyeballs, too, especially thrice annually, when VIVAS opens the hub to the public and as many as 2K people stream through—all in just one afternoon.

“It's the most lively, vibrant cultural space in the city, hands down,” he says.

Reliance has been reliable and accomodating

Ford wants to be clear: the artists and orgs have no animosity toward Reliance Properties, which is seeking a heritage alteration permit to repurpose the place into 126 hotel rooms.

“We are grateful that Reliance gave us the opportunity to utilize this building over the past 4.5 years at a below-market rate,” Ford says, before cautiously adding the sombre part: “Victoria’s creative community is on the brink of a devastating loss.”

The nomadic lifestyle of today's arts studio ‍

If Reliance gets the city’s green light to retrofit the building, Ford figures the artists will have to pull up stakes as early as next spring.

That puts him on the hunt for a new hub home for the sixth time in 13 years.

Since 2013, and in partnership with other arts organizations, Rockslide Studio & Gallery has been providing studio spaces to more than 80 artists.

The challenge is finding the right fit.

Ford says all the affordable spaces he’s seen recently are stuffy old office buildings with low drop ceilings and windows that don't open—completely unsuitable for artists.

“Industrial spaces are just extremely expensive in the city; just supply and demand dictate that,” he says.

Ford just hopes history repeats itself. He’s had a lot of good luck finding little gems, fixing them up, and turning them into art studios and galleries.

While the ultimate goal is to buy a building, he’s hoping that if he gets the word out, somebody may know of an available fixer-upper or perhaps a philanthropist might surface.

“If there's nowhere to relocate," Ford says, "then that's a significant portion of Victoria's working artists that are going to be essentially homeless—or studio-less.”