2 replies to this topic

[Holden West]

In search of our cultural mark

J.C. Scott. Times - Colonist. Victoria, B.C.: Jan 8, 2007

(Copyright Times Colonist (Victoria) 2007)

With the 2010 Winter Games on the horizon, the region is still lacking an artistic vision that's fit for the world stage

As a mental exercise, I sometimes make comparisons. Such as, what other smallish, cultured world cities have names starting with V, such as Venice, Vail and Vienna? Then there's Valencia in Spain and Valparaiso in Chile.

What I'm trying to imagine is the wider world from a point that I can understand. And I've been to many of these cities, which helps a lot.

Then I compare what they are like, how big they are, what they do for their arts and with their culture. It is inspiring to see that Venice has a population of only 63,000 and a metropolitan size of 271,663. Sounds similar to Victoria's 74,000 in a metro population of 335,000, doesn't it?

Vail has only 4,500 people today and is predicted to be 80,000 by the year 2020, a date we also kick around in Victoria. Valparaiso, Chile has 282,000 people and eight major galleries and museums.

It's something I've always done but I'm doing now in a more formal way because of my upcoming role promoting arts and culture through Tourism Victoria. It seems we have this elephant (last year I was worried about development sharks, now I'm seeing elephants) creeping up on our region called the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

And I have a hunch that people from around the world will compare us to themselves when they come here, because it's only natural.

So how do we fare? Well, on a world stage we have natural beauty, no doubt and ... whales and bears.

On a local level we have a fantastic undercurrent of arts and culture with our city being recognized as a cultural capital of our nation last year for everything from our opera (think Vienna) to our community arts.

On the other hand we have many who think that the temporary installation art of whales and bears is a good representation of our culture.

Perhaps through my travels and from television and the Internet I've got some grand ideas, but it seems there's a bigger world stage out there than we in Victoria are playing on today.

Not to say that we couldn't go big, or that we should stay home knitting Cowichan sweaters.

It's unquestionable that we produce world-class artists (and athletes) here in Victoria and that we have collections and collectors, so where is our gallery? Has anyone heard the name Frank Gehry?

We bring out more people per capita to classical music concerts with our symphony splashing around the Inner Harbour, but where is our symphony hall, our opera hall, our theatre?

Bigger mental stretch here, but has anyone heard of Santiago Calatrava? Look up his work in Valencia, Spain.

We are the historic seaport and gateway to the Orient with all its charm and culture, we have world-quality Asian art collections and fantastic sponsorship opportunities.

I'm sure by now you're getting my drift. There is no dedicated Asian art gallery or cultural history museum. I.M. Pei, anyone? Look up Pei's gallery in our sister city Suzhou. Or the Louvre? Or Tadao Ando in Texas?

It would be fantastic to see our city with an architectural commission that creates a cultural edifice of international significance.

We have that chance in our Inner Harbour. With the transportation hub we need at Belleville Street, we have that moment for a new gallery and we have that challenge for a real symphony hall.

It is heartening to see how our citizens are responding to the public art at the airport, where so many visitors form an impression of our city and where we are starting to have enough public art commissions in one location to make a significant impact. Hats off to the Victoria Airport Authority.

We need to look to the kind of future that will inevitably come with the growth our city and region is embracing and which by demographic force alone will change Victoria.

I hope to see, in that future, civic leaders, philanthropists, visionaries and citizens creating a vision that goes beyond a national cultural capital to seeing Victoria as a world city.

We can do it. We have the artists, we have the environment to attract the best and the brightest, we have the people with wealth and we have the opportunity. We simply now need the will. I look forward to an inspiring 2007 in Victoria.


J.C. Scott, of J.C. Scott Design Associates in Fan Tan Alley, describes himself as a designer of big dreams for Victoria.
[Illustration]
Photo: Associated Press / Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum in Bilboa, Spain, left, and Santiago Calatrava's Palace of the Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain, are among the types of grand artistic statements we should be reaching for in the capital region, according to J.C. Scott. ;

[ressen]

I hardly think that the winter Olympics will have much of an impact on Victoria at all. Anyone going to the Olympic venues are not going to concern them selves with what cultural 'marks' are lacking. If they should venture over this way there is always the RBC museum.

[Mike K.]

Victoria may get some residual tourism from the 2010 games but it won't be anything near the predictions we're hearing.

As previous games have shown, the impact on cities and towns near Olympic cities is minimal and doesn't bring the sort of revenues local tourism thumpers expect them to bring. Just think of it this way: did the 1994 Commonwealth games benefit Vancouver to the extent that tourism reps were bursting with glee?