Art event pays Tribute to 'visionary'
Colin and Sylvia Graham will be honoured for their work with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria at a fundraiser event called Tribute, held at the Crystal Gardens on Nov. 5.
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Updated: October 28, 2009 3:36 PM
Colin Graham loves beautiful things, and as the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s first director, he spent two decades showcasing beautiful art in all its forms.
He’s been called one of Victoria’s greatest visionaries, working to collect pieces for the gallery while educating and promoting visual arts in Victoria.
After becoming director in 1951, the gallery’s permanent collection grew from six pieces to 17,000.
He had “imagination and wide interest in all things beautiful,” said his wife, Sylvia who volunteered countless hours at the museum.
“I think Colin’s contribution was that he made it clear that he was interested in everything,” she said
Colin, 94, has advanced Parkinson’s, and spoke through his wife, saying he hoped people would come away from the gallery with a general knowledge of how the arts have developed over thousands of years, and the future of art.
He helped bring that to life.
Jennie Biltek of the gallery said, “(The Grahams) used to have hundreds of performances over the years, he built the collection, he built the education prgram, he built the volunteer program, so basically they were the gallery for 20-odd years.”
Colin and Sylvia moved to Victoria in 1951 from San Francisco where he was the head of education at the civic art museum. They lived in the Spencer Mansion, which is now part of the gallery.
“The taste was very conservative back then,” Sylvia said, because many people couldn’t experience the world-class galleries of Paris, London or San Francisco.
So Colin tried displaying numerous exhibits with a modern display in one room and contemporary art and traditional pieces displayed in others.
“If people didn’t like one show, they could see others,” Sylvia said.
Colin said things have changed since then.
“An informed audience would be 100 times as large,” he said.
The couple live in Sidney, a half-block from the library and enjoy their private back garden full of fruit trees.
On Nov. 5, the two will be honoured for their work at an event called Tribute: a fundraiser celebrating visual art. It features a silent auction with work from 40 artists.
Proceeds from the event at Crystal Garden supports youth education and programming. Tickets are $90, available from the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1040 Moss St.
lweighton@vicnews.com
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