The iconic building at the edge of Quadra Village, home for the last 13 years to the , is at the heart of some significant shuffling as the Greater Victoria School District has announced it plans to reoccupy the site.
The move effectively terminates the lease with the private post-secondary art school.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e really saddened,B次元官网网址� says founder and executive director Wendy Welch. B次元官网网址淎rtists really need space.B次元官网网址�
Welch started VISA with just 47 students and four instructors back in 2005.
Now, with over 3,500 part and full time students having painted, drawn, sculpted and studied in its classrooms, itB次元官网网址檚 the only contemporary, art-focused school in the city attracting students from across the Island.
The school, which houses a non-profit gallery on the ground floor, is unique in that it also offers transfer credits to Emily Carr and the University of Gloucestershire in England. Welch says there are currently students studying at VISA from Belgium, Brazil, Germany, India and Mexico.
B次元官网网址淰ISA is more than its classes, itB次元官网网址檚 quite a community. Our students never really leave,B次元官网网址� she explains, pointing to a portion of custom-built studios the school rents to artists, students both past and present.
Make sure the Vancouver Island School of Art stays in its wonderful central location. Click here to see what you can to do to help:
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Built in 1921, the historic arts and crafts style building is in need of repair; SD61 estimates it would cost between $1.5 million and $2 million to seismically upgrade the space and update the heat, plumbing and electricity.
Barring that, SD61 secretary-treasurer Mark Walsh says, the plan is to move students of Artemis Place secondary B次元官网网址� young mothers and mothers-to-be B次元官网网址� to the Quadra Street location, where there is ample room for a daycare.
Transferring students from Artemis, currently housed in the Dean Heights Annex on Richmond Road, would free up space for Lansdowne middle school, located on the adjacent property.
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B次元官网网址淕enerally, the school district is facing significant space issues, partially because of increasing enrolment and partially because of B.C. class size and composition standards,B次元官网网址� Walsh says.
While some of the issues can be addressed by redrawing boundaries, space is still needed B次元官网网址� particularly for middle-schoolers, he adds.
In the last year alone, SD61 created 90 new classrooms (the equivalent of 15 Quadra Street-sized locations) to accommodate increasing population.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e ahead of our projections because of an influx of folks from Vancouver and Alberta,B次元官网网址� Walsh says. B次元官网网址淵ou can see it in the cranes on the ground in downtown Victoria.B次元官网网址�
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The school district let VISA know of its intentions more than a year ago and has given the school until Aug. 31 to vacate. Both Welch and Walsh acknowledge there has been some conversation around building learning studios for VISA B次元官网网址� similar to portables B次元官网网址� if the school was able to get the capital together.
Welch is appealing to the community to help find a suitable, permanent space, ideally in the same neighbourhood. Or, sheB次元官网网址檚 open to donors or community partners who are able to help finance the move or who have space to donate or rent to VISA.
Walsh isnB次元官网网址檛 ruling out an extension for VISA to stay in the Quadra Street location, if for some reason the district was unable to upgrade the facility in a timely manner. But, SD61 plans to have upgrades underway as early as fall 2018.
B次元官网网址淲e want to stay here, the neighbourhood wants us to stay here,B次元官网网址� Welch says. B次元官网网址淭here is a struggle for arts in Victoria, but no matter what, weB次元官网网址檙e going to continue the school.B次元官网网址�
