Visual Arts Department

In the morning we met with Gregory Ball, who took us on a tour of VIU’s Visual Arts Department. We were let into various classrooms to see where VIU’s painters, computer graphics designers, sculptors and printmakers learn how to make their art. We also saw some of the students at work and found out about the steps one needs to take in order to make a print. 

With Gregory Ball in the Tamagawa Garden, VIU Campus.

Later, Gregory lead us to the Nanaimo ArtGallery, where we could admire the works of Amy Loewan and Deryk Houston. Amy Loewan’s pieces were particularly interesting: she had woven large mats from folded pieces of rice paper, intertwining within them words in many different languages, all describing the idea of peace. There was an additional installation that allowed guests of the gallery to write their thoughts about peace on long strips of paper and then weave them into a wire net. The strips would later be used by the artist to create a new work of art.

One of Amy Loewen's Installations.

After the gallery, we once again headed for the library. :P It’ll be hard to part with this particular building on the VIU campus!