The Vancouver philanthropist who pledged $2 million to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria says the building is more than overdue for a revamp.
“You’ve got a population of about 350,000 in Greater Victoria. So it’s very surprising to me they don’t have a larger and more up-to-date establishment,” said Michael Audain, 79, of the Moss Street gallery.
“It’s very strange to me. You just have this converted residence [the original Spencer Mansion], which I believe has been only slightly expanded over the years.”
He added: “I think it’s high time Victoria had a public art gallery more commensurate with its position as our provincial capital.”
The donation, announced Wednesday, would go toward a planned $21-million-plus expansion of the AGGV. It is contingent upon the gallery receiving provincial funding for the project.
Audain, chairman of Polygon Homes Ltd., one of British Columbia’s largest home builders, said part of his interest in making the AGGV donation is his strong Victoria roots. He is the great-great-grandson of Robert Dunsmuir, the 19th-century coal baron who built Craigdarroch Castle. Audain lived in Victoria between the ages of nine and 18 and attended Glenlyon Norfolk School, St. Michaels University School and Victoria College.
AGGV director Jon Tupper agrees the gallery is overdue for renovation, noting there’s been talk of either expanding or relocating it for 30 years.
He said Audain’s $2-million pledge bolsters the gallery’s existing application for $7 million in provincial funding. If the province comes through, the federal government has agreed to match that amount. The gallery, meanwhile, has already raised almost $7 million in private donations.
“We haven’t heard anything from [the provincial government]. But we haven’t heard no. So that’s a good sign,” Tupper said. “Now we’re close. We’ve never been this close before.”
If provincial funding is confirmed, the AGGV will announce a formal fundraising campaign to raise $3 million more in private donations. The gallery’s original goal was to raise $21 million; however, Tupper said construction costs have increased.
The plan is to add a 12,000-square-foot, three-storey structure to the existing 41,000-square-foot gallery. It would replace a single-floor extension to the Spencer Mansion, which was completed in stages from the late 1950s onward.
The AGGV hopes to begin construction by June 2017.
Audain is among Canada’s leading philanthropists. Through his Audain Foundation, he has donated more than $100 million toward the visual arts.
He previously made a donation to the AGGV for an aboriginal curatorial fellowship. In 2009, he donated $2 million to the University of Victoria’s visual arts department.
Last March, the $30-million Audain Art Gallery opened in Whistler. It contains about 200 works from the collection of Audain and his wife, Yoshiko Karasawa.
