Art Galleries and Studios
Gabriola is known as ”The Isle of the Arts” and for good reason! Every Thanksgiving weekend (early October) Gabriola Island hosts The Gabriola Island Studio Tour, and island wide tour consisting of over 60 different studios, galleries, garden’s and more! Kathy Ramsey, president of the Gabriola Arts Council, has this to say about the Studio Tour:
"A few years back, I remember standing in the line-up of our local grocery store, and I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation of those in front of me. The two folks in the line-up were listening avidly to the cashier. The three of them were obviously taking a quilting course together, and the cashier was explaining the finer points of some type of needlework. Nothing astonishing there unless you knew that one of those in the line-up was a jeweller with an international reputation and the other was a painter just back from a wildly successful show in San Fransisco.
‘How Lucky am I,’ I said to myself, ‘to live in a community where everyone is seen as an equal in the creative process.’
Feel free to jump right in and join us as I dedicate this year’s tour to the ‘creative pulse’ that flows so strongly through our island home.”
Visitors and locals alike spend the weekend roving the island, visiting over 90 different artists at 60 different studios and galleries in their exploration of the myriad talents populating Gabriola Island. The best thing, though, is that the artists are still around even outside of the Thanksgiving weekend! Many of the Galleries and Studios featured on the tour are open all year round and are thrilled to have visitors drop by for a look.
The Gabriola Arts Council produces a yearly brochure outlining all of the artists and their studios on the Island. You can find the brochure at our Visitor Information Centre (located at the Folklife Village) and can also find more information on their web site. Whatever type of arts, crafts or jewelry you’re looking for you’re sure to find some of the best in the world on our little “Isle of the Arts”!