Emily Carr Chronicles, James Bay Community, Victoria, BC (2025)

06/16/2024

Come experience the life, art & writing of Emily Carr, Victoria's beloved artist, on a walking tour on Saturday June 22 or on June 29 and visit the historic locations in James Bay, Victoria that form a backdrop to her life story. Prefer a bus tour and a wider range that includes visiting her gravesite in Ross Bay Cemetery in Fairfield and our two newest historic locations, one in Fairfield and another in Oak Bay? See more & register at https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/ or on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/emily-carr-chronicles-bus-walking-tours-2867219

06/10/2024

In conjunction with the Vancouver Art Gallery's "Room of One's Own" Emily Carr exhibition that runs until September, Vancouver’s Fairmont Hotel is now offering authentic afternoon tea with an Emily Carr theme . The menu itself incorporates multiple layers of Carr-themed items. The ‘Woo’ bread, a sweet roll with hints of cinnamon and named after Carr’s Javanese macaque, Woo, is a nice addition to the classic buttery scone.

Stand out savory items include the BC forest mushroom tart and the Fraser Valley duck ham with Saskatoon berry. Highlights of the bottom dessert level are the visually-impressive Emily Carr macaron and the huckleberry cheesecake. See more at: https://www.vanmag.com/city/arts-and-culture/a-new-emily-carr-themed-afternoon-tea-is-at-the-fairmont-hotel-vancouver/ |

06/10/2024

Come explore the life of Emily Carr, Victoria's beloved artist. Visit the 15 historic locations in Victoria that authentically backdrop her life story. Along the way, you'll get to hear about some of the important people in her life such as her four sisters, her handyman Willie Newcombe, her listening ladies, her childhood art instructors, her years in Vancouver, Ira Dilworth, Lauren Harris, The Group of 7, Woo, the Elephant, her lifelong friend Sophie Frank and her Indigenous guides for her two lengthy sketching trips in Haida Gwaii in and 1928.

We'll also visit her gravesite in Ross Bay Cemetery. Breathtaking ocean views, intricate pillars, stately mausoleums and towering trees are some of the charm of this historic Victorian-era cemetery, along with it being the resting place of Victoria's most revered artist. See more & purchase tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874587734457 |

06/01/2024

Come explore the life and art of Emily Carr, Victoria's beloved artist, and visit the 9 historic locations in James Bay that backdrop her life story. Tickets on sales now at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/908525332727 |

05/25/2024

Come explore the life and the neighbourhood of Victoria's beloved artist Emily Carr on foot or on a bus, the choice is yours.

See more & register for the Emily Carr Walking Tour on Saturday June 8 at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/908525332727

See more & register for the Emily Carr Bus Tour on Saturday, June 15 at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874587734457

05/25/2024

It was such a pleasure to spend the day with 30 or so members of the Victoria Womem's Newcomers Club on two Emily Carr Chronicles Walk & Talk Tours, one in the morning and another in the afternoon. The afternoon walk started at 1:30pm and ended at 4:15pm. We spent an interesting time speaking to the owner of Alice Carr's house who described the inside of this historic site. Everyone was excited to know more about the house right after a guided tour of Emily Carr's family home.

Our next Emily Carr Chronicles Walk & Talk takes place on Saturday, June 8 from 12:30pm to 4pm. Early bird rate is $25 until May 30, $35 thereafter. Limited to 10 lucky participants. See more & purchase tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/908525332727
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05/07/2024

We added a new stop on the Emily Carr Chronicles Bus Tour, the house on Oscar Street in Fairfield she owned from 1936 - 1940.

In 1936, after twenty-two years of trials and tribulations she was forced to trade the House of All Sorts on Simcoe Street in James Bay for a single, rentable house on Oscar Street in Fairfield. She rented out the Fairfield house for $25 a month for the four years she rented the cottage at 316 Beckley Street in James Bay for $12 a month and lived on the difference.

Read the short story Emily wrote on her move from the House of All Sorts to the cottage on Beckley Street: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/beckley-street/

05/07/2024

Come aboard the three hour Emily Carr Chronicles Bus Tour on Saturday, May 25. We've added three additional stops along the route:

1) the Crystal Gardens on Government Street where Emily gave a famous speech to the Women's Canadian Club of Victoria strongly advocating for 'modern art' in 1930,

2) the house she owned on Oscar Street in Fairfield from 1936 to 1940 -- for which she traded for the House of All Sorts on Simcoe Street in James Bay in 1936 and

3) the location of the cottage on Beckley Street in James Bay that she rented from 1936 to 1940, after which she she moved back into Alice's cottage on St Andrew's Street in James Bay. There's lots of interesting stories to tell about these years, these moves and these two sisters.

Early bird rate: $35 until May 10, $40 thereafter. Only six seats left. See more details & register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874582408527

04/24/2024

From her book of short stories The House of All Sorts, Emily Carr writes about the early days of setting up a kennel for the first of her sheepdogs. "The ideas of a Bobtail kennel did not rush into my mind with a sudden burst. It matured slowly, growing from a sincere love of and admiration for the breed, awaked by my dog, Billie, a half-bred Old English Bobtail Sheep-dog. Billie's Bobtail half was crammed with the loyalty, lovableness, wisdom, courage and kindness of the breed. His something-else half was negligible, though it debarred him from the show bench. Heart, instincts, intelligence-all were pure Bobtail...." read the rest of the story: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/kennel/

04/23/2024

Come explore the life of Emily Carr, Victoria's favourite artist, and visit the 14 historic locations that tell her life story in and around the James Bay area in Victoria, BC. See more details & register on Eventbrite at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874582408527

04/17/2024

Check out the April 2024 issue of Emily Carr Chronicles and you'll learn about her three "funny books" that illustrate her peculiar sense of humour, her top three most expensive paintings sold at auction and upcoming Emily Carr events: https://mailchi.mp/dfaa7cdec003/emily-carr-chronicles-april-2024-12759119

04/16/2024

In addition to "Cordova Drift "(1931), four other works by Emily Carr were sold at the December 2021 Heffel auction. including the 1912 painting "Maude Island Totem", which went for $841,250. See more about Emily Carr's art at: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/emily-carrs-art/

04/16/2024

The painting’s original title—as named by Carr—was Indian Church. In 2018, after consultation with Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations on whose territory the church was located, the Art Gallery of Ontario renamed the painting to Church in Yuquot Village, using the specificity of its location within the title. Yuquot, whose name is translated to “Where the Winds Blow from Many Directions,” was a summer village for the thriving whaling community before colonial contact and continues now as a small community at its original location on Nootka Island, off the coast of Vancouver Island in Nootka Sound. It is also where, in 1778, James Cook first made landfall.

The title change is controversial: some are concerned that such practices constitute an act of “whitewashing,” while others see such attempts as an effort of respectful, collaborative renaming seeking to redress the painful history of colonization. The original church in Yuquot that Carr painted later burned down, and a new one was built at the site, which still stands and is used as a community centre. See more about Emily's art at: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/emily-carrs-art/

04/16/2024

The pre-auction estimates for Emily Carr's "The Crazy Stair" at the Heffel Auction House was was between $1.2 and $1.6-million. The $3.9 million price it sold for was the highest amount paid for a work by a Canadian female artist. See more about Emily's art at: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/emily-carrs-art/.

04/16/2024

Two mature-period canvases by Emily Carr fetched more than $3 million at a Toronto auction in June 2021, and were two of the most valuable works by the B.C. artist to come to market. The 1939 forest scene “Tossed by the Wind” fetched $3.1 million - roughly twice its pre-sale estimate of between $1.2 million and $1.6 million. Her 1937's “Swirl,” estimated at $1,000,000 - $1,500,000 sold for $2,341,250. Emily Carr originally gifted both paintings to Lawren Harris, a member of the Group of Seven. See more of Emily Carr's art at: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/emily-carrs-art/

04/15/2024

In February 1940, Emily moved from a cottage she had been renting since 1936 on Beckley Street in James Bay Victoria to her favourite sister Alice's cottage. Emily added a separate kitchen and bathroom in order to have self-contained quarters. Her bedroom was her sister's school dining room and her studio here sister's former classroom. Alice's cottage in one of the locations we explore on the The Emily Carr Chronicles tours. Check out the upcoming Emily Carr Chronicles Tours at: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/emily-carr-chronicles-bus-walking-tours-2867219

04/15/2024

By 1924, Emily Carr was no longer taking boarders at the House of All Sorts. Instead, in addition to breeding and kenneling English Bobtails to supplement her meagre income, she created and sold hooked rugs, pottery and table lamps. See more about Emily's art at: https://emilycarrchronicles.ca/emily-carrs-art/

04/14/2024

Come explore on foot the nine locations and residences in the James Bay area in Victoria, BC made special by Emily Carr (1871- 1945), Victoria's most famous artist and author. See more & register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/871367171667

04/14/2024

Join the guided bus tour to check out the 12 locations in and around the James Bay and Fairfield areas in Victoria, BC, that are special to the life and legacy of the city's most famous artist, Emily Carr (1871 - 1945). See more & purchase tickets at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874582408527

04/02/2024

This Emily Carr Chronicles Talk & Tea is a prelude for the This Emily Carr Chronicles Walk, Talk & Tour to take place the following day on Saturday, April 13 from 12:30 to 3:00pm. Tickets are now on sale the Talk & Tea for participants who are also registered for the Walk, Talk and Tour for $5. General addmission tickets to the Talk & Tea go on sale on April 6 for $15. All registered participants will receive a detailed backgrounder on Emily Carr that includes five questions so that you can think about your answers and bring them to the Talk & Tea. See more & register at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874521476277

04/02/2024

Come discover the world of Emily Carr, Victoria's most famous painter and author and tour the nine places that were significant to her in the James Bay area where she was born, died, and spent most of her life. Saturday, April 27 from 12:30 to 3pm. Tickets on sale now at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/874426712837

03/25/2024

Come discover the world of Emily Carr, Victoria's most famous painter and author and tour the nine places that were significant to her in the James Bay area where she was born, died, and spent most of her life. Saturday, April 27 from 12:30 to 3pm. Tickets on sale now at: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/871367171667

03/25/2024

The Emily Carr Chronicles Walk, Talk & Tour on March 23, 2024 was attended by six fans of Emily Carr, including those pictured here. The highlight of the walk for me was in meeting up with, Kathryn, (in the orange dress) the woman who now owns Alice Carr's House at 216 St Andrews Street and hearing her talk about the features and the additions Alice and Emily added to the house for 15 minutes in front of the house despite the rain.

Here's what participants had to say about the event:

"Highly interactive, fun way to learn about Emily Carr's life. Many thanks."

"Great introduction to a local artist and writer whose paintings are now selling for millions of dollars!"

The most interesting this that a participant reported learning about Emily Carr she did not know before:

""More famous for her writing than her art early in her career and was awarded the Governor General’s Award for her writing. Interested to learn that her writing was edited to remove her obvious respect and friendship with the First Nations peoples. Her first trip north she stayed with missionaries and white people. Years later she stayed with the First Nations peoples. Her great and long term friendship with Sophie"

Next Emily Carr Chronicles Walk, Talk & Tour is scheduled for Saturday, April 27, 2024 from 12:30 to 3pm. Check Eventbrite for more information.

03/12/2024

Thank you to all the attended the 10 Remarkable Women Resting in Ross Bay Cemetery Event on International Women's Day on March 8. It was a sell out and by all reports was a great success! A special thank you to Yvonne Van Ruskenveld from the Old Cemeteries Society. If there was only one person that I could thank, it would be Yvonne.

In case you're sorry that you missed it or couldn't get a ticket, check out the "Reminder Newsletter " I sent out two days before the event:

https://mailchi.mp/bf210cad5696/zonta-victoria-presents-10-remarkable-women-on-international-womens-day-12754782

And, check out the "Follow Up Newsletter" sent to participants after the event in response to questions we were asked.

https://mailchi.mp/be75cf7a7d54/zonta-victoria-presents-10-remarkable-women-on-international-womens-day-12754780

03/07/2024

All three Remarkable Women tours scheduled for March 8, International Women's Day are all sold out. Still looking for an Emily Carr adventure? Sign up for the Emily Carr Chronicles Bus Tour on Friday, March 15 or the Emily Carr Chronicles Walk, Talk & Tour on Saturday, March 23.

See more about & register for the Walking Tour: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/850376508027

See more about & register for the Bus Tour:
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/792625824177

02/27/2024

Four Sisters of St Anne were the first nuns to arrive in Victoria in 1858 and are known as the “Pioneer Nuns." Undaunted by their new environment nor the English/French language barrier, the Sisters immediately opened a school and residences for the sick and orphaned. Over time, they would go on to establish St. Ann’s Academy as well as St. Joseph’s Hospital. The original sisters of St Ann, along with Emily Carr and eight other of her contemporaries will be featured in the Remarkable Women event on March 8, International Women's Day. Check it out here: and hope to see you there: https://bit.ly/remarkable-women-March8

02/27/2024

Isabella Ross was an important figure in the history of the Hudson Bay Company in Victoria, and the Métis relationships in Colonial times. Isabella married Charles Ross when she was 15 years old. Charles became Chief Trader and in command of the construction of Fort Victoria in 1883. After his death, Isabella became the first woman to own land in British Columbia. Isabella, along with Emily Carr and eight other of her contemporaries to be featured in the Remarkable Women event on March 8, International Women's Day. Check it out here: and hope to see you there: https://bit.ly/remarkable-women-March8

02/27/2024

Sophie Pemberton was BC's first professional woman artist -- a career not easily accomplished by women at that time. Her other firsts: the Prix Julian from Paris’s Académie Julian, and she was the first artist of any gender from BC to receive international acclaim when invited to exhibit at the Royal Academy in London in 1897. Sophie was also a childhood sketching partner of Emily Carr. Sophie, along with Emily Carr and eight other of her contemporaries to be featured in the Remarkable Women event on March 8, International Women's Day. Check it out here: and see you there: https://bit.ly/remarkable-women-March8

02/25/2024

Petronilla Bossi was an important member of the emerging Italian community in Victoria that originated with the gold rush in the 1850’s. She was educated in arts at St. Ann's Academy and highly skilled in needlework earning first prize for her needlework at the Chicago Worlds' Fair. The wedding of Carlo and Petronilla Bossi in 1867 was the first Italian marriage in Victoria. Originally from Lombardy, Italy, Carlo was a well-known merchant and entrepreneur who owned a number of downtown Victoria properties. Petronilla personally designed the grave monument for her husband, Carlo Bossi, and herself. You're invited to discover more about Petronila Bossi and nine other remarkable women, including Emily Carr, at this ticketed event. See more details and purchase your tickets at: https://bit.ly/remarkable-women-March8

02/25/2024

Amelia Douglas was a Métis woman significant in the early history of Canada as the wife of the first governor of the Colony of British Columbia. Born to a French-Irish trapper and his Cree wife, she spent her early childhood moving frequently between fur trading stations in Manitoba. When her father was promoted to factor (i.e. manager) of Fort St. James in what would later become British Columbia, she met a mixed-race trapper of Scottish and Bajan Creole heritage, who would become her husband. As he progressed from clerk to Chief Factor and governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island and later the Colony of British Columbia, she served as a nurse and midwife at his various posts. She gave birth to thirteen children, raising six to adulthood. Her children were brought up in the Victorian European style, though she insured that they were schooled in the cultural heritage of their First Nations ancestors. You're invited to discover more about Amelia Douglas and nine other remarkable women, including Emily Carr, at this ticketed event. See more details and purchase your tickets at: https://bit.ly/remarkable-women-March8