WATCH: A quiet Victoria street will be transformed by art this weekend. Ceilidh Millar reports.
Over the years, Victor Lotto has painted hundreds of landscapes across the world.
“This painting represents a little area on Salt Spring Island,” explained Lotto while working on his newest piece.
His talents were recognized by the age of nine, when he earned a scholarship to attend classes at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto.
“My poor sister used to have to take me on the street car and wait for me,” said Lotto. “I think she’s forgiven me now.”
The retired Canadian diplomat, who served as the Canadian Ambassador in Venezuela and the Canadian Consul General in Brazil, now spends his time creating art in his home studio.
Tomorrow, he’ll be taking his easel to a street in Victoria for a popular art event he’s been part of for the past 19 years.
“The advantage is being outdoors again in a rather festive situation,” explained Lotto.
For three decades, thousands of people have flocked to Moss Street for the TD Art Gallery Paint-In.
“30 years of the paint-in means 30 years of every summer, artists putting out their studios on the street” said Julia Pauselius, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s Facility and Events Coordinator.
10 blocks on Moss Street will be blocked off for the 174 jury-selected artists and their art mediums.
“We have some pottery artists who actually bring in 30 pounds of clay just for the public to play with” said Pauselius.
There is also free admission to the art gallery and various activities including a beer garden, food vendors and live music.
This year’s paint-in marks a special milestone for the event that celebrates human creativity.
“To invite people who live in the CRD or even beyond the CRD to come here, onto the streets and make art really accessible for everybody is just something that everybody really enjoys” explained Pauselius.
The paint-in runs from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. tomorrow at 1040 Moss Street.
Lotto is one of several artists being featured in a two-day exhibit this weekend at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to honour the contributions of long-standing paint-in artists.
For more information on the event, visit the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria.
Ceilidh Millar
