ArtSea Studio Tour
October 4th – 5th, 2025
10AM – 4PM, daily
The ArtSea Studio Tour is one of Vancouver Island’s longest running (more than 30 years) self-guided studio tours.
You are invited on journey through the vibrant studios scattered across the picturesque Saanich Peninsula. Delight in the opportunity to peruse recent works of art, immerse yourself in artist demonstrations, and gain insight into the inspirations behind each creation. Discover the passion and dedication driving our participants to produce the art they love.
The ArtSea Studio Tour offers an unparalleled chance to explore and experience the natural beauty and cultural richness of the Saanich Peninsula. Join us for a memorable excursion filled with creativity, inspiration, and exploration.
ArtSea Studio Tour Registration (NOW OPEN)
Please read each of the following Studio Participant Guidelines before proceeding to the registration form.
- The ArtSea Studio Tour is open to all ArtSea Members with a studio or display space on the Saanich Peninsula. If you do not have a studio or suitable space on the Peninsula but would like to participate, email studiotour@artsea.ca before registering. ArtSea will do our best to arrange a shared or hosted studio space, but availability is not guaranteed and may involve an additional fee.
- The ArtSea Studio Tour Registration fee is $100 (non-refundable) and is paid at the time of registration. (Waitlist applicants are not required to pay a registration fee until space becomes available).
- Studio Tour participants must have a current ArtSea Membership. (Learn More here)
- An interactive online map will feature participant locations and information, including artist name, one or two images, a brief artist bio (this information is provided by the participant in the registration form). Participants can link to the online interactive map from their website or social media channels.
- A single-page, 8.5″ x 11″ printed guide will also be produced. It will include a list of participants with artist name, address, artist medium (as provided on the application form), and a corresponding numbered dot showing the approximate studio locations on a map of the Saanich Peninsula. A limited number of printed guides will be distributed to designated locations on the Saanich Peninsula and Greater Victoria. This document will also be available for download/personal printing on the ArtSea website (artists that would like additional hard-copies are welcome to download the PDF and print/distribute as needed).
- The ArtSea Studio Tour will be promoted through the ArtSea website, newsletter, and social media channels, as well as through the distribution of posters, printed guides, and an interactive online map (which received over 12,500 views in 2024). The event will also benefit from cross-promotion through community partners. To help maximize visibility, we encourage all registered participants to actively promote their involvement through personal networks, social media, community bulletin boards, and local media outlets.
- ArtSea Studio Tour directional signage is available for each participating location (to be collected prior to the Studio Tour weekend and returned after the event).
- Participants will prepare their artwork and studio space ahead of time.
- Participants must provide a tally (count and report the number of visitors) for each day. This information is used in funding reports to the Province of BC, local municipalities, and other program supporters.
- Space is Limited. don’t miss this great opportunity to share your work with the community. Registration is accepted on a first-come, first served basis until spaces are filled.
If you have any questions, please email: studiotour@artsea.ca
READY TO REGISTER?
How to prepare for the Studio Tour – Tips and Tricks for Participants (click)
How to prepare:
- Ensure your studio is clearly marked and accessible.
- Make sure your artwork and studio space is clean and inviting.
- Promote your involvement through personal networks, social media, community bulletin boards, and local media outlets.
- Think about how would you like to greet visitors and what information would you like to share? Consider answers to these common questions:
- What is most important for visitors to know about you and your artwork?
- How did you get your start?
- What kept you motivated through the past few years?
- What are you really passionate about?
- What advice would you give younger artists just starting their artistic journey?
Please be informed that some artists and artisans have experienced theft of their work during open studio events in the region.
Please use caution when welcoming visitors into your space!
2024 Event Images – 30th Annual ArtSea Studio Tour
2024 ArtSea Studio Tour – Participant Works
2024 ArtSea Studio Tour – Printed Brochure
Pick up your hard-copy brochure at the following locations (fall 2024):
- The ArtSea Gallery in Tulista Park, Sidney
- The Sidney Information Centre, Beacon Ave
- McTavish Academy of Art, North Saanich
- Deep Cove Market, North Saanich
- Tanners Books, Sidney
- Village Gallery, Sidney
- Peninsula Gallery, Sidney
- Sidney Pier Hotel, Sidney
- The Fickle Fig (Mills Rd), North Saanich
- The Brentwood Bay Village Emporium
- Michell’s Farm Market, HWY 17, Central Saanich
- Red Barn Market, Mattick’s Farm, Vic.
- The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
- Ivy’s Books, Victoria
- Side Street Studio, Victoria
2025 ArtSea Studio Tour – Online Interactive Map
Zoom in and out, or switch to full-screen mode for a better view. Use the directory on the left or click on the individual location dots to explore artist details, images, and studio locations. You can also plan your route in advance and navigate to your next studio with ease using your mobile device.
Available Late Summer 2025
Click to view fill screen map – top right corner of interactive map.
To view the Directory list – top left corner of interactive map. Click each listing for more information.
Location icons – click icon for artist address, read the artist bio, and to enjoy images of their work.
Thanks to the ArtSea Studio Tour sponsors and Supporters!
ArtSea Studio Tour Participant Feedback Survey
2024 ArtSea Studio Tour participants are welcome to share feedback about your experience!
The information provided will help ArtSea to plan and improve the ArtSea Studio Tour.
ArtSea Studio Tour – In the Media
Source: https://www.peninsulanewsreview.com/community/artsea-studio-tour-turns-30-7551896
There are infinite ways to make art, it seems, and Rebecca Trapp is a local artist who has found her way to a lesser-known form of creating.
Her approach is called Scratch Art, which starts off with a hardboard, then seven layers of white clay, each one dried in between. Black Indian ink is added on top, then tools are used to scratch through to the white. For extra pizzazz, Trapp sometimes adds colour to the layers.
Before finding scratch art, Trapp had done everything from pastels, pencil crayons, acrylics, oils, wax and glass fusion, which she still does. But thanks to an art show in Arizona, where she met the president of the International Scratch Board Association, she found an art form she really loves.
“I just love the detail that you can get with it, and that’s what drew me to it,” she said.
Trapp’s story illustrates what can happen when artists inspire and connect with the public. She takes that value to the upcoming ArtSea Studio Tour on the Saanich Peninsula, where the public can get an inside look at artists’ studios, their work, and talk with the artists.
“By going through the studio tours, you see the different kinds of art that are actually out there,” Trapp said. “It’s unbelievable really.”
This year, the tour is celebrating 30 years with 39 different studios spread across Saanichton, Sidney, North Saanich and Brentwood Bay.
One stop is the studio of ArtSea member Doug Philips, a woodcarver and metal artist who is currently working on Tree Spirits. These carvings consist of old men’s faces in logs or large branches and come from legends of ancient Celtic and African groups.
“They would carve an image or face into [fallen trees] to help release its benevolent spirit and bring good fortune to their people, their land, their animals and their crops,” he said. Philips will be working on one such creation during the tour.
As a past tour-goer himself, Philips appreciates the tour’s ability to connect people to a “wide collection of excellent art.”
“It just helps you appreciate their creations that much more,” he said.
Pottery artist Sue Starkey, whose property has three studios on the tour, had a similar sentiment.
“You get fired up when you share things and talk about creative ideas,” she said of the event.
Starkey got introduced to clay on a Sunday school outing to Cordova Bay Beach. At 13, she learned how to throw pottery on the wheel with artist Wynn Life at a store in Cordova Bay. This set her on the path to pursue a degree in ceramics and becoming an art teacher.
“I was hooked,” she said.
Starkey will be displaying outdoor planters and sculptures made of hypertufa – a mix of concrete, peat moss and vermiculite – at her studio, as well as wire creations, and other creations such as a shovel mobile made up from the tools she found “stuck in the dirt” when she moved onto her property. “This place is a wealth of fun things.”
There’s more to the story behind her pieces, of course, and hearing those stories is another part of the ArtSea Studio Tour that makes the event fascinating for so many goers.
The tour runs Oct. 5 and 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
More info can be found at artsea.ca.
Source: Seaside Magazine Online, Page 83
Many Thanks to:
- Our fantastic ArtSea Member Artists who open their studios to share local arts and culture with the community.
- Wendy Picken, Studio Tour Committee Lead, and her team of volunteers for investing time and energy to organize the ArtSea Studio Tour, and going above and beyond to provide support for our local artists and artisans!
- Wendy was also the lead for the 2022 & 2023 Studio Tour, and the Virtual Artist Tour program (presented in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic, while we were not able to present the in-person Studio Tour).
- Check out the Virtual Artist Tour videos
ARTSEA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR COMMUNITY SPONSORS AND PARTNERS!
ArtSea is thrilled to have THEPRINTLAB as the official printer for ArtSea. THEPRINTLAB generously donated the printing for the 2024 ArtSea Studio Tour Brochures. Check out THEPRINTLAB all your printing needs!
ArtSea is grateful for these businesses that generously provide spaces for local artists to display their work during the 2024 ArtSea Studio Tour and welcome members of the public to enjoy local artwork and artist demonstrations.
ArtSea is also grateful to these community-minded businesses that have made a financial contribution to support the ArtSea Studio Tour. Don’t forget to stop by these establishments for a coffee and a snack during the Studio Tour!
ARTSEA WOULD LIKE TO THANK OUR LOCAL, PROVINCIAL AND MUNICIPAL PARTNERS!
