Monday May 19, 2025 | SOOKE, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
Artists on Vancouver Island and the smaller coastal islands each year have their submitted works selected for inclusion in the Sooke Fine Arts Show.
Three jurors make those decisions each year.
Usually about 375 pieces are selected which fit into the pre-designed exhibit infrastructure that is set up in the SEAPARC Recreation Centre arena.
After the call to artists deadline of midnight on June 1, the jurors will set to work on selecting pieces for the show. Artists are provided with notification of acceptance by 5 pm on June 17.
As the jurors change each year, the tone and flavour of the visitor experience to the gallery is different each year.
Juror profiles:
Jurors for the 2025 Sooke Fine Arts Show are Ken Gillespie, Beth Stuart, and Razali May.
Ken Gillespie has been a full-time professional artist for over 30 years and is a senior signature member (S.F.C.A) of the Federation of Canadian Artists. He has juried numerous in-person and online shows, and taught FCA chapter workshops throughout BC and Alberta, including two years teaching and jurying at the Leighton Museum in Calgary. In his own artwork, Ken has focussed his passion on landscapes and still life. His paintings have been featured in sellout solo shows in top Canadian Galleries, been published in several magazines and publications, including ‘International Artists’ magazine in their ‘Master Painters of the World’ section, and is collected world-wide in private and public collections.
Beth Stuart is a professional artist and an Associate Professor of Visual Arts at the University of Victoria. She holds a graduate degree from the University of Guelph and has been teaching visual arts for over a decade in universities across Canada. Beth has been a recipient of numerous residences, exhibitions, grants and awards. A few of the notable prizes are the Canada Council for the Arts Paris Residency and the Canada Council’s Long-Term Grant for Visual Artists. Working in an expanding range of media including writing, painting, ceramic, textiles, and sculptural installation, she has exhibited extensively in Canada and abroad, and is represented by the Susan Hobbs Gallery in Toronto. Beth lives and works on Lekwungen territory.
Razali May, originally from Malaysia, moved to Canada in 1995 and established Gallery 8 on Salt Spring Island in 2009. In 2020, he opened another new nearby venue – the Coast Gallery. Through his galleries, Razali represents and promotes 80 provincial and national contemporary Canadian artists, mounting eight major exhibitions annually and incorporating artists’ work in client residences, and his own home. Although Razali’s formal education is in engineering, from Durham College in 1995, his passion is in the arts. With a keen eye for beauty and masterful creativity, and a commitment to mentoring artists in the realities of the business of the arts, Razali has worked hard to establish himself as a key fixture in the local arts community.
===== LINKS within the SOOKE FINE ARTS SHOW website:
- 2025 Submission Guidelines
- Submission Requirement Checklist
- 2025 Exhibition Guidelines
- 2025 Jurors
- Artist FAQ
===== SPONSORS:
Again this year, Island Social Trends is a proud sponsor of the Sooke Fine Arts Show (each year since 2017).
===== RELATED:
- Sooke Fine Arts Show call to artists deadline is June 1 (May 19, 2025)
- New leadership at Sooke Fine Arts Society in 2025 (November 29, 2024)
- 2024 Sooke Fine Arts Show People’s Choice awards (August 19, 2024)
- Awards night in Sooke recognizes coastal artists (August 3, 2024)
- Gift shop has ‘sparkle’ at Sooke Fine Arts Show (July 31, 2024)
- The exhibit experience at Sooke Fine Arts Show 2024 (July 27, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | SOOKE REGION | VANCOUVER ISLAND