Members of a new Victoria artists’ collective are reeling after the best pieces on display, small statues worth about $8,000, went missing in a smash-and-grab burglary.
“It’s a real punch in the face to have this kind of stuff happen,” Kit Warren, a director of 1620 Gallery, said Friday.
Warren said the burglary probably happened between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Thursday. Whoever was responsible was likely watching the storefront space at 1620 Blanshard St. because the glass door was smashed open during a time when the night security person had left for a meal.
Directors of the gallery have not arranged for insurance yet. Instead they had pinned their trust on the night-time security.
The 1620 Gallery only opened on April 6, in the former storefront site of a second-hand furniture store. Those behind the gallery hope it can become a display and working space devoted to local and Indigenous arts and artisanship.
Stolen in Thursday’s break-in were two duplicate statues both depicting a mother and child.
One is carved in stone and valued at about $5,000 and its duplicate was cast in bronze and valued at about $3,000.
They stand about 30 centimetres high and were created by a local woman artist.
The little identifying label and price tag sitting alongside the two pieces was also stolen. Warren speculated the label might make it easier to settle a price with a potential buyer.
Also stolen was a carving of a castle with a small vessel for diffusing aromatic oils.
A store inventory is underway to see if other items were taken.
Warren has filed a police report. He and others are also putting up posters at pawnshops and second-hand stores, hoping to recover the pieces.
He said he and others at the gallery recognize the area is not the safest in town.
But the location offers ideal space for displaying and creating art and building special pieces.
The gallery wants to feature finished work by artists and artisans including those who specialize in creating fine finished items from abandoned or scrap pieces of wood and other materials.
The gallery already has a number of fine-finished tables on display, created from castoff planks.
Stained glass works, fabric pieces, found art and First Nations carvings also have pride of place.
The gallery features a two-car garage space accessible via a door from the galley. It’s hoped the work space can be used for lessons, painting and as a carving space for First Nations carvers.
Warren said the break-in is a blow. But as a former boxer and rugby player for the Castaway Wanderers, he said getting knocked down is part of life. What’s important is getting up, wiping away any mud or blood and carrying on.
“This is a growing gallery that won’t allow this hiccup to halt the stuff we are doing here,” he said.
