A downtown Victoria art gallery is shutting its doors today after 30 years of operation, with its owners citing instability in the retail market as the reason for the closure.
“It’s very upsetting,” said Matthew Hudon, general manager and co-owner of West End Gallery. “That space, for 30 years, has been our home.”
The contemporary art gallery, located at 1203 Broad St., will be shuttered permanently at 5 p.m. today. Hudon announced the decision March 14. The timing made sense as the gallery’s lease was up for renewal, according to Hudon. “This was the right time for us. Thirty years in Victoria has been phenomenal. But this is a business decision. Our intention was to carry on in Victoria, but this is the way it worked out.”
In 1975, Hudon’s parents, Dan and Lana, founded Edmonton’s West End Gallery, which remains in operation today. The couple expanded in 1994 with a second location in Victoria, and commuted between the two cities for several years. Matthew, who lives in Edmonton, has run both locations since 2005, and continued to tweak its inventory, which consists of wall art, blown glass, and sculpture from both local and national artists — in the face of ever-changing trends.
“Victoria is a great city, and having two locations worked for us,” he said. “But now, post-pandemic, having multiple locations just doesn’t make sense. Retail has been shaken, and peoples’ spending habits have as well.”
The gallery has been selling paintings by Nanaimo artist Paul Jorgensen since 2001. With support from the Hudons, and subsequent sales through both their Edmonton and Victoria locations, he was able to make painting a full-time career. “I was really taken by the fact they would take me on and exhibit my art,” Jorgensen said. “It has been a good relationship.”
His paintings currently for sale through the Victoria location will be shipped to Edmonton, which leaves the veteran artist without local representation. He is making arrangements to showcase his work through Peninsula Art Gallery in Sidney, but he’s sad to see West End Gallery close. “It’s going to leave a hole in this city,” he said.
Hudon, who was named general manager of both locations in 2005, and eventually purchased the company with his wife, Jennifer, in 2021, fretted over the decision for months. And while the feedback from longtime clients and patrons following the announcement was heartening, art galleries can only weather so many storms, he said.
Discretionary spending on non-essential items — art being one — ebbs and flows relative to the economy. With everything from interest rates to gas prices impacting household spending, Hudon didn’t see the gallery returning to its pre-pandemic revenue totals any time soon.
“For us to move to another location within Victoria wasn’t feasible for us. We are known for being on the corner of Broad and View. Whatever goes in that space won’t be what it was.”
