Boasting a lineup of 165 artists showcasing their diverse talents, food vendors offering a variety of culinary delights, community booths providing engaging information and resources, and interactive Imagination Stations designed to inspire creativity, it’s no surprise that more than 50,000 visitors flocked to Moss Street once again for the 36th annual Art Gallery Paint-In, transforming the event into a vibrant hub of artistic expression and community celebration.

The Art Gallery Paint-In, presented by TD Bank Group, returned on July 19 this summer, and once again attendees engaged with artists from a wide variety of backgrounds and disciplines as they painted, created, and crafted along the length of Moss Street.

Image Credit: A collective weaving creation at the Family Sunday Imagination Station at the Art Gallery Paint-In, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV.
Image Credit: Artist Marcela Strasdas’ paint palette for the day at the Art Gallery Paint-In, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV.

Participants at our Imagination Stations, sponsored by Mac-Reno-Design-Build, were invited to engage with our current exhibitions, including sculpting a clay Netsuke figurine as found in our Asian art collection, or a butterfly wind catcher inspired by the exhibition, Meryl McMaster: Bloodline, and more.

Image Credit: A visitor trying their hand at calligraphy with the Victoria Chinese Painting and Calligraphy Association at the Art Gallery Paint-In, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV.

The Gallery was honoured to host local non-profit organizations, providing them with booths to engage with the community and tell them about their mission, available programming, and resources.

Image Credit: Curators Corner in action with Toby Lawrence, AGGV Curator of Contemporary Art, answering visitor questions in the exhibition Architectures of Protection, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV.

From making spreadsheets, to writing emails, to organizing supplies, working with the staff at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria to organize the Art Gallery Paint-In was an incredible experience that I am so grateful to have been brought on board for.

Image Credit: A collective landscape drawing from one of the Imagination Stations at the Art Gallery Paint-In, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV

Being able to help put on this Victoria summer staple felt like writing a love letter to the city that I have been lucky enough to live in for the past four years. Watching the community come together to engage with, celebrate, and create art was such a magical thing to experience. The volume of artists, volunteers and visitors that came out for the Art Gallery Paint-In was truly a testament to the place art holds in the heart of our community.

Image Credit:(L-R) Zoey Stienstra, AGGV Public Engagement Assistant, Daniel Martinez, AGGV Events Coordinator, and Jane Broomfield, AGGV Visitor Experience Coordinator. Courtesy of the AGGV.

While there are many things happening in our world today that can make us feel hopeless, seeing the community come together in art both for the artists on the street and the exhibitions in our galleries gave me a sense of hope, joy, and creative passion that I hope was felt by all our visitors.

– Written by Zoey Stienstra, former AGGV Public Engagement Assistant

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Feature Image: Daniel Martinez, AGGV Events Coordinator, riding in a HeyYa! Cart, one of two carts generously lent to the Gallery to support transporting AGGV Staff and Volunteers during the Art Gallery Paint-In, 2025. Courtesy of the AGGV.