![]() Main entrance to the art gallery | |
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Established | 1946[1] |
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Location | 1040 Moss Street, Victoria, British Columbia, V8V 4P1 |
Coordinates | 48°25′19″N 123°20′51″W / 48.4219°N 123.3476°W |
Type | Art museum |
Visitors | 54,998 (2015–16)[2] |
President | Chris Lawless |
Curator | Steven McNeil (Chief Curator) |
Website | aggv |
The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) is an art museum located in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Situated in Rockland, Victoria, the museum occupies a 2,474.5 square metres (26,635 sq ft) building complex; made up of the Spencer Mansion, and the Exhibition Galleries. The former building component was built in 1889, while the latter component was erected in the mid-20th century.
The institution was established in 1946 as the Little Centre in downtown Victoria. In 1951, the institution was gifted the Spencer Mansion in the neighbourhood of Rockland, and moved into the building in the same year. The institution was renamed the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria when it opened at the Spencer Mansion. From 1955 to 1978, the museum underwent a series of expansions to the building in order to expand the viewing space of its building.
Its collection works from Canadian artists, indigenous Canadian artists, and other artists from across the Pacific Rim. The museum has also organized and hosted a number of travelling arts exhibitions. The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria has the largest collection of works out of any art museum in British Columbia, with approximately 20,000 works in its permanent collection.