The 2024 Creative Spaces Garden and Studio Tour on Cortes Island

Roy L Hales/ Cortes Currents - The Creative Spaces Garden and Studio Tour is Saturday June 22, from 10 am to 4 pm. This is an annual fundraiser for the Cortes Island Museum, as well as a showcase of some of the island’s hidden gems.

“It's a great opportunity to feature creative talents of people on the island, and it's a self guided  tour of studios and gardens that takes you all the way around from Whaletown, down to Smelt Bay, and Cortes Bay. We've got painters, textile artists, weavers, spinners,  ceramicists .  We've got a number of potters and pottery studios that are participating. And then some beautiful spaces with gardens that range from low bluff to high bluff. You pick up a map, which includes a button, and you just go around the island visiting people that you may not know that they've had all these hidden talents, or see spaces that you were curious about but never had an opportunity to actually walk into. Walk through the gates and see what people are growing there,” explained Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the Cortes Island Museum.

“We have 15 spots, when I say spots I mean locations, because, even though one person's name may be on the garden description, we know that there are a lot of people who participate and contribute to the shape of any garden. So we say 15 different locations, and I would say that we've had a good representation  of artists.”

Some of the artists will be selling work .And it's a great opportunity just to engage with your neighbors, for locals, as well as people coming from off island.

Cortes Currents: Can you give examples of some of the spaces on the tour?

Melanie Boyle: “Suzu Matsuda and Larry Cohen are longtime friends and longtime residents  of Cortes.  They have some beautiful works to show and their studios beautiful. Volker Steigeman and Larry built it together. It's a really unique space and a lot of people on the island may know of  their space because they held an annual pottery sale, which was  really popular.”

“Brian Hayden's house up on the gorge is one of the houses that we're featuring here in the exhibition. When people go to visit Brian's garden, which is a really unique Mediterranean focused garden, they have an opportunity to see the outside of his home, which is based on a traditional pithouse design from the interior of BC First Nations design. Brian's landscaped and really integrated  the building with the landscape. The home was designed by David Shipway and built by Trigva Ellingson and his crew.”  

“Christer Ekstrom has a very beautiful contemplative style of painting. He has a beautiful studio up north of Whaletown, and  it was a delight to have visited his studio last year.”

“Filipe Figuera  will also be showing at the Schoolhouse Gallery this year. He was on the tour last year, and  Philippe will be featuring his  paintings as well.”

“Jeremy Ellingson and Aaron Ellingson live in a historic float house on Haig Lake. Jeremy has a ceramics practice, and she will be opening the doors to  her studio, as well.”

“Mary Claire Preston is down at Foxglove Pottery Studios.”

This is the first time Ayami Stryck has opened her her textile studio for the tour.

“Hollyhock Garden is always spectacular and they're on the tour as well.  Hollyhock is offering a 10 percent discount  for lunch for  ticket holders. This lunch discount requires pre-reservation, as spots are limited.”

“The heritage garden here at the museum has really been spruced up. So much hard work has been put in through our volunteers.”

“That's a few spaces.  I don't want to mention too many people because I think everybody  is bringing some really unique work to this tour.”