We the members and friends of Xchanges Artists’ Gallery and Studios are grateful for the opportunity to undertake and share our creative work on the unceded Coast Salish territories located in the traditional territories of the Lkwungen speaking peoples, the Esquimalt and Songhees nations.As neighbours and friends we work to create a culture in which the truth is spoken, concerns are acknowledged, and where we are united in a vision of our shared future.
We acknowledge our traditional hosts and strive to honour them by sharing and nurturing an inclusive, creative spirit through all of our activities and relationships.
Being an artist is never just about making art. Finding good affordable studio space, developing your techniques and practice, exhibiting your work, and connecting with artists who inspire you… these are all part and parcel of being an artist. Artists never exist alone. The lifeblood of sustaining your art practice is finding a community that supports you in the journey of making art.
Welcome to Xchanges Gallery and Studios, Canada’s oldest artist-run-centre.
The spirit that gave birth to Xchanges began over 50 years ago. A small group of artists envisioned a way to meet the challenges of being an artist. Xchanges persists because it continues to provides support for many of these challenges. This vision rests on solid bones in a structure that has carried it forward through changes over the years to today.
As a non-profit charity Xchanges is committed to being of service to the greater community through its artistic and gallery goals and developing its people and supporting creativity. The mandate of Xchanges, as contained within the society’s constitution, are:
To operate, maintain, and manage a cooperatively maintained artist-run centre for the following purposes:
1) To provide studios to practicing visual artists at affordable rents;
2) To provide a public gallery for local and regional artists for solo, group and curated exhibitions and other art related functions and events; and
3) To promote and support the endeavors of the local artistic community for the benefit of the public at large, within the resources available to the Society.
During our Strategic Planning sessions we re-envisioned our purpose and vision for the future:
We are an organization run by local artists to support artists in their creative pursuits by providing affordable studios, exhibition opportunities in a collaborative and interactive environment. We believe in sharing creative experience and inspiration among our community.
VISION:
Xchanges by 2020: We have evolved our programming to develop partnerships, increase our collaborative opportunities with the public and our colleagues, to improve our outreach, and enhance our interactions in the wider arts community.
Xchanges is a member of:
Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres
Victoria Intercultural Association Community Partnership Network
Canadian Network for Arts and Learning (CNAL)
Volunteer Victoria
Canadian Museums Association
Xchanges Governance & Operations 2025/26
Board of Directors
Xchanges Board of Directors is a group of volunteers dedicated to the idea that as artists “together we become stronger.” Very much a ‘working board’, regular monthly meetings ensure their involvement in all aspects of managing Xchanges. Together with members and advisors, the Board plans for the future.
All Xchanges members are encouraged to attend meetings of their Board and are welcome to join or strike up new committees. Check out the Volunteer page for Opportunities.
Board Committees
Strategic Planning & Direction
Sponsorship Committee
Membership Committee
Fundraising Committee
Volunteer Committee
Reports and Documents
President’s Reports
President’s Annual Report for 2024/25
President’s Annual Report for 2023/24
President’s Annual Report for 2022/23
President’s Annual Report for 2021/22
President’s Annual Report for 2020/2021
President’s Annual Report for 2019/2020
AGM Minutes
April 2025
April 2024
April 2023
April 2022
April 2021
April 2020
Strategic Planning
Diversity, Equity, and Decolonization Statement
2020/21 – Living Policy Document adopted at the 2021 AGM by members
Xchanges Executive Officers for 2025-26
Heidi Bergstrom | President
Heidi Bergstrom MA, BFA (she/her), is a Red River Métis citizen with a settler background of mixed Euro-Scandinavian (Sweden and Iceland). She is a multimedia visual artist in Victoria, BC, Canada. Her fine art practice and exhibitions includes work in painting, printmaking, book binding, textiles, video and photography, and multimedia installations.
Heidi is a multimedia visual artist and cultural researcher practicing on the unceded territories of the Sc’ianew First Nation known as Metchosin, near Victoria, B.C., Canada. She has exhibited her work in Canada, the United States, and internationally. She is passionate about the arts and community engagement.
Heidi has over thirty years of professional experience in the corporate sector and arts-related non-profit sector in community development, and management roles. As a director in the B.C. government for 13 years, she led service management, strategic and corporate planning, cross-government transformation projects, and organizational change management. Heidi’s art studio is in Metchosin, B.C., and she has been a member of Xchanges since 1999.
www.studiohcanada.ca
studiohcanadaresidency.ca
Instagram: hjbergstrom
Johanna Kendall | Past President, Director
Johanna Kendall studied fine art at the University of Victoria and the Victoria College of Art. Her art practice includes acrylic and oil painting, pencil and ink drawing, plus a little dabbling in sculpture and photography. Her love of animals and interest in the environment are reflected in her art—she has a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Sciences (area of specialty: Conservation Biology) from the University of British Columbia. In addition to making art, Johanna works as a technical writer and editor. Johanna lives in Victoria, B.C.
Cindy Wright, Treasurer
Cindy Wright has been a member of Xchanges for the last 15 years and has sat on the board previously as a Studio Coordinator and then Gallery Coordinator. She is also a member of Ground Zero Printmakers and has previously sat on that board for 8 years as well as the Victoria Print Society. Additionally, she has had several positions, including President, on the Canadian Outrigger Racing Associations Board of Directors, a National sporting body. She comes to Xchanges with over 20 years of project management experience.
When not at sea or on the water, she can be found in Studio 1 at Xchanges. She is a printmaker and multi-media artist working primarily on paper.
Jillan Valpy, Studio & Volunteer Coordinator
Jillan has worked extensively in the arts and heritage sector as a cultural resource management professional. Her mandate and passion are to contextualize and promote relevant artistic and historical experiences that engage and create meaningful interactions between people, concurrently providing opportunities for cultural workers through producing and promoting art and heritage exhibitions and programming.
In addition to a practicing artist and musician, Jillan is a museum worker at a popular Victoria heritage site. She also loves doing research and working on historical restoration projects, being outdoors and gardening.
Jillan has a long-time association with Xchanges since 2004 as a member, a model, past studio member, Gallery Coordinator (2008 – 2011) and Life Drawing Coordinator.
Kate Seymour, Studio Coordinator and Crossgrain Photography Society Liaison
Kate has been photographing in black and white for over 40 years and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts through the Emily Carr College of Art & Design in Vancouver. She has participated over the years in numerous local venues like the Sooke Fine Arts Show, the Sidney Fine Arts Show, the Coast Collective, and Xchanges Gallery. She has won several top prizes at the annual Monday Magazine Photo Contest as well as being published many times in the British
magazine, “Black & White Photography”. She has the distinction of having one of her images published on a coveted llford B&W paper box which is distributed internationally. She continues to make new work and has several ongoing photo projects. She prefers to use film and to develop and print all her photographs in a traditional wet darkroom by hand. This labour intensive process ensures that all of Kate’s original photographs are limited edition artist proofs. She has maintained a cooperative darkroom in Xchanges Gallery and Artists Studios and continues to do so.
Mark Schmiedl, Gallery Coordinator
Mark Schmidle is a painter based in Victoria, BC. A graduate of York University’s BFA program in Toronto, he has traveled extensively through Eastern Germany and Australia to study and experience art firsthand. Influenced by Abstract Expressionism and modernist painters such as Kandinsky, Miró, and Robert Motherwell, Schmidle approaches painting as an intuitive, process-driven exploration. His work emphasizes color, rhythm, and movement, treating visual elements like notes in a piece of music. Through layered marks, repetition, and variation, he creates compositions that feel both spontaneous and structured. Balancing natural and synthetic color relationships, Schmidle’s paintings evoke an interplay between emotion, form, and sound—inviting viewers to experience abstraction as a kind of visual music.
Mark has been a studio member at Xchanges for many years and is currently our Gallery Coordinator.