A tireless work ethic, tenacity, and a passion for helping others through the artistic process are behind Wendy Welch’s enduring and successful stewardship of the Vancouver Island School of Art (VISA), the non-profit post-secondary art school she launched more than two decades ago and where she still serves as executive director.
The exuberant Montreal native, who believes everyone can benefit from art, was teaching full-time and completing her Master of Fine Arts at the University of Victoria in the early 2000s when the concept of starting an art school on the Island first arose.
“When I finished my degree, I thought I should do something big, something to acknowledge it,” Wendy recalls. “I felt that Victoria needed a contemporary art school. A lot of artists find it hard to live in Victoria because there is not much contemporary art. I thought, instead of being one of these artists who complain about the lack of art here, I would do something about it.”
By the time of VISA’s inception in 2004, Wendy had built up a large network of people who knew her and shared in her joy of teaching. That summer, she asked them whether they would still be her students if she opened a school. One student, who worked for a graphic design company, told her boss about Wendy’s plan.
“I talked to her boss, who asked my student if Wendy was for real – she wants us to design a brochure for a school she’s starting. And the student said, ‘Oh yeah, whatever Wendy says, she will do.’”
In September 2004, 47 students registered. By winter, that number had grown to 150 and the school had quickly outgrown its space, prompting a move to an old schoolhouse near downtown Victoria. Around this time, VISA also secured accreditation to offer a Certificate of Visual Arts and a Diploma of Fine Arts.
As the driving force behind VISA, Wendy has proven that business sense and devotion to the arts are not antithetical; in fact, at VISA they thrive when combined.
“I do have an entrepreneurial sensibility. Even as a kid I would be selling things like lemonade,” she notes. “When dealing with banks, they were surprised I had a business plan and knew so much about business, because there is a stereotype about artists.”
Over 6,000 students have participated in VISA courses over the years. Though student ages range from 18 to 95, women over 55 remain the school’s primary demographic, many of them with successful careers behind them.
“These are women who have done amazing things as doctors or lawyers, and they come here without much confidence in what they can do as artists,” Wendy explains.
“I tell them they have so much life experience that it will make their art stronger because it’s not coming from an empty place. What art does for people over 55 is give them confidence in what they have to say and helps them see that they are creative. I have never met anyone who isn’t creative.”
Many people, particularly those with substantial achievements in other fields, find it difficult at first to join an art class as a beginner. Yet according to Wendy, those trepidations fade once they see what they are capable of creating.
“I am always amazed at what people make. Sometimes I have the students put their homework up, and I love that they can share the joy of creating art,” she says.
“It is so important to have these moments when you’re making art and you’re not thinking of anything else. It’s so freeing, not to think about politics or world events.”
VISA has faced its share of challenges along the way. In 2009, during the aftermath of the financial crisis and while Wendy herself was in hospital, some suggested she consider closing the school.
In 2018, VISA was forced to leave the building it had long called home, relocating first a few blocks away and later to its current downtown Victoria site.
Despite such hurdles, VISA – the only independent art school in BC with university transfer credits – has persevered and flourished. The idea of closing was always unthinkable to Wendy.
“If I ever feel like I can’t do it anymore, I say to myself: Victoria needs the school. The school makes Victoria better, and I really believe that. This is my contribution. Not only is it an art school, but I’ve also created a community,” she says.
“Some people don’t have other connections. This becomes their family. You meet new people. Everyone who comes here talks about that. I hear so many stories of friendship.”
When the pandemic struck in 2020, VISA’s curriculum was already well-positioned to move online. Today, up to half of its courses and workshops are offered on Zoom, drawing students from across Canada and the United States. Starting in fall 2026, VISA will offer a Certificate of Drawing and Painting that can be completed entirely online.
The school year at VISA is divided into three periods – fall, winter, and spring/summer – taught by more than a dozen instructors, including Wendy. Courses and workshops cover a wide range of drawing, painting (in several media), and other artistic disciplines, with instructors weaving in relevant art history.
This fall, VISA will host the Art Makes Life Better VISA Alumni Exhibition, running from Sept. 14 to Nov. 14. “This will be a great opportunity for the public to meet some of the people who have made VISA their home over the last 20 years,” Wendy says.
Through its “Live Longer with Art” campaign, which provides subsidized tuition for low-income seniors, VISA also aims to expand access to art education. The campaign was inspired by a 2019 University College London study that found people over 50 who engaged regularly in artistic activities were more likely to live longer than those who did not.
Beyond her leadership at VISA, Wendy is also an accomplished artist, with solo exhibitions at the Portland International Art Fair, the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. Her work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Calgary, the First Street Gallery in Los Angeles, the Produce Gallery in San Diego, and many others. Reflecting on her journey with VISA, Wendy muses: “I believe in art so much and in how much it helps people. That’s what has kept me going. I think art not only makes people’s lives better, but it can actually save lives. I wish people understood that you don’t have to have talent – everyone can take an art class.”
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