Special Thanks to Capital Daily for Covering our Rockin’ Summer Series with this Article
A group of artists is putting on free outdoor concerts on Station Avenue in Langford this month in a big, borrowed tent. It’s cozy and dry, and the acoustics work, but they’d rather be playing in something more permanent—if only there were such a venue.
The Westshore is one of the fastest-growing communities in the country, but it doesn’t have an arts hub.
“In the same way that we invest in sports fields, swimming pools, and these kinds of things, we also need to invest in our art space,” says Judith Cullington, president of the Juan de Fuca Performing Arts Centre Society (JdFPACS).
Since the mid-nineties, Cullington, a former Colwood councillor, and her group have been pushing for an arts hub, a permanent place for artists to work on and store their materials, practise and perform.
Cullington says there are plenty of school theatres and church spaces in the Westshore, but what artists need is guaranteed space.
“We’ve had groups from the Westshore, who end up doing their thing downtown [in Victoria] because there is no space out here.”
In November 2025, the society released its plans for a $40M facility.
The society isn’t looking for money. It’s looking for a place to build.
“The challenge is bringing together the right combination of land, municipal partnership, capital funding, and long-term operational planning to create a sustainable facility that serves the region for generations,” says Kathryn Pascuzzo, the society’s vice president.
At best, the group figures an arts and cultural centre is five years away, so right now, the task, Cullington says, is getting out the word at events such as its Rocking Summer on Station Avenue.
The free shows are supported by the Victoria Foundation Community Grants Program and developer Viking Properties, which donated the tent.
This story ran for our Insiders on July 12.
