Art Battle Victoria is hosting their annual championship event this month at the Capital Ballroom on Friday, June 19th.
The event is locally run, but part of an international organization that is now franchised in over 80 cities worldwide.
The Victoria chapter of Art Battle launched at the Victoria Events Centre (VEC) in 2014, and for some time after the venue’s closure, was without a home or an organizer.
Since October 2025, former VEC general manager Christine Richardson has taken the reins on the event and has reinstated it as a bi-monthly event at the Capital Ballroom.
“Art Battle has been a long-standing event in Victoria for over 10 years—with a hiatus after the Victoria Events Centre closed and then we relaunched and have been operating over the course of the last year,” Richardson told Victoria Buzz.
“I’m very excited for the championship featuring past event winners, as well as some other past artists and potentially a couple new artists.”
The championship event will see a group of 12 artists go head-to-head for the title and trophy, as well as a paid trip to Toronto for a national championship.
How an Art Battle works is six artists at a time have 20 minutes to create a unique piece of art. Attendees then vote for their favourites before another six artists take to the easels.
Votes are cast once again, and the four artists with the most votes from each round then face off in a finale, with attendees once again voting for their favourite of the night.
In addition to casting votes, the audience of Art Battle is able to bid on the art created at the event in a silent auction format.
Richardson says that there are two spots open to artists who want to compete in this championship Art Battle. Applications can be made online.
Because this event is taking place on June 19th—the date of Emancipation for the Black community in the United States known as Juneteenth—Richardson decided to make the event a collaboration between Art Battle and the BC Black History Awareness Society (BCBHAS).
“Juneteenth is a US day of significance , but it is closely tied with Canada and recognized here,” said Richardson.
“Because it is the championship, our biggest event of the year, I thought it could be a good opportunity to showcase the work of another impactful organization.”
The BCBHAS has been around since 1994, and exists to celebrate the past, present and future accomplishments of Black people in BC.
Richardson connected with Executive Director of BCBHAS Jamila Douhaibi for this collaboration, who shared some insight with Victoria Buzz on Canada’s ties to Juneteenth.
“She mentioned it’s on Juneteenth, and that connects actually to Emancipation Day in Canada, which is on August 1st,” said Douhaibi.
“Since August 1st, 1834, there has been Emancipation in Canada. An interesting part of it is that only kids under six were free at the time while other people were still enslaved, but it did lead to full Emancipation and more equal rights.”
The money raised for the BCBHAS will help the organization with arts programming for their soon-to-open community centre located in downtown Victoria.
With this collaboration, Art Battle has committed to a minimum donation of $250 for the BCBHAS, with attendees also having the option to add a donation to their ticket price that will be in addition to the already-committed donation.
In the spirit of collaboration and to celebrate the championship event, Art Battle will be giving out prize packs to those who follow both their Art Battle Victoria account and BCBHAS on Instagram. Follow both accounts for more details on how to win.
For the championship’s entertainment, DJ Koji will be performing throughout the evening and the event will be hosted by Jag Jasman.
Art Battle Championship
- When: Friday, June 19th at 7 p.m.
- Where: Capital Ballroom, 858 Yates Street
- Admission: Tickets are $32.50
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