[BCMA] Submariner-Turned-Artist Represented at Maritime Museum Art Auction

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Submariner-Turned-Artist among the Many Represented at Maritime Museum Art Sale

VICTORIA, March 24, 2010 - Did you know that the Province of British Columbia briefly owned the Royal Canadian Navy's first submarines?

In 1914 at the start of the First World War, BC Premier Sir Richard McBride caught wind of two submarines that were built for the Chilean Navy by a shipyard in Seattle. The deal with Chile had fallen through and the builders were looking for a new buyer. The catch was that the submarines could not be legally sold to Canada due to US neutrality in the war. The transaction had to be conducted clandestinely and so the subs, CC1 and CC2, were sold to the Province of BC, ostensibly to serve as patrol vessels in Esquimalt. Several days after arriving they were transferred to the Royal Canadian Navy and became Canada's first submarines.

You can see a model and photographs of the CC1 and CC2 in the Maritime Museum of BC's Royal Canadian Navy gallery. And if you venture into the special exhibits gallery you can also buy a painting by RCN submariner-turned-artist Len Gibbs. Gibbs' breathtaking image of a pod of orcas is among one of 40 pieces of original artwork that will be sold on Saturday at the silent auction wrapping up the MMBC's celebration of Art Month.

Art Month has featured a display and sale of the Roberts Collection, donated by local collectors Ralph and Angie Roberts for the express purpose of selling to raise funds for the Maritime Museum.  Preserving this maritime heritage is important for the citizens of Victoria and for all those people who love history. We hope the community will support us generously by purchasing some of these fabulous works.  The final silent auction is on Saturday afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00pm and will feature a talk by local artist and Times Colonist writer Robert Amos at 3:30.

Members of the public are warmly invited to attend Saturday's silent auction at the MMBC in Bastion Square. You can preview the remaining artworks on the museum's website at www.mmbc.bc.ca. If you would like to bid on a painting but can't be at the auction, email Kamala at kamala at mmbc.bc.ca<mailto:kamala at mmbc.bc.ca> by 4:00pm on Friday March 26.


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