The Colour of Many

By Poesis Ilies, Visual Artist, Director at Large, CARFAC BC

Every colour holds a story. Some fall in whispers, others drift in light, and together they create the shifting canvas of our shared world. Through their work, artists draw these stories into being, transforming what might otherwise pass unnoticed into truths that belong to us all. A gesture of the hand, a line across a page, or a wash of pigment on canvas becomes an act of memory and revelation, opening spaces where words alone cannot reach.

British Columbia is home to almost 40,000 artists, more than any other province in Canada. This is not simply a number. It is the measure of a living culture. Within that number are more than 4,000 visual artists who paint, sculpt, sketch, carve, photograph, and imagine the world into new forms. Their voices are distinct, yet together they carry something larger: a recognition that art is both personal and communal, fragile and enduring, intimate and shared.

CARFAC BC plays a vital role in ensuring that this work is supported and respected, that artists are not isolated but connected, that rights are protected, contracts honoured, knowledge shared, and contributions recognized. Through advocacy, resources, and the strength of a collective voice, CARFAC BC makes it possible for artists to belong to a professional community that understands the realities of making art in this province.

The more of us who take part, the stronger this community becomes. Numbers matter, not for counting but for turning vision into reality. When we stand together, fair pay is harder to deny, professional respect is harder to overlook, and the voices of artists are harder to ignore.

Together we become a colour unlike any other, deeper and more vivid than what any one of us could hold alone, a colour that will continue to transcend and speak for generations to come.