2019 - 2020 Artist in Residence
Ava P. Christl
Ava was born in Duncan, BC, on Vancouver Island, and moved to northern BC with her family when she was three. Ava finished high school in Terrace, then moved back to Vancouver Island for a few years, after which she returned north, to Yellowknife, NWT. Ava left Yellowknife to attend art school, and graduated from NSCAD University in 1986. She then spent a year in Baker Lake, Nunavut managing the Sanavik Printmaking Cooperative after which she settled in Whitehorse, Yukon for about 18 years. Ava began her art career during the Whitehorse years and, over time, held public gallery exhibitions across northern and western Canada. During those years she taught drawing and painting in a variety of capacities from after school art programs to artists in the schools to private workshops. Ava also sat on the board of the Yukon Arts Centre and was actively engaged in the Yukon arts community through paid work and volunteerism. In the early 2000’s Ava moved south to Victoria, BC where she became a professional cook, an organic gardener, and a student leaving her full-time art practice for some 10 years. Ava continued to paint throughout those years and was actively engaged in community arts by starting an annual art walk/studio tour in her Vic West neighbourhood where she also designed and hosted a number of community arts projects as part of neighbourhood events such as Vic West Fest. Ava began a return to her full time art practice in recent years by seeking out and participating in artists residencies in Canada and the USA. Ava is pleased to be Artist in Residence at the Ranger Station Art Gallery.