Our Vision: A Performing Arts Centre on View Street

Hermann’s Jazz Club opened in 1985. Today, it is the longest continuously-operating jazz club in Canada — and internationally acclaimed. Sadly, founder Hermann Nieweler passed away on June 10, 2015, but the club lives on and Arts on View wants to keep it thriving.

The Jazz on View Society was founded to save Hermann’s Jazz Club and we hope to open up a downtown building for live performances and rehearsals, performer and student workshops, arts incubation and office space for smaller arts groups that can’t afford Victoria’s steep rents.
We envision a building suitable for:

● Live Music
● Theatre
● Dance
● Spoken Word
● Comedy
● Performing Arts
● Visual Arts
● You fill in the blank!

• At 753 View Street, the popular Hermann’s Jazz Club, an all-ages venue that seats 140 patrons and hosts 400 live performances annually, with a restaurant and bar.
• Next door on the ground level, a 2,000 square foot venue hosts the View Street Social Club, where anyone can spark up a conversation and relax.

Our Board of Directors are a professional group of artists, administrators, managers, fundraisers, philanthropists and concerned citizens.

Together governments and philanthropists, who understand the long-term value of property ownership for the non-profit arts community, can secure a building and property, plus an Arts Endowment, in perpetuity to ensure a thriving arts scene in downtown Victoria. Only building ownership holds us back.

Imagine preserving not only Hermann’s Jazz Club and live music at 753 View Street for all ages, but also supporting theatre and the performing arts, visual arts, and all the arts. Let our imaginations soar! Together we can make our dreams come true.

Our goal is to raise $8 million over the next five years, to purchase, renovate and establish an Endowment for the Arts to support the arts in the Capital Region forever. We have a phased development plan, to stage this project over time, starting with leasing, then building purchase, renovations and creating an Arts Endowment.

Join us in keeping the performing arts alive in Victoria.

*Cover photo from Al Pease Quartet, Hermann’s 2017