The Artist

John Vickers is an artist who organizes a number of area charity events in the Capital Region.

Since he first began presenting his “Pumpkin Art” on his front lawn in the Victoria’s Fairfield neighbourhood in 1998, his unique art show has raised more than $150,000.00 for various charities, including UNICEF, The Stephen Lewis Foundation, and a New York City Firefighters' Fund.

Pumpkin Art has been presented at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, in New York City and at locations across Vancouver Island. Pumpkin Art became well known in the Capital Region when it was presented for a number of years at Government House in Victoria.

In order to build his display of pumpkins year after year, Vickers carves his pumpkins from life like polyurethane molds. “The process of carving these manufactured pumpkins is considerably longer than real pumpkins however the benefit is they last”, says Vickers. He says his display represents eleven years of carvings with some individual pumpkins taking more than two hours to carve from start to finish.

In addition to presenting Pumpkin Art, Vickers is also organizer for the Victoria International Buskers Festival and the annual Victoria Masquerade Ball, a black tie fundraiser which this year offers proceeds to the BC SPCA. For further information, visit www.victoriaball.com.