Stuart Stark lectures frequently, to both large and small audiences. His lectures combine trustworthy fact with storytelling, presented in an engaging manner, and are always popular, well-attended events.
(Unsolicited lecture reviews are included below)
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New Lecture: February 8, 2026
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria
Sunday Art Lecture Series 2026
Bungalow Boom!
The Iconic Arts & Crafts Home
of the West Coast
As part of the Art Gallery’s Sunday Art Lecture Series 2026, Stuart Stark will present one of five lectures.
This lecture explores the rise and success of the affordable California Bungalow and its popularity on the Pacific Coast of North America between 1895 and the 1920s, using illustrated examples from Los Angeles to Victoria. Both exterior design influences and interior design developments and decoration will be discussed, showing how the style evolved from a break-away philosophy for living to a style adopted by developers. The bungalow—the first modern home—heralded a new century and incorporated many modern domestic details that we take for granted today, along with some experiments that were dropped along the way. Indeed, so successful was the bungalow in Edwardian society, the name was generally adopted, carried over into a new generation, and applied to homes that had no hint of their illustrious forebears.
For tickets for the Lecture Series, please contact the Art Gallery directly.
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Lectures Presented in 2017 and 2018:
Exhibition Dreams:
An Illustrated History of Oak Bay’s Most Amazing Building
The Age of Exhibitions started with the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park in 1851. Housing the Great Exhibition, the ground-breaking glass and iron structure heralded a host of copies across the globe over the next decades. Forty years after the Great Exhibition, in 1891, an amazing new ‘Crystal Palace’ was built in Victoria, B.C. Canada to house the British Columbia Provincial Exhibitions under the aegis of the BC Agricultural Association.
Stuart Stark recounts the rich history of the Agricultural Exhibitions of Victoria; the Exhibitions abroad that Victoria participated in; and the history of this special building, designed by architect Cornelius J. Soule in 1891. Using archival images and amazing architectural renderings created by the architect’s great-grandson that bring the building to life, the audience is immersed in an earlier age and its accomplishments, and ultimately, the destruction of this iconic structure.
This lecture spawned so much research a book was born, detailing a great deal more social and architectural history into a story that parallels much of the early history of Victoria:
The B.C. Agricultural Association Exhibition Building at the Willows
350 pages; 293 illustrations; 6″ x 9″. Softcover. Index.
First Edition Published: Mid-December 2017.
Second Edition Revised and Expanded: September 2018
Unsolicited Lecture feedback 2018:
May I say, once again, what a pleasure it was to meet you, the evening was nothing short of delightful.
R.H. & N.H.
A most enjoyable lecture, I’m interested in all the agricultural exhibitions of this period so I would not have missed it.
C.L.
Travels with the Roscoes: Amazing Journeys
Francis J. Roscoe, Canadian Member of Parliament, and his family, made ten major trips across the North American continent, and beyond, to England and Europe, between 1861 and 1879. In this lecture, Stuart Stark explores the transportaion routes available during the 1860s and 1870s; the ships and railways Roscoe used, and the cities he saw and the sights he enjoyed on his travels. Examples of the hardships encountered en route, from Roscoe’s train being snowed in for two days, high in the Rockies, to a ship losing its rudder in the mid-Atlantic during a January storm, necessitating a slow return to New York, are shown. Overall, an optimistic air hovered about their travels, as they experienced new frontiers that were unattainable just a few years earlier.
Lectures presented in 2015 have included:
Travels with the Roscoes: Amazing Journeys
Francis J. Roscoe, Canadian Member of Parliament, and his family, made ten major trips across the North American continent, and beyond, to England and Europe, between 1861 and 1879. In this lecture, Stuart Stark explores the transportaion routes available during the 1860s and 1870s; the ships and railways Roscoe used, and the cities he saw and the sights he enjoyed on his travels. Examples of the hardships encountered en route, from Roscoe’s train being snowed in for two days, high in the Rockies, to a ship losing its rudder in the mid-Atlantic during a January storm, necessitating a slow return to New York, are shown. Overall, an optimistic air hovered about their travels, as they experienced new frontiers that were unattainable just a few years earlier.
Victoria: City of Lost Gardens
Known world-wide as “The City of Gardens” during the 19th and 20th century due to its temperate climate and near-ideal growing conditions, Victoria, B.C. has lost much of its horticultural appeal in recent years. This lecture looks back on the development of the gardening history of a Canadian city. From the start of Fort Victoria in 1843, where the first introduced seeds fell out of packing crates packed with hay; to the importation of flower and vegetable seeds from England, New York, and Puget Sound; how a wide variety of plants came to be grown in Victoria is discussed. The use of sailing ships and Wardian cases to import plants is illustrated, as is the sentimentality of English flowers and birds that led to the popularity of lush herbaceous borders in an outpost of Empire, named after Queen Victoria. Many of the notable gardens that have been lost through redevelopment over the years are explored.
North American House Styles
Why do our cities look the way they do? In this lecture, Stuart Stark examines the derivation of domestic architectural styles across North America. The sources of the designs, and their hidden meanings: from tax evasion schemes in France; to Victorian examples of following the tastes of then-celebrities; are all discussed. The hidden character traits of home owners – according to the style of their house – will be revealed. Italianate; Gothic; Mansard; Romanesque and Queen Anne; are only five of the popular house styles that are presented.
An Unsolicited Review:
I just wanted to thank you again for the great lecture.
You are an excellent speaker for several reasons. You speak clearly, in your natural voice. So many speakers use what I call a “park naturalist” manner which is an artificial presentation style. Your content is presented logically and therefore you are very easy to follow. You do not digress unnecessarily into minutia that probably are not of interest to most of your audience, nor do you linger too long on any one slide. You answer questions quickly, clearly and efficiently and therefore keep the talk moving along. Each of your slides is interesting and pertinent.
For someone to hold my attention in the evening, for an hour and a half, while sitting on a hard chair, is no small feat so I just had to compliment you on a fine talk!
Best regards, JK