In 1910 the Society published their Constitution And By-Laws, formally laying out the framework of operations.

Charles Marega resigned from the BCSFA in 1919. The BCSFA board expressed their regret, and moved to ask him to "clearly state the reason for this rather extreme action". There is no record of his reply. (BCSFA Fond, Vancouver City Archives)

From the Minutes from the Special Meeting of October 24, 1922, held at Thomas Fripp's studio:
   "The meeting being adjourned the members passed to the adjacent room of the Sketch Club. ... a piano having been moved in ... Mrs. S.P. Judge played an impressive opening selection ... Mrs. Scott obliged with violin selections ... Mr. Frank Hoole with songs ... Mr. C.H. Scott brought "down the house" with a serio-comic recitation appertaining to a barber and a "howling swell" ..."

The 1931 Annual meeting of the BCSFA was held at W.P. Weston's house at 1045 West 15th Avenue, Vancouver. New members elected were Beatrice Lennie, Miss Melvin, Mr. Maynard, Mr. Fred Amess, and Mr. Ross Lort.

The Society prospered, putting on exhibitions (see below) in Vancouver for fifty-seven years, although they were always hampered by the lack of their own gallery to exhibit in. They wandered from venue to venue until the Vancouver Art Gallery opened in 1931 and finally gave the BCSFA a home, albeit still borrowed (or rented). The Society had their group and solo exhibitions there until 1967, when Director Luke Rombout finally cast them out.

By that time, perhaps, he had good reason. The Society had not fared well following the Second World War. Too many competing styles of painting and expression fractured the old organization and dispersed new talent in other directions. The Society was formally renamed in 1950 to the British Columbia Society of Artists, and a new group of 20 Associate Members was created, in addition to the 40 regular members, to help the Society adapt and stay current in post-war Vancouver.

A history of the Society was written for the 40th Annual Exhibition in 1950.

The Society came to be seen as old-fashioned, and new art groups sprang up. Unfortunately, many of the Society's members stopped exhibiting work in the early 1960s, including a number of life members. With the number of members in the Society being fixed, this exxentially prevented others from showing their work. Finally one last desperate mailing was sent out in 1967, begging old members (and new) to sign up and revitalize the group. The plea did not succeed, and the remaining members of the group voted it out of existence and donated its records to the Vancouver City Archives. It was a quiet and unfortunate end to a Society that had helped support, develop, and exhibit hundreds of excellent artists, including many of the historic painters still well known and highly sought after today, Emily Carr, Jack Shadbolt, and W.P. Weston to name just a few.

The Society served its purpose well for many years, providing an important venue for artists to show and sell their work, using the stable foundation of the annual exhibitions. Because the rules of the Society required that members exhibit new work every year, an atmosphere of continuous creativity was engendered. The Society's tenure spanned from the pioneer artists of Vancouver who founded the group through to the rise to prominence of the Vancouver School of Decorative and Applied Arts students and graduates of the 1930s and 1940s, who were further seasoned by the Depression and by the Second World War.

The end of the Society and its Annual Exhibitions in 1967 left a vaccuum in the Vancouver art scene. Ironically, nine years after Vancouver Art Gallery Director Luke Rombout decided not to allow the Society to hold its Annual Exhibition at his gallery (because he felt that their type of group exhibition, if not their art as well, was no longer relevant to the art scene) he was to write in an exhibition catalogue:

    "The mounting dissatisfaction and cynicism surrounding annual Canadian exhibitions of a few years ago, and their subsequent disappearance, have made way for a recognition of the fact that a profound need for current major group shows has reemerged. Many artists across the country have begun to lament the absence of measurable and tangible information - the public too, we sense, is increasingly looking for more comprehensive evidence of current Canadian art."
     from "17 Canadian Artists: A Protean View", Vancouver Art Gallery, 1976.

The difficulties of putting on exhibitions that provide "comprehensive evidence of current Canadian art" continue to challenge the art community.

   
Notice to members and minutes of meeting for disbanding the Society.

Clippings

"The British Columbia Society of Fine Arts held a reception and private view of their annual exhibit Monday afternoon in Pender hall. In spite of the rain a large number of guests spent a pleasant hour in examining the excellent collection of water colors and oils which the society has assembled for the occasion."
      From "Fine Arts Society Makes Fine Exhibit"
      Vancouver Daily World, November 23 1911

"In view of the great apathy previously experienced towards its exhibitions, the last one, under the auspices of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts, may be considered a fair success. During the week the attendance was six times that of previous years for the same period. It still remains for the people of Vancouver to foster the germ of art, which a few sincere workers are exerting themselves to cherish. The exhibition was good, and those who missed it were the losers. (continues) "
      From "Our Germ Of Art" by Eugene de Lopatecki
      British Columbia magazine, December 1911

"The exhibition of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts held recently in Vancouver might well prove a revelation to many a one who had visited it for the first time, and who had never dreamed that so much serious work in art was being produced by local talent in the Province. (continues) "
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts - An Appreciation" by R.A.H.
      Westminster Review, September 1917

"The annual exhibition of pictures by members of the B.C. Fine Arts society (sic) is the best possible evidence of the soundness and wholesomeness of our Western civilization. ... "
      From "Pictures at B.C. Fine Arts" by J. Butterfield
      Vancouver Province, September 19 1921, page 12

"The B.C. Society of Fine Arts, at their recent exhibition, demonstrated considerable vitality, and their show was well attended by the art-loving public."
      From "By the Way in Art" per B.C. Art League
      Vancouver Province, Thursday October 6 1921, page 12

"A rapid preliminary survey of the walls of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts Exhibition in the School Board offices on Hamilton Street reveals two pictures of outstanding merit where all are good. One is a portrait and the other is a landscape - for want of a better name. ... The whole exhibition, though conceived on a smaller basis and held earlier than has previously been the case, shows the artistic life of the city to be as viral and progressive as ever."
      From "B.C. Fine Arts Society Exhibition (First Notice)"
      Vancouver Province, May 15 1923

"It was in the mood, induced by reading the foregoing excerpt from Balzac's "La Cousine Bette" that the writer visited the School Board Offices to see the pictures displayed by members of the British Columbia Society of Fine Arts."
      From "Exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Art" by Alice M. Winlow
      British Columbia magazine, June 1924

"The private view of the exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts on Saturday evening was a most successful affair. Two things made it so. In the first place, it was pictorially speaking one of the best shows that highly respectable Society has had, and secondly, it was held in far better quarters than they have ever been fortunate enough to secure for their shows. As a charter member of the organization from its inception twenty years ago, I can look back on some weird places in which from year to year, we attempted to show the public that we were alive, if not kicking."
      From "B.C. Society of Fine Arts" by Diogenes
      Vancouver Province, November 13 1930

"23rd Exhibit of Pictures by B.C. Artists"
      News Herald, June 7 1933

"B.C. Art Works" by Doris Milligan
      Vancouver Sun, June 7 1933

"B.C. Artists Have Splendid Display Here" by R.W.M.
      Vancouver Province, April 27 1935

"B.C. Artists Show Opened by Dr. Weir"
      Vancouver Province, June 1936

"B.C. Society of Arts Exhibition Opens Here"
      News Herald, June 27 1936

"28th Annual Art Exhibit"
      Vancouver Sun, April 30 1938

"Showing by B.C. Artists Follows Conventional Lines"
      Vancouver Province, April 30 1938

"City Artists Find Scope For Talent Here"
      News Herald, June 10 1939

"While the exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts at Vancouver Art Gallery is smaller in volume than a year ago - 43 pictures (sic) on this occasion - its quality shows marked improvement. ... "
      From "Leading Provincial Artists Exhibit at Show"
      News-Herald, June 10 1939

"Fine Arts Society Members Displaying Mature Pictures" by E.N.B.
      Vancouver Province, June 10 1939

"Art Exhibit"
      Vancouver Sun, May 15 1940

"B.C. Artists Hold Annual Exhibition" by M.A.E.
      Vancouver Province, May 18 1940

"Sixty Examples have been selected by members of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts"
      From "B.C. Artists Show Work Next Week"
      Vancouver Province, July 28 1940

"Exhibition By B.C. Artists Proves Success At Gallery" by Palette
      Vancouver Province, August 14 1942

"It was '43 I think, when I was last in Trail, to see the first exhibit of Vancouver artists, sponsored by James L. (sic) Amess, of B.C. Fine Arts association, Vancouver, Mrs. Mildred V. Thornton, Bess Symons, Fred Amess and the writer. ... "
      From "LIKES WESTON" by Allan P. Allsebrook
      Trail Daily Times, March 1948

"Thirty-ninth annual exhibition of the B.C. Society of Fine Arts at the Gallery, opened Monday by Mayor Thompson, is undoubtedly one of the finest displays by this leading professional artist organization. ... "
      From "Lively Spirit Pervades B.C. Artists' Exhibition" by Palette
      Vancouver Province, May 3 1949