If you see faces made of tree bark in the woodlands of Upper Gibsons this coming December, you are not dreaming. They are a site specific art installation called Pieces of the Forest and are part of the larger Woodlands Project. The youth-led forest show kicks off with a free event on Dec. 2 at the Arts Building, 464 South Fletcher in Gibsons, from 4 to 6 p.m. and can be viewed until Dec. 9.
Pieces of a Forest invites attendees to wander through installations including video, sculpture, photography and sound in various locations in Lower Gibsons around the library, arts building and town hall area, continuing to the wooded area called White Tower Park at the heart of Gibsons. From dirt, wood and leaves to projections, soundscapes and film, the young artists capture urban forests and their relationship to the town. More than simply a one-time outdoor art show, it’s an exploration of why the forests, a natural infrastructure inside our towns, are just as important as the ones surrounding.
It takes a community to raise an art project, to paraphrase a popular saying. In the case of the Woodlands Project, it’s taken a team of six professional artists, 11 emerging artists, two non-profit organizations (David Suzuki Foundation and Deer Crossing, the Art Farm), Emily Carr University and the Town of Gibsons.
It’s the mandate of organizations such as the Art Farm to spark youth-designed programs. Most of the youth aged 15 to 24 that they hired in the summer to run the Woodlands summer art camp for kids had never worked in a collaboration before, explained the Art Farm’s Sandy Buck. They were a diverse group, but one thing held them together – they were all passionate about the environment.
“We [adults] had to pull back,” she said, “and let them plan the program.”
Those scientists who work with ecology would categorize a woodland area into its various parts: creeks, soil, wetlands, etc. Each of the six professional local artists (Sandy Buck, Jennifer Lyons, Steve Wright, Bronwen Payerle, Miyuki Shinkai, Dean Schutz) is taking on an area and with their youth leaders developing an artistic idea. For example, Buck, along with two others, takes on the tree canopy and the forest itself with its wildlife and habitat.
“Think of the creatures in the woods that see us, but we don’t see them,” she said. They came up with the idea of masks made from tree bark. The group also found a tree trunk that would make a perfect natural torso for a forest spirit creature. There could also be glass art hanging in an alder tree or an unusual mossy rug. Though visitors on Dec. 2 will be given a map as to where these pieces are located, they will have to look hard since they are made up of all natural found items and might be covered in leaves or moss.
The Woodlands summer camp continued with various displays during the Synchronicity Festival in August and now with this art installation. After the show in Gibsons, the group moves to a larger venue, the Woodwards atrium in Vancouver. A Robert Studer designed fabric pavilion that many people painted on at the festival will travel to Vancouver for this show, and students from Emily Carr will participate.
