Every one of the wooden orca shapes was claimed by a local artist last month. They were returned, transformed, for public exhibition: adorned with landscapes rendered in pigment, ablaze with abstracts that reflect the eclectic vitality of the Salish Sea, lined with driftwood gathered from the shores of Átl'ḵa7tsem (Howe Sound). Meanwhile, funds raised from their sale at auction will support education programs at the market's Tidepools Aquarium.
It's a colourful convergence of local arts, ecology and community-building that has distinguished the initiative since its inception in 2018.
"We've moved from the tipping point to the diving point," said Patricia Hetherington, who has been a member of the market's Board of Governors from its beginning. Hetherington was one of the early supporters for the conversion of the Gibsons yacht club headquarters into a thriving community hub. Now, with an extensive conservation and outreach program led by the Nicholas Sonntag Tidepools Aquarium, community investment has become more essential than ever.
"The Tidepools art show and auction brings in over $10,000," said public market executive director Nancy Cottingham-Powell. "That's a big deal to us, because these are expensive programs to run. So we're always raising money to offset the costs of trying to help schools get to the Tidepools Aquarium — and also our team going out to them." To make the aquarium's programs accessible to students in remote communities like Pender Harbour, staff travel to schools and lead interpretation on nearby beaches. The aquarium also hosts onsite youth camps amidst its plexiglass-lined habitats (marine animals are collected and released annually).
"We've got rotating exhibitions that we're doing, and we have a conservation program," added Cottingham-Powell. "We're really starting to ramp up programming within the aquarium itself, with marine mammal feeding days and more talks and tours."
It was such momentum that first attracted Gibsons-based artist Christy Sverre to the art auction seven years ago. "Personally, we're very involved with the market because we think it's the greatest community hub ever," she said in her seaside studio — where she regularly sights real-life orcas. Her painted submissions to the auction have evolved, alternately depicting oceans, boats, and flowers. Despite convalescing from a recent ski injury, Sverre still completed this year's auction submission on deadline: a whimsical abstract that exudes sun-drenched optimism.
Last year, she even recruited her sister Judy Pollock, a recent transplant to Hopkins Landing. Pollock is an accomplished rug hooker and maker of art dolls — but was a quick convert to the orca-shaped substrate. "I have a nice community out in Hopkins Landing and everyone's so friendly there," said Pollock. "It makes you feel a part of something. I think it's important to support the market because it has the same feel."
The two are not the only artists linked by family: an orca by wildlife artist Karin Taylor appears near another by her daughter Eva Taylor that shows an iconic view from Egmont toward lekw'emin (Jervis Inlet).
Meanwhile, first-time contributor Chloe Sweet, a Grade 10 student at Elphinstone Secondary, seized the opportunity to exhibit her painting in public for the first time. "I really like flowers, and whales are one of my favourite animals too," Sweet said. "I decided to put them together and use a mix of different paints because I really wanted it to stand out and catch people's eyes." Sweet used acrylics and oil pastels, drawing on the memory of whales she sighted on fishing expeditions with her father.
Ten-year-old contributor Charlotte Craig favoured unearthly neon colours in her rendition. "I have always wanted to go to the bottom of the ocean," she said. Painter Karen Webb's Eyeda Gwaii Sunset incorporates grains of inspiration — and sand — from a camping trip on Haida Gwaii. "Sunsets and whales were part of our daily magic. I took a wee bit of sand, as I knew I would incorporate it into my island paintings," Webb said.
One of the aquarium staffers — Owen Tonis, who is studying marine biology at the University of Victoria after a youth spent on the Sunshine Coast — observed that working at Tidepools has "bred amazing opportunities for me thus far." Tonis enlisted the help of his father and grandfather to assemble variegated driftwood into the orca's contours. "It is the culmination of three generations," he said.
The online auction at tidepoolsaquarium.org launched on May 14 and continues until its closing reception on June 8, World Ocean Day.
