B.C.'s Top Artists Gather To Protect Great Bear Rainforest

2012-11-22T13:47:04-05:00

Only weeks after hosting the world's top conservation art exhibit featuring artists from around the world at the Artists for Conservation Festival, Vancouver is about to host another remarkable conservation-themed art exhibit.

On Nov. 27, the exhibit "Art for an Oil Free Coast" will open for just a few days at Performance Works on Granville Island featuring a film, book and art exhibit featuring dozens of British Columbia's most talented and acclaimed visual artists. The exhibit will then travel to Victoria, Saltspring Island and beyond. The goal of the exhibit is to stimulate discussion about the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in Kitimat, B.C.

The proposed oil pipeline threatens the ecology of thousands of miles of B.C.'s coastline in what is known as the Great Bear Rainforest. The area is extremely rugged, is characterized by narrow and rocky channels, inlets, islands and fjords and represents the world's largest intact tract of temperate rainforest.

The zone is home to stunning, primordial landscapes with an abundance of life, from 1,000-year old cedar and 300-foot Sitka spruce to whales and dolphins to cougars, wolves and grizzly bears, including the Kermode "Spirit" bear -- a subspecies of grizzly with a white coat of fur in some individuals.

In June, as an artist, I joined an expedition of 50 artists from across B.C. We flew from Vancouver to the town of Bella Bella, followed by a five-hour boat-ride to the smaller, isolated town of Klemtu, mid-way up the coastline of the Great Bear Rainforest. The next four days would be among the most memorable in my life, as would it for many fellow artists on the expedition.

(Courtesy Dean Azim)

One year ago, while volunteering his time our first annual Artists for Conservation (AFC) Festival at Grouse Mountain in North Vancouver, Artists for Conservation member and biologist Mark Hobson pulled me aside to describe his commitment to an idea he had been considering for some time -- to lead a group of B.C.'s leading artists to the Great Bear Rainforest in the interests of conservation. It was ambitious and would require a heroic effort to pull off in a very short period. Six months later, the concept was being realized.

Heading the pack was Mark, artist and visionary behind the expedition. The project was made possible through a few generous donors and supporters, and a key partnership with the Raincoast Conservation Society and the field leadership of Brian Falconer - captain of Raincoast's "Achiever."

In 1989 Hobson led a similar project to the Carmanah Valley on Vancouver Island with 100 B-.C. artists for a "paint-in" and exhibit that played a pivotal role in galvanizing public support for protecting the land. Among the participants were several members of AFC.

REFLECTIONS: Art for an Oil-Free Coast - Film Trailer from StrongHeart Productions on Vimeo.

The beautiful, moving and informative film "Reflections: Art for an Oil Free Coast" that documents the expedition, premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and only days later at the AFC Festival. The art exhibit will take this message another step further.

So, while Nov.27 promises to kick off an artistic movement to conserve the Great Bear Rainforest, the public will have the rare opportunity to admire first-hand, an extraordinary and diverse exhibit borne out of a collective passion for one of the most dramatic, beautiful and fragile places on the planet. Do not miss "Art for an Oil Free Coast."

For more information, visit www.raincoast.org.

How An Artist Helped Shape B.C.'s Wave Of Shark Fin Bans

2012-10-12T16:41:33-04:00

A wave of bylaws banning the possession, trade, sale and distribution of shark fin products, has swept across the province of British Columbia this past month. North Vancouver joined Port Moody and Coquitlam in introducing a ban on shark fin soup in restaurants, a popular Asian dish that supports a vast industry that is decimating shark populations worldwide and threatens many species with extinction.

Interestingly, Artists for Conservation played an important role in this policy change. Last year the mayor of the city of North Vancouver, Darrell Mussatto, attended the first annual Artists for Conservation Festival on Grouse Mountain. It was there where he first met legendary marine artist Dr. Guy Harvey, a leading advocate for the shark-fin ban, and founder of the Guy Harvey Research Institute (GHRI).

Dr. Harvey's documentary "This is Your Ocean: Sharks" premiered at the festival last November and Mayor Mussatto had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Harvey about his efforts to save sharks from extinction through his film. That encounter inspired him to support a shark fin ban in his city last month.

I was excited to also learn that research data from the GHRI was also used by the Chinese government, in its recent policy decision to leave shark fin soup of the menu in official state functions.

A key goal of the Artists for Conservation Festival is to bring important conservation topics and research information to the forefront of the public awareness, providing general public and policy makers alike with the inspiration to learn more about important conservation issues. The shark fin ban in North Vancouver is a perfect example of how art and artists can be powerful communicators and effect positive change.

This year will mark the second annual Artists for Conservation Festival at Grouse Mountain. Building on last year's momentum, there will be a discussion about shark fin harvesting, with an encore presentation of Dr. Harvey's film, along with many other pressing issues including the Northern Gateway pipeline in the Great Bear Rainforest.

There will also be an array of student and adult art workshops, lectures, and the world premiere of a short film about famed Kenyan wildlife painter and conservationist, Simon Combes and Africa's Great Rift Valley. Combes fought to conserve endangered species in Africa before tragically loosing his life in 2004 to a charging Cape buffalo. His son Guy, an accomplished artist himself, and Simon's widow Kat, are successfully carrying on his legacy today in art and conservation. Both will be attending and participating in the festival this year.

Artists for Conservation is the world's leading artist group supporting the environment and it was founded right here in Vancouver. The non-for-profit group's membership now spans five continents and 27 countries and is comprised of 500 of the world's most gifted nature artists.

From Oct. 12 to 21, 40 of the world's leading conservationists and artists will attend the festival, including Robert Bateman, Pollyanna Pickering and Mark Hobson. They'll contribute 90 original paintings and sculptures worth over half a million dollars and proceeds will directly support environmental education and international conservation efforts.

Bateman has created an original oil painting of an endangered Amur Leopard exclusively for the event, valued at $20,000. Proceeds from its sale will support AFC art and environmental education programming year-round.

Jeffrey Whiting

B.C.'s Top Artists Gather To Protect Great Bear Rainforest

How An Artist Helped Shape B.C.'s Wave Of Shark Fin Bans