Art for social change - The Wild & Scenic Film Festival

What motivates a person to standup paddleboard 400 km along BC’s Central Coast or spend the winter on a remote arctic island with little but his surfboard? Over 120 people gathered in Victoria on November 13^th to find out!

Georgia Strait Alliance was proud to host these and six other inspirational stories at the Wild & Scenic Film Festival at St. Ann’s Academy. Now in its 11^th year, Wild & Scenic focuses on films which speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet, and travels to more than 100 communities throughout North America. When Festival organizers reached out to offer us the opportunity to bring the films to British Columbia, we jumped at the chance to play our part in spreading the importance of nature in our lives and the joy and adventure it brings us. 

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival featured
8 inspirational films about nature and conservation.

A highlight of the evening was the chance to hear directly from Norm Hann, star of the film STAND, about his experience paddleboarding the 400 km tanker route from Kitimat to Bella Bella. The film is a hauntingly beautiful examination of the people and culture of the Great Bear Rainforest - and the lives of those committed to defending its fragile ecosystems against the threat of oil tanker traffic on BC's coast.  If you haven’t had the chance to see this film yet, we strongly encourage you to seek it out!

The threats to the Central Coast and those we are facing here in the Strait of Georgia due to the potential increase in tanker traffic if the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline is approved are eerily familiar. Films like STAND help us see what is at stake and motivate people to go out and make a difference in their community and around the world.  People in the north and south are standing up for their communities – you need only look at those people standing up on Burnaby Mountain  - and films like STAND make what’s important so clear.

Another crowd favourite was North of the Sun, which chronicles the adventures of Norwegian surfers Wegge and Ranum who spent 9 cold months on a remote arctic island off the coast of Northern Norway. With little food and meager shelter, they survived with their most important possession - their surfboards, as the remote bay holds a well-kept secret: some of the world's finest surfing waves. With humour, warmth and a strong sense of how important the natural world is to their lives, the surfers charmed the crowd, who left in awe at what these two adventurers endured and experienced, and with huge smiles on our faces!

A big thanks to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival for giving GSA the opportunity to explore art as a means of increasing the conversation about social change and our place in the natural world. It was a truly powerful and inspiring experience!

An Evening with the Strait

This fall, Karen Jørgensen has joined the GSA team as a volunteer and we're so happy to have her on board.  From time to time, she'll be sharing her experiences of her work with us and our coast as a guest blogger.

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I had such a lovely evening taking part in Georgia Strait Alliance’s successful fundraising event last Thursday at the Robert Bateman Centre Gallery, in Victoria. Meeting the former environment minister John Cashore, and Doug White who is the chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation, were just some of the highlights of the evening.

I found it both inspiring and rewarding to have the opportunity to chat with people who have the same interests and concerns as I do about our precious coastline. Talking with these people gave me a sense of hope and encouragement.

Combining the inspirational speeches and chats together with the samples of Denman Island Chocolates, wine and sustainable seafood contributed to an even better evening. In addition to being an enjoyable evening, the event was a fundraiser with all the money raised going towards GSA’s ongoing work in the region.

The Robert Bateman centre gallery certainly was an excellent location for this fundraiser. Each piece of Bateman’s interpretations of nature and wildlife had an individual story to tell. This made for a perfect surrounding for the event as it reminded me how unique and incredible wildlife really is.

For those of you who were not able to join us this time, you can still support our efforts by making a charitable donation. I really do hope to see you at one of our future events!

Art meets conservation – and celebration

The idea that social change and the arts are siloed and separate is never a world view I’ve shared. Growing up in Ontario, we had political discussions around the evening newscast while many weekends we spent attending artistic performances at Stratford, the O’Keefe Centre in Toronto or the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-lake.  Dance, music, visual arts, theatre – and combinations of these – were the norm and often they delved into complex nature of politics and the human experience.  They were all one.

Jim Morris

Today, the siloes exist even less in my life. Being married to a theatrical lighting and set designer, many of our evenings are spent taking in the latest theatrical presentation at theatre houses small and large around Vancouver.  I also sit on the Board of a small theatre company and of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.  Artists are our story tellers and our conscience and so often help us begin to make sense of the complex issues the surrounds us.  I couldn’t imagine my life without regularly diving into their interpretations of the human condition. That artists and social changes makers are working more together to build and understand the world we live in makes sense – and together, we are a powerful force.

Last week I attended a Symposium at the Artists for Conservation Festival and I felt right at home. Surrounded by the creations of dozens of incredible artists, leading conservationists talked about their work, and of the challenges we face.  Some talked about specific issues, while others spoke about how we needed to develop a new way of thinking about what conservation was and how environmentalism worked – and how art and artists (in all their forms) were becoming more important in how we connected with people and how we were going to build a better world.  Raincoast Foundation's recent “Art for an Oil Free Coast” initiative showed just how powerful that partnership can be. 

On October 24^th, Georgia Strait Alliance will be holding a fundraiser at the new Bateman Centre in Victoria – and the location couldn’t be more perfect.  Robert Bateman’s art has helped many generations of Canadians better understand the natural world around them and be more engaged in protecting what we have.  What better way to celebrate our work and our future than surrounded by the art of one so committed to the same cause we are – ensuring that the richness of our land and water is here to support us for generations to come. 

We hope you’ll come and celebrate with us on the 24^th.   It will be an inspirational evening – and we hope one of many to come where the arts and the environment share an equal stage.