The UNB Art Centre re-opens on March 7, 2021, with two new exhibits, Trees for Life by N.S.-artist Nancy Stevens, and From Harm to Harmony: The Healing Power of Nature, a group exhibition in partnership with the Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB) and the International Centre of Art for Social Change (ICASC) as part of their FUTURES/forward program. FUTURES/forward—funded in part by the McConnell Foundation—is a mentorship program that embeds community-engaged artists as artists-in-residence in organizations to enhance and empower social change agendas.
Trees for Life is a meditation on the old growth trees of the Acadian Forest featuring “portraits” of 10 varieties including Balsam Fir, Red Maple, White Ash, Black Spruce, Red Oak to name a few. The exhibit is a reminder that our future is tied to these ancient species and the health of our forests. As an artist and educator, Nancy Stevens delights in the details of each species using subtle gradations of colour and a pointillist technique devised by post-impressionist painters like Georges Seurat. Each tree is given its own narrative and encircled by a decorative border which serves as a symbol of unity, and the cycle of life and death. These paintings remind us that we are one with the earth, and that we, like these trees are part of a larger cosmic reality that is being threatened by climate change.
Nancy Stevens attended the Montreal Museum Fine Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Mount Allison University in 1956. She has exhibited at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the New Brunswick Museum, the Confederation Centre, St. Francis Xavier University Art Gallery, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery as well as the Andrew and Laura McCain Art Gallery in Florenceville, N.B. Her work can be found in public and private collections throughout the Maritimes. She has received awards from the Nova Scotia Arts Council and the Sobey Art Foundation. She has given workshops at NSCAD University and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, St. Francis Xavier University and has served as the Artist-in-Residence at the Tatamagouche Centre in Nova Scotia. Nancy Stevens currently lives and maintains a studio in Antigonish. Nova Scotia.
From Harm to Harmony: The Healing Power of Nature features work by community members across New Brunswick who responded to a call from CCNB to work with educator and community-based environmental artist Juliana Bedoya. Located in British Columbia, Juliana Bedoya has facilitated a variety of community engagement projects bringing awareness to environmental issues through education and social practice.
As part of the Something Collective she has developed different projects including We Are Here and Our Footprint at various community centres in Vancouver where participants grew living moss graffiti murals as part of a community mapping project. With Through the Eye of the Needle, she guided an international exploration with two schools in West Vancouver and Colombia on the impact of fast fashion on the environment. Along with community art projects she has worked as a curator and Gallery Manager at ArtStarts in Schools in Vancouver, served as the Community Arts Supervisor at the Ferry Building Gallery, and was selected for an artist’s residency for the Incubator Project that was part of the Park Board's Fieldhouse Activation Program of the City of Vancouver. Juliana Bedoya brings a wealth of experience and commitment to New Brunswick in her role as facilitator for this project.
From Harm to Harmony: The Healing Power of Nature is a collaborative project that drew participants from across the province, from varying backgrounds and disciplines united in a desire to inspire change through art. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, participants met online to discuss and develop ideas, to share skills and collaborate, and to reflect upon the growing threat of climate change. Together and individually, through a variety of media and techniques including embroidery, papier maché, photography, painting, rug hooking, video production, felting, and weaving, members offer varying perspectives on the natural world and the challenges facing society today.
By creating awareness about environmental concerns, particularly in our home province, the group wishes to move beyond the negative impacts to find a way forward and encourage positive social change.
Both exhibits—From Harm to Harmony: The Healing Power of Nature and Trees for Life—are available for private viewings from March 7 - April 18, 2021 at the UNB Art Centre in Memorial Hall.
From Harm to Harmony: The Healing Power of Nature, features work by community members across New Brunswick who responded to a call from CCNB to work with educator and community-based environmental artist Juliana Bedoya. Located in British Columbia, Juliana Bedoya has facilitated a variety of community engagement projects bringing awareness to environmental issues through education and social practice.
Participants:
Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB): conservationcouncil.ca
ICASC website: icasc.ca
FUTURES/forward webpage: https://icasc.ca/futures-forward/
Facebook: @InternationalCentreofArtforSocialChange
Twitter: @ARTSocialCHANGE
Growing up in cities, my knowledge of trees was limited. A forest was a place that pleasantly affected my physical senses and imagination but not particularly my curiosity. Now, as we experience the effects of global warming, we know that our survival is dependent on the health of our forests.
My home for the last 25 years has been in rural Nova Scotia where from every window I see trees. I have planted trees, watched them grow and thrive. I have seen trees die and return to the forest floor where seedlings have begun their life cycle. Living where I do, where broad leaf and needle-bearing species are intermingled, I have witnessed the effects of climate change. Using my skills and imagination to be proactive, I have completed seven of ten intended paintings representing the different trees in the Acadian Forest, the old growth forest, their past glory and unknown future.
A single tree’s history is determined by soil conditions, environment, weather events, and climate. In each painting I focussed on one species and, inspired by the Art Nouveau movement, used design elements to illustrate each story. The silhouette of the tree is encircled with a broad ring which can be seen as symbolic or merely decorative. Landscape imagery may be interpreted politically with colour and pattern viewed as warning signs. This series of paintings, with color layered in a pointillist technique, is intended to connect viewers to the global warming crisis.
- Nancy Stevens
