Sheilagh Foster

Artist, educator and community champion, Sheilagh Foster helped launch the Robson Valley Arts and Culture Council and is the leading voice behind Arts in the Parks – an initiative to help artists be inspired by parks and to help inspire art lovers to better appreciate nature. Sheilagh shared with us, by email, why art and nature are so intrinsically linked and why visual storytelling is critical to finding a better balance between the needs of people and nature.

Firstly, what does nature mean to art?

Nature, in the Robson Valley, often defines our art.  I can’t think of a single artist who would feel his/her art is not influenced by both our natural and cultural environments.  In this broad statement I might include all our residents but especially all artists….visual artists (painters, fibre artists, sculptors, ceramists/potters, photographers, crafters etc), actors, musicians, dancers, poets and writers. 

How much the natural setting affects our lives and our art is likely influenced by a variety of our daily interactions with cultural as well as our natural environments. (With Mount Robson), art…is a powerful communicator expressing our point of view and invoking feelings in ourselves and others.  Art lures us deeper than the surface into the beauty and energy of our natural world.  Art helps us remember that we are deeply connected to nature and to each other.  Art and nature both nourish and replenish our lives in this valley. Not only do nature and art bring us pleasure but they can help us move through and connect with the world in beautiful ways. In the Robson Valley, it is easy to develop the habit of “nature connecting” through music, drama, visual art and dance. We have only to step outside on a sun-lit day to visualize the world through our art form. Art is a way for us to examine our relationship with the animals and plants, the air, water, and earth, that we share.

Here’s the inverse of that question: What does art mean to nature? Can art help tell nature’s story and inspire people to care more?

Sometimes in the Robson Valley we depict our habitat with a view of nature as unpeopled, full of mountains and rivers, flowers, grains and enduring beauty. Here, as elsewhere, we are coming to realize that we, the people of the world, are changing our natural environment at an alarming pace. Can art help?

Art in general, poetry and prose in particular, can expose social injustices and impress readers to choose to protect vulnerable people. It can help us avoid repeating the errors of history and assist our understanding of divergent ways to view our actions and reactions in nature. Using a mixture of images, chronology, geography and ideas art can influence us to protect the beauty and power of nature. Art can help us understand how our actions or inactions, pollution and ignorance, lead to the degradation and destruction of our natural world. People take special care when the natural environment is treasured by artists who display and perform in them. Artists in the parks made the following comments, “It feels like I’m playing music in a cathedral”, “I can feel my toes starting to dance as I look at the sky through the cedar branches”, “It feels so right to bring art as a gift to this source of inspiration”, “The musical notes reverberated off the mountains and across the lake.”

Bringing people together outdoors in the midst of natural beauty allows us to have great empathy and appreciation for the natural beauty that surrounds us. We are encouraged and often determined to protect the natural beauty that inspires artistic expression.

What’s the history of art in the Robson valley? It seems like there is a rich, vibrant arts community in an area with a relatively small population. Why does art flourish here?

The history of art in the Robson Valley is probably similar to art history in much of rural B.C. but we have some added “encouragement factors”. Firstly, the natural beauty of the valley is stunning. The valley has “bookend” parks with Mount Robson in the southeast and Chun T’oh Whudujut Ancient Forest in the northwest. Secondly the Fraser River meanders through our lush mountain valley. In short, we have a stunning natural environment in which art can flourish. My interests have followed the path of artistic expression in the valley since the mid 1990s when I accepted the position of Principal in Dunster. In that roll I had the opportunity to lead the Dunster school community toward establishing that little rural school as School District 57’s first and only fine arts school. Many Dunster residents are artists enabling the process of conversion to its exciting fulfilment. For several years it was Dunster Fine Arts School.

There are several musicians in Dunster. With determination they struggled to establish the now-thriving Robson Valley Music Festival.

Toward the end of my tenure in Dunster and my retirement from public education there was an opportunity to form the Whistle Stop Gallery Society and the Robson Valley Arts and Culture Council (RVACC). RVACC is the umbrella organization for many of the arts groups in the valley. The Whistle Stop Gallery used the old CN train station for the display and sale of art works made by Robson Valley artists. The Whistle Stop Gallery has done much to encourage the number and quality of visual art produced in the valley.

In addition, a strong group of actors with the leadership of a dedicated playwright/director/producer/owner of Wishbone Theatre Productions began to entertain annual cabarets to the delight of Robson Valley residents. Wishbone Theatre continues to host provocative productions that encourage new actors and other drama production personnel to become involved.

Dance is just beginning to “find purchase” in the Robson Valley. A young mother has started to teach dance. The demand for her talents is growing as is the interest in developing other dance options. Figure skating has a long history in McBride. A young mother has championed this program for years.

Arts in the Parks is one of Mount Robson’s marquee events. What is it and why does it matter?

Why does Arts in the Parks matter? That’s a big question. To me, it matters because it is so loved! It is loved by artists and by arts and outdoor enthusiasts alike.

I believe Arts in the Parks has great merit for the reciprocal action of nature influencing art and art influencing human behaviour toward nature. Arts in the Parks was an outstanding example of community working together for a common goal…the goal of appreciating the natural beauty of the valley through promotion of arts and artists.

Mount Robson figures prominently in the artistic community. When we think of parks, we think of them as tools for conservation. Should we think of parks as a muse for artists?

Oh yes, please do! No other park in BC had arts displays/performances along the trails in the parks like we did. Perhaps the time is right for Mount Robson and other Parks to be seen as artists’ muse. Recognized or not, I know that Mount Robson has been an artist’s muse for many years…since the Group of Seven’s Lauren Harris and others painted scenes from along the Berg Lake trail. I’d love to be part of organizing an artist-in-resident program for Berg Lake and perhaps something similar for Kinney Lake.

Can art help bridge the divide between those who love nature and those who have, if not lost a connection to nature, no longer understand its importance to humanity?

Surely it can…I say with hope! If folks have lost the connection that we all have to nature then maybe we are doomed L Even with that loss of knowledge we can surely maintain a connectedness through art…something we love, something we hate, something that elicits emotion. Art does all that and more. In its many forms, art can surely drag us, even kicking and screaming to the realization that we too are part of nature and without a habitat that is embedded and reliant on nature we cannot exist.

Can art also be a tool to help revitalize rural communities that, at times, struggle with economic opportunity? Can the lower cost of living allow for creative minds to flourish?

Hmm…that’s a suggestion that I wish could work. We are seeing young people moving into the valley for a number of reasons. Foremost is its beauty, clean air, and clean water. Secondly the cost of housing and property is considerably less than in many of BC’s cities. This valley is very fertile so there are opportunities for productive and beautiful gardens, another of the valley’s art forms. Young people are finding online opportunities for work that will allow them to live here. The whole area of online publishing and digital art may find opportunity in the valley as young people with digital skills take root here.

Do you think society appreciates artists who don’t live in urban centres?

I’m not sure if society appreciates artists who live in urban areas more than those who live in rural centres. (An appreciation of rural artists begins with) a human longing for a simpler life style with closer bonds to nature than the city allows. McBride’s and Vancouver’s art expressions will certainly be different!

How can all Canadians support art, no matter where they live? How can we encourage more artists to be inspired by, and tell the stories of nature?

The Robson Valley Arts and Culture Council (RVACC) was established to encourage and support local arts and artists. Primarily we support local artists but we provide insurance coverage for visiting groups/artists who wish to use local facilities for productions/performances. I think that we can all support the arts by supporting our artists whether they be local, regional, provincial, national or international. If our aim is to “tell the stories of nature” then each of us can become more aware of how art is inspired by nature and nature is affected by our cultural intrusions into it.

What’s the one thing you know now that you wish you knew at 15 years old?

As an emerging adult I wish I’d known the importance of art and the realization that all of us strive to express ourselves through some form of art. I wish I’d known patience and ways to encourage art without demanding excellence from myself or from others. I have always loved nature as it abounds in this mountain valley. Realizing that art and nature are two hands of the same human has been a recent learning curve.