https://findingflowers.ca Finding Flowers Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:01:28 +0000 https://findingflowers.ca en https://findingflowers.ca/blurb Sun, 12 Mar 2023 02:42:51 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/blurb ︎︎︎&nbsp;studying the intersections of art, ecology and education&nbsp;︎︎︎ https://findingflowers.ca/About-1 Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:55:13 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/About-1 ABOUT US Finding Flowers is an interdisciplinary research project co-led by Associate Professors Sheila Colla and Lisa Myers. Our research considers the relations between the conservation of native plants and pollinators, along with the care for Indigenous artistic practices, cultures and languages. Inspired by the garden work of the late Mi’kmaw artist Mike MacDonald, Finding Flowers studies Indigenous gardens as artworks, as ecological refuge, as spaces for contemplation, and as sites for learning about sustenance and medicine. Since 2019, Finding Flowers has been growing and tending gardens while developing art, ecology, and educational programming, mobilising knowledge through online and on-the-land platforms across Turtle Island. Our team is housed at the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, at York University, and is partially funded by the Government of Canada New Frontiers in Research Fund and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council. <img width="1688" height="2649" width_o="1688" height_o="2649" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0aa01480bad916dab6cb44986f0b73546d1fa1dc31155e0b68e2ce2b30c44030/Goldenrod_Dreamers_Summer-Fall_2021_1-3.jpg" data-mid="172618810" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/0aa01480bad916dab6cb44986f0b73546d1fa1dc31155e0b68e2ce2b30c44030/Goldenrod_Dreamers_Summer-Fall_2021_1-3.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/7f7295595dcb34abf30917cf25c06b19eef7cdcaf73c0f1e0aac8f8315a0aa0b/IMG_9416.JPG" data-mid="171470900" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/7f7295595dcb34abf30917cf25c06b19eef7cdcaf73c0f1e0aac8f8315a0aa0b/IMG_9416.JPG" /> https://findingflowers.ca/Team Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:36:16 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Team CORE TEAM <img width="920" height="1400" width_o="920" height_o="1400" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/30a34db083580fa3f0689a7eeea46c8c7975760738b992e1b788be9d0d2534bc/sheilacolla.jpg" data-mid="171394633" border="0" data-scale="71" data-no-zoom="true" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/920/i/30a34db083580fa3f0689a7eeea46c8c7975760738b992e1b788be9d0d2534bc/sheilacolla.jpg" /> Sheila Colla PhDSheila is a Conservation Scientist and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. She is the York University Chair in Interdisciplinary Conservation Science and has studied the ecology and conservation status of native bumblebees for over a decade including the critically endangered Rusty-patched Bumblebee.Sheila co-authored “A Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee” with Lorraine Johnson (2022) and "The Bumblebees of North America'' (Princeton University Press, 2014) and helps run the continent-wide community science project BumbleBeeWatch. Her research has been covered extensively in the media including The Toronto Star, The Washington Post, CNN, Maclean’s The National Post, The Globe and Mail and the Walrus. <img width="814" height="1200" width_o="814" height_o="1200" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/56d0ec2519c3dfb6e5d32f7e4dbebd63d3e8210e834b9128a03a02b9aa0bb4fa/Lisa.jpg" data-mid="171394691" border="0" data-scale="70" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/814/i/56d0ec2519c3dfb6e5d32f7e4dbebd63d3e8210e834b9128a03a02b9aa0bb4fa/Lisa.jpg" /> Lisa MyersLisa is an independent curator, artist and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. She is the York University Research Chair in Indigenous Art and Curatorial practice and has curated exhibitions in public galleries and artist run centres across Canada. Lisa is a member of Chimnissing, Beausoleil First Nation. Lisa’s research focuses on Contemporary Indigenous art and curatorial practice, Indigenous food systems and food sovereignty. Through socially engaged art, she creates gatherings that respond to place, sharing Indigenous foods and reflecting on underrepresented histories and collective forms of knowledge exchange. Lisa co-hosts and co-leads Finding Flowers Podcast series Sounds Like Land with Tania Willard. <img width="4016" height="6016" width_o="4016" height_o="6016" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5220d22ec01ffa1f9bc112255221d73c82b85fa39fd82cb00415cb8dae726d2f/Headshot-by-Rebecca-Tisdelle-Macias-2022.JPEG" data-mid="171394573" border="0" data-scale="69" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5220d22ec01ffa1f9bc112255221d73c82b85fa39fd82cb00415cb8dae726d2f/Headshot-by-Rebecca-Tisdelle-Macias-2022.JPEG" /> Dana Prieto Dana is an Argentine artist, educator, and researcher based in Toronto. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ontario College of Art and Design University, and a Master of Visual Studies from University of Toronto. Dana’s work reflects on the impacts of and refusal to extractive economic models, through poetic and immersive installations. Dana has exhibited nationally and internationally in art galleries, public spaces and diverse cultural venues. Dana is Finding Flowers’ Research Associate and she is a production assistant for the project’s upcoming podcast series Sounds Like Land. PODCAST TEAM <img width="2521" height="3313" width_o="2521" height_o="3313" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b8bdb6ada564b726ef2919494074c155c3a066365e5adde703d37eb1a9ccf035/image001.jpg" data-mid="214830889" border="0" data-scale="73" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/b8bdb6ada564b726ef2919494074c155c3a066365e5adde703d37eb1a9ccf035/image001.jpg" /> Tania Willard Tania Willard is a mixed&nbsp;Secwépemc and settler artist whose research intersects with land-based art practices.&nbsp;Her practice activates connection to land, culture, and family, centering art as an&nbsp;Indigenous&nbsp;resurgent act, though collaborative projects such as BUSH Gallery and support of language revitalization in Secwépemc communities. Her artistic and curatorial work includes Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2012-2014) and Exposure: Native Art and Political Ecology at the IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe (ongoing). Willard’s work is included in the collections of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Forge Project, Kamloops Art Gallery, and the Anchorage Museum, among others. Tania is co-hosting Finding Flowers Podcast Sounds Like Land with Lisa Myers. <img width="877" height="1280" width_o="877" height_o="1280" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/46b3a95df0cb7266d807fb76fd3bbd197f4f06ee21c2a34e3db8e53b3e88fb4e/laura-grier.jpeg" data-mid="175088873" border="0" data-scale="73" data-no-zoom src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/877/i/46b3a95df0cb7266d807fb76fd3bbd197f4f06ee21c2a34e3db8e53b3e88fb4e/laura-grier.jpeg" /> Laura GrierLaura Grier&nbsp;is a Sahtu Délı̨nę First Nations artist and printmaker, born in Somba ké (Yellowknife), and based out of Alberta. Responding to lived experiences of being an urban displaced Dene woman,&nbsp;Laura’s work is inspired by the dynamism of Indigenous art practices and uses printmaking as a tool for resistance, refusal, and inherent Bets’ı̨nę́. They hold a BFA from NSCADU (K'jipuktuk) and an MFA from OCAD University (Tkaronto) and is a PhD candidate at York University. Laura is a Research Assistant for the Finding Flowers Podcast Sounds Like Land, and they are developing an expansive research on Indigenous-led projects that study the relations between Indigenous languages and plant knowledge. BIOCULTURAL RESEARCH TEAM <img width="300" height="300" width_o="300" height_o="300" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/07b49c6911ae453f603c9512d8af4030c77c3bee5dacf862d4fce7d13c970c7c/phlox.PNG" data-mid="181837318" border="0" data-scale="73" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/300/i/07b49c6911ae453f603c9512d8af4030c77c3bee5dacf862d4fce7d13c970c7c/phlox.PNG" /> Shelby Gibson Shelby is a PhD student in York University’s Department of Biology, interested in understanding sustainable agriculture systems, with specific regard for biodiversity conservation in agricultural settings. Her work investigates the pollinator networks and systems of Common Bearberry, Hopi Tobacco, and Three Sisters Gardens. <img width="852" height="1074" width_o="852" height_o="1074" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b86423fd6b59ad9252c4068ab27cbac8c26a1410d879508a54deef02a92e0c2f/Kennedy-Headshot-2023.png" data-mid="214831172" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/852/i/b86423fd6b59ad9252c4068ab27cbac8c26a1410d879508a54deef02a92e0c2f/Kennedy-Headshot-2023.png" /> Kennedy Halvorson&nbsp; Kennedy Halvorson is a conservation scientist interested in pollinators, food policy, and sustainable landscapes. Their work has included managing protected areas with the Nature Conservancy of Canada to completing research for Dr. Roderick MacRae’s Food Policy for Canada project. More recently they developed a nationwide bumble bee pathogen sampling protocol with Dr. Sheila Colla for Environment and Climate Change Canada. Kennedy completed their MES in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University in August of 2021. She worked in partnership with Semaa, observing the plants in constant, distinctly non-human modes of communication with all that exists around them through the rhythms of their nectar secretion. PAST TEAM MEMBERS Jess Buckley Student Researcher&nbsp; Jacqueline Dwyer Student Researcher&nbsp; Junaid Khan Student Researcher&nbsp; Dali Charmichael Student Researcher Sophie Landon Student Researcher Storm Pedal Collective Student volunteers&nbsp; https://findingflowers.ca/Collaborators Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:36:33 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Collaborators COLLABORATORS Finding Flowers collaborates with art, education and ecology organizations to develop interdisciplinary research and programming across the land we know as Canada. Kitchener-Waterloo Art GalleryHosts of “Planting One Another”&amp; Podcast Collaborators. Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective Hosts of kamâmak nihtâwikihcikan ᑲᒫᒪᐠ&nbsp; ᓂᐦᑖᐃᐧᑭᐦᒋᑲᐣ &amp; Podcast Collaborators. Woodland Cultural Center Hosts of Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden (1997), replanted by Finding Flowers in 2019. Podcast Collaborators. Mount Saint Vincent University Gallery Hosts of Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden (2000), replanted by Finding Flowers in 2021. Podcast Collaborators. Walter Phillips GalleryHosts of Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden (1997-Ongoing).&nbsp; Musagetes FoundationHosts of Mike MacDonald's sister garden in the Haldimand Tract, curated by Lisa Myers and planted by Musagetes in 2021. Bush Gallery In the process of hosting a garden inspired in Mike MacDonald's work. Podcast Collaborator. Bush Gallery’s co-founder Tania Willard is the podcast co-host. WEB DESIGN The Public Communication Strategy &amp; Web Design Lucas LaRochelleWeb Design, Development &amp; Online Gardens Builder Dana Prieto&nbsp; Web Design &amp; Development Beads Against Fascism Beaded Illustrations of Native Plants and Pollinators <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/e5714d0d79857bb2c9aa930aeeebd938535f32bce597b56e6fe8abd75ccec73e/IMG_9420-2.JPG" data-mid="171395711" border="0" data-no-zoom="true" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/e5714d0d79857bb2c9aa930aeeebd938535f32bce597b56e6fe8abd75ccec73e/IMG_9420-2.JPG" /> https://findingflowers.ca/Programming-1 Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:55:10 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Programming-1 PROGRAMMING Finding Flowers develops diverse programs that are deeply rooted in our interdisciplinary research and multiple ways of knowing. At the same time, our practice and programming are the base of our research and they vary from online and in-person conversations, lectures, audio walks, exhibitions, community science and workshops created in collaboration with artists, Knowledge Holders, ecologists, activists, growers, artistic institutions and local communities. View Archive CURRENT &amp; UPCOMING conversations Sounds Like Land: Thinking with Indigenous Languages &amp; Plant Knowledge A podcast co-hosted by Tania Willard &amp; Lisa Myers This upcoming 7-episode podcast series dives into the entanglements of Indigenous languages, plants, medicines, gardens and socio-environmental concerns. The project promotes the recovery of language using land-based pedagogies and will engage in critical conversations on language learning and revitalization along with teachings on medicine plants and Indigenous gardens. <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ba555bc65fa19a6bfa3d780ce338287c104534b18bd41c632804be3bc3121e61/IMG_9414.JPG" data-mid="174384724" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ba555bc65fa19a6bfa3d780ce338287c104534b18bd41c632804be3bc3121e61/IMG_9414.JPG" /> PAST exhibition Powerful Glow Curated by Lisa Myers Featuring work by Jordan Bennett, Patricia Deadman, Ursula Johnson, Mike MacDonald, Peter Morin, Luke Parnell, Archer Pechawis, Anne Riley, Fallon Simard, Becca Taylor, Art Wilson and T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss. Robert MacLaughlin Gallery (touring)November 26th, 2022 – April 9th, 2023 <img width="4272" height="2856" width_o="4272" height_o="2856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" data-mid="171224907" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" /> conversation Miijim: Food as Relations Hosted in 2020-21, Miijim was an online series of conversations presenting Indigenous, Black and People of Colour food scholars, growers, earthworkers, artists, curators, professors, knowledge keepers and advocates. exhibitionPress the Record Button Curated by Lisa Myers at VTAPE and presented in partnership with the 2022 imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, this exhibition creates a series of study centres where visitors will be able to peruse a selection of materials from the late Mike MacDonald’s archival holdings, including video recordings he made and 45rpm records he collected. planting Replanting at MSVUMike MacDonald’s GardenWorking in collaboration with Mount Saint Vincent University Gallery (Halifax), Lisa Myers begun a process of re-visiting and re-planting Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly Garden seeking to renew the quiet, contemplative nature of Mike’s work. June 2022. exhibition Finding What GrowsFinding what Grows is an audio walk created by Lisa Myers that calls for remembering and learning from the garden originally planted by Mike MacDonald at Gage Park for the exhibition Zone 6b: Art in the Environment (2000). This work was exhibited in 2021 at the McMaster Museum of Art, in enawendewin/relationships, curated by William Kingfisher. presentation Reinscribing Land: Mike MacDonald's medicine and butterfly gardensTalk by Lisa Myers presented by Entomological Society of Canada and Entomological Society of Ontario. November 2021 presentation Collective Remembering Mike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly GardensLecture by Lisa Myers presented by McMaster University Hooker Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture. The lecture is an exercise of collectively remembering Mike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly Gardens. October 21, 2021 conversation Mike Macdonald’s Butterfly GardenConversation between Lisa Myers, curator and artist, Becca Taylor, Director of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre, and Catherine Crowston, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Art Gallery of Alberta. Organized by Art Gallery of Alberta and Ociciwan Collective. July 26, 2021 presentationBeyond the BuzzExamining Bees Through an Interdisciplinary LensConversation featuring Sheila Colla, presented along the Bees, Land &amp; Food Justice Series, organized by the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. June 4th, 2021 presentation Re-Inscribing landMike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly GardensPaper presentation by Lisa Myers, at the Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom. May 13, 2021 conversation Finding Flowers Examining Intersections of Art, Ecology and PedagogyPresented by CSFS Future of Food Dialogue Series. Presentation by Sheila Colla, Lisa Myers and Dana Prieto. February 11, 2021 conversation On the Wings of a ButterflyDiscussing the Work of Mike MacDonald, Wild Pollinators, Ecology and Art⁣Presented by MSVU Art Gallery and Dalhousie Art Gallery as part of Nocturne 2020: Echolocation. October 13, 2020Conversation with Laura Ritchie, Lindsay Dobbin, Frances Dorsey, Robin Metcalfe, Lisa Myers, and Michelle Sylliboy conversationWild Pollinators and the Gardens of Mike MacDonaldContingencies of Care Residency, co-hosted by OCAD University Graduate Studies + UBC Okanagan + Toronto Biennial of Art + Bush Gallery + Emily Carr University + kinādās collective. Presentation by Sheila Colla, Lisa Myers and Dana Prieto. June 8, 2020 conversation Eco Arts &amp; Media FestivalPollination: Exchange of IdeasLisa Myers and Finding Flowers hosted the Eco Arts &amp; Media Festival at York University, exhibiting art works, music, spoken word poetry and performances by York University students, faculty and alumni.&nbsp;March 2020 conversation Winter Listening SessionSoundtrack for the Radical Love of ButterfliesListening session hosted by Finding Flowers at the Faculty of Urban and Environmental Change at York University, featuring the work of artists Anne Riley and T'uy't'tanat-Cease Wyss.&nbsp;January 2020 planting Planting One AnotherRe-planting of Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly and Medicine Garden at the Woodland Cultural Center, Brantford, ON, and planting of a new sister garden at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Curated by Lisa Myers and organized by Finding Flowers. June 2019 conversation Maloca Harvest GatheringGathering of students, alumni, faculty, staff and communities surrounding Maloca Community Garden at York University, hosted by Finding Flowers and the Faculty of Urban and Environmental Change, York University. October 2019 IMAGE GALLERY <img width="4272" height="2856" width_o="4272" height_o="2856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" data-mid="171224907" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1173" width_o="2048" height_o="1173" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8133ef7bf4f559508ba29190a4d0ae918675c0880d762e8fc2caee6bbd4adcae/06_PG-2048x1173.jpg" data-mid="171225323" border="0" alt="Becca Taylor, Untitled, w&acirc;panewask (Yarrow) explorations, 2022. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Becca Taylor, Untitled, wâpanewask (Yarrow) explorations, 2022. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8133ef7bf4f559508ba29190a4d0ae918675c0880d762e8fc2caee6bbd4adcae/06_PG-2048x1173.jpg" /> <img width="2560" height="1654" width_o="2560" height_o="1654" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/a7cbd595c0693630c8fdf616ad4a016ae6cee2f8457d1160b511404c60ce8f60/12_PG-scaled.jpg" data-mid="171225324" border="0" alt="Installation of Powerful Glow at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG), 2022. Courtesy of RMG. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Installation of Powerful Glow at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery (RMG), 2022. Courtesy of RMG. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/a7cbd595c0693630c8fdf616ad4a016ae6cee2f8457d1160b511404c60ce8f60/12_PG-scaled.jpg" /> <img width="2048" height="1338" width_o="2048" height_o="1338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6340d652961179dbb8187c0a8cc66d5cc1068cae36263b8f6e17d8d7b9a6c5a9/17_PG-2048x1338.jpg" data-mid="171225325" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Butterfly Quilt, Orchid Quilt &amp; Medicine Quilt, 1998. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Butterfly Quilt, Orchid Quilt &amp; Medicine Quilt, 1998. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6340d652961179dbb8187c0a8cc66d5cc1068cae36263b8f6e17d8d7b9a6c5a9/17_PG-2048x1338.jpg" /> https://findingflowers.ca/Research Mon, 13 Mar 2023 03:42:10 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Research RESEARCH Through diverse collaborations, conversations, art-creation, planting, archival and field research and community science, we study the relations between the conservation of native pollinators, plant knowledge, Indigenous languages and contemporary artistic practices. Our research and programming are intricately connected and they inform one another. View Archive ECOLOGICAL RESEARCH publicationA Garden for the Rusty-Patched Bumblebee An inspiring and practical guide to creating beautiful habitat gardens full of life for the native rusty-patched bumblebee, by Sheila Colla and Lorraine Johnson. <img width="2199" height="2560" width_o="2199" height_o="2560" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1b78d10a0c2f34aa02d5280ab561355f8f2426b5fb550020004c2d73823232a1/91ThY4LsOxL.jpg" data-mid="171923652" border="0" data-scale="74" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1b78d10a0c2f34aa02d5280ab561355f8f2426b5fb550020004c2d73823232a1/91ThY4LsOxL.jpg" /> peer-reviewed articleTobacco Paper Under the supervision of Dr. Colla, Shelby Gibson’s research paper delves with important findings on the relations between native pollinators and Hopi tobacco (Nicotiana rustica). <img width="499" height="290" width_o="499" height_o="290" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ca1855a13340a7a97c67357f5b1175d2e26f778fe5c7771b6468ebd6a2d6601a/gr5.jpg" data-mid="171923090" border="0" data-scale="100" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/499/i/ca1855a13340a7a97c67357f5b1175d2e26f778fe5c7771b6468ebd6a2d6601a/gr5.jpg" /> publication Give Bees a Chance This article by&nbsp;Sheila Colla and Rachel Nalepa expands on the impacts of the loss and conservation of wild native pollinators. <img width="1506" height="1112" width_o="1506" height_o="1112" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d572ee478d564ca1c8ef271e5e8be31b9b21f9fc42527655f013e3a226805b5c/Screen-Shot-2023-03-16-at-12.24.04-PM.png" data-mid="171924215" border="0" alt="A rusty-patched bumblebee collected in Wisconsin in the 1960s, when it was common." data-caption="A rusty-patched bumblebee collected in Wisconsin in the 1960s, when it was common." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/d572ee478d564ca1c8ef271e5e8be31b9b21f9fc42527655f013e3a226805b5c/Screen-Shot-2023-03-16-at-12.24.04-PM.png" /> publication Resilience Gardens This article by Sheila Colla explores the concept and practice of resilience gardens&nbsp; as habitats that can support native biodiversity and pollinators, increase the overall resilience of our ecosystems and help us better understand the interconnections of land, plants, insects and humans.&nbsp; <img width="1470" height="1120" width_o="1470" height_o="1120" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/9c53c050079cb63bf95d9bc76a59860f95892243a13c1e341680f8991b57d8ca/Screen-Shot-2023-03-16-at-12.19.41-PM.png" data-mid="171923892" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/9c53c050079cb63bf95d9bc76a59860f95892243a13c1e341680f8991b57d8ca/Screen-Shot-2023-03-16-at-12.19.41-PM.png" /> publicationLessons from&nbsp;Wet’suwet’en butterflies This article by Lisa Myers, Sheila Colla and Dana Prieto discusses the connections between recent Wet’suwet’en land claims, the work of M’ikmaw artist Mike MacDonald, and the relationships between native butterflies and plant knowledge.&nbsp; <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8186d3ba0b02d48503e002adfefae7cff1971f3560dcba2f504d0acd201b6b46/IMG_9118.jpg" data-mid="174516495" border="0" alt="Planting One Another, sister garden at Woodland Cultural Centre, 2019. Image by Dana Prieto." data-caption="Planting One Another, sister garden at Woodland Cultural Centre, 2019. Image by Dana Prieto." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8186d3ba0b02d48503e002adfefae7cff1971f3560dcba2f504d0acd201b6b46/IMG_9118.jpg" /> community science Bumble Bee WatchVisit and contribute to this collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. This community science project allows you to upload photos of bumble bees, have them identified and verified by experts an help researchers locate, determine the status and conservation needs of rare and endangered populations of bumble bees. <img width="5184" height="3456" width_o="5184" height_o="3456" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ffcbe2a8674d708e6502f5c5cf31f6a6cc74836f193f390b919fa8978d194f37/MaleAshtoniPosedSheilaColla.jpg" data-mid="175101090" border="0" alt="Bombus Ashtoni photographed by Sheila Colla" data-caption="Bombus Ashtoni photographed by Sheila Colla" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/ffcbe2a8674d708e6502f5c5cf31f6a6cc74836f193f390b919fa8978d194f37/MaleAshtoniPosedSheilaColla.jpg" /> ARTISTIC RESEARCH publication Push the Record ButtonAesthetics of evidence in Mike MacDonald’s art practice Article by Lisa Myers as part of&nbsp;Other Places: Reflections on Media Arts in Canada, edited by Deanna Bowen. See Mike MacDonald’s artist portfolio, published in the same book.&nbsp; <img width="1100" height="723" width_o="1100" height_o="723" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4cce08da44db7e53462d718100dcdc1f3f55c642241179a66b14dc54a87b33a5/FIG-1-Mike-MacDonald-Seven-Sisters-1989-Video-Installation-7_55-minutes-Image-courtesy-of-the-Kitchener-Waterloo-Art-Gallery-Photo-Robert-McNair-detail.jpg" data-mid="174515755" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Seven Sisters (1989) (detail). Video Installation, 7:55 minutes. Photo by Robert McNair, courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Seven Sisters (1989) (detail). Video Installation, 7:55 minutes. Photo by Robert McNair, courtesy of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4cce08da44db7e53462d718100dcdc1f3f55c642241179a66b14dc54a87b33a5/FIG-1-Mike-MacDonald-Seven-Sisters-1989-Video-Installation-7_55-minutes-Image-courtesy-of-the-Kitchener-Waterloo-Art-Gallery-Photo-Robert-McNair-detail.jpg" /> planting Replanting at MSVUMike MacDonald’s GardenWorking in collaboration with Mount Saint Vincent University Gallery (Halifax), Lisa Myers begun a process of re-visiting and re-planting Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly Garden seeking to renew the quiet, contemplative nature of Mike’s work. June 2022. <img width="1519" height="1144" width_o="1519" height_o="1144" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/08770d9b36a45870e4acfe5602af105575c9942e9753a1eb4fcee888ca29a10e/2d94e172-2053-412f-b72a-e5646653f0d1.jpeg" data-mid="178530575" border="0" alt="MSVU Gallery staff and volunteers replanting Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden along curator Lisa Myers, 2022. Image by MSVU Gallery Staff. " data-caption="MSVU Gallery staff and volunteers replanting Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden along curator Lisa Myers, 2022. Image by MSVU Gallery Staff. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/08770d9b36a45870e4acfe5602af105575c9942e9753a1eb4fcee888ca29a10e/2d94e172-2053-412f-b72a-e5646653f0d1.jpeg" /> exhibition Powerful Glow Curated by Lisa Myers Featuring work by Jordan Bennett, Patricia Deadman, Ursula Johnson, Mike MacDonald, Peter Morin, Luke Parnell, Archer Pechawis, Anne Riley, Fallon Simard, Becca Taylor, Art Wilson and T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss. Robert MacLaughlin Gallery (touring)November 26th, 2022 – April 9th, 2023 <img width="4272" height="2856" width_o="4272" height_o="2856" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" data-mid="178530243" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Touched by the Tears of a Butterfly, 1995. Courtesy of the Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Image by Toni Hafkenscheid." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/5aed0972a0aab0774ee26a791d549ebc7a4c793329afd187b9a49cbd09caacc6/touchedbythetears_option.jpg" /> publication Re-Inscribing landMike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly GardensPaper presented by Lisa Myers, at the Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom Symposium. May 13, 2021 <img width="1545" height="1029" width_o="1545" height_o="1029" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/dd04545cf604e4f892a9fa341b4359f288bc46e109c3f7b9f7dcca5e9198dfbd/e964498a-1af0-41f9-a3fb-9881770d2c5c.jpeg" data-mid="174516914" border="0" alt="Mount Saint Vincent University Gallery Staff, replanting Mike MacDonald&rsquo;s Garden, 2022" data-caption="Mount Saint Vincent University Gallery Staff, replanting Mike MacDonald’s Garden, 2022" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/dd04545cf604e4f892a9fa341b4359f288bc46e109c3f7b9f7dcca5e9198dfbd/e964498a-1af0-41f9-a3fb-9881770d2c5c.jpeg" /> conversation Miijim: Food as RelationsHosted in 2020-21, Miijim was an online series of conversations presenting Indigenous, Black and People of Colour food scholars, growers, earthworkers, artists, curators, professors, knowledge keepers and advocates. <img width="2599" height="1507" width_o="2599" height_o="1507" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/f2caae22f4fb509f56e6ccef9b6e88b7b4b466d638b0e0df6260a6592ff03cb8/IMG_0356.jpg" data-mid="178530504" border="0" alt="Asters and Goldenrods in Maloca Community Garden, at York University. Image by Dana Prieto." data-caption="Asters and Goldenrods in Maloca Community Garden, at York University. Image by Dana Prieto." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/f2caae22f4fb509f56e6ccef9b6e88b7b4b466d638b0e0df6260a6592ff03cb8/IMG_0356.jpg" /> planting Planting One AnotherRe-planting of Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly and Medicine Garden at the Woodland Cultural Center, Brantford, ON, and planting of a new sister garden at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Curated by Lisa Myers and organized by Finding Flowers. June 2019 <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/01d1b87f3f1750f59a6f5e0796778a1c85ece0a9a52b53ee506b5e1742d2e7ae/IMG_9109.jpg" data-mid="171477764" border="0" alt="Finding Flowers Research Assistant Jess Buckley tending Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden at the Woodland Cultural Centre, Summer 2019" data-caption="Finding Flowers Research Assistant Jess Buckley tending Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden at the Woodland Cultural Centre, Summer 2019" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/01d1b87f3f1750f59a6f5e0796778a1c85ece0a9a52b53ee506b5e1742d2e7ae/IMG_9109.jpg" /> https://findingflowers.ca/Sounds-Like-Land Tue, 06 Aug 2024 16:01:28 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Sounds-Like-Land SOUNDS LIKE LAND Thinking with Indigenous Languages &amp; Plant Knowledge Sounds Like Land is a podcast series that dives into discussions about Indigenous languages, plants, medicines, gardens, and land. The project aims to foster conversations about language learning and revitalization, as well as share experiences on the land, with medicinal plants, and in Indigenous gardens. We are developing this podcast through a collaboration of Indigenous students, researchers, artists, storytellers, and sound professionals. Along the podcast’s seven episodes, we will be immersed in conversations and consultations with Language Speakers and Knowledge Holders from diverse Indigenous communities. <img width="6000" height="4000" width_o="6000" height_o="4000" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8a9b2b0f10876665ef95f7a275f42b6dbedaf01633889841869500be1ac821de/MSVU_Planting_Paper.jpg" data-mid="215936829" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8a9b2b0f10876665ef95f7a275f42b6dbedaf01633889841869500be1ac821de/MSVU_Planting_Paper.jpg" /> WHERE Each podcast episode will be rooted in a particular region and will be steered by a different Regional Host. This season focuses on communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and virtual spaces. WHEN   Spring ~ Winter 2024 | Production Spring 2025 | StreamingWe are in the midst of developing this exciting program, please stay in touch through social media to receive updates about this work! PODCAST TEAM Lisa Myers | Anishinaabe artist, curator and educator, and Finding Flowers co-principal investigator, is our podcast creative director, co-producer and co-host. Tania Willard | Secwépemc artist, curator, educator, and co-founder of BUSH gallery, is our podcast co-host. Nigel Robinson | Łuéchogh Túé First Nation, Dene writer, comedian, and Indigenous justice organizer, is our podcast co-producer. Laura Grier | Sahtu Délı̨nę First Nations artist and printmaker, is our podcast research assistant Dana Prieto | Argentine Canadian artist and educator, is our production assistant. What do native plants, flowers and medicines teach us about our relationship to the land? How does the thriving of native ecologies influence Indigenous people and our growth, governance, culture? &nbsp; What seeds are we planting for future generations' love of language and land? <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ae59a342024837bb93819613f77f743fe80b5fd8b42ae2bc03f0eed9e3beec8/IMG_9414.JPG" data-mid="215937296" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ae59a342024837bb93819613f77f743fe80b5fd8b42ae2bc03f0eed9e3beec8/IMG_9414.JPG" /> https://findingflowers.ca/ARCHIVE-1 Mon, 13 Mar 2023 02:42:37 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/ARCHIVE-1 ARCHIVE Finding Flowers hosts a variety of online and in-person programs that range between intimate conversations, public lectures, audio walks, art exhibitions, and ecological workshops, highlighting interdisciplinary research and multiple ways of knowing. We have developed this work in conversation and collaboration with diverse artists, Knowledge Holders, ecologists, activists, growers, and local communities. You can find here a chronologically organized archive of our programs, events and publications. UPCOMINGApril 2024 A Podcast Thinking with Indigenous Languages &amp; Native Plants <img width="1545" height="1029" width_o="1545" height_o="1029" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/17aedef7e845edd172d1442c9deaf27ec7b6280576cf384728b330d03ada4f5a/e964498a-1af0-41f9-a3fb-9881770d2c5c.jpeg" data-mid="171424842" border="0" alt="Documentation of a butterfly garden planting at the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Gallery in 2022. Photo by MSVU staff. " data-caption="Documentation of a butterfly garden planting at the Mount Saint Vincent University (MSVU) Gallery in 2022. Photo by MSVU staff. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/17aedef7e845edd172d1442c9deaf27ec7b6280576cf384728b330d03ada4f5a/e964498a-1af0-41f9-a3fb-9881770d2c5c.jpeg" /> PAST November 26 2022 - April 9 2023 Powerful GlowExhibition curated by Lisa Myers at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery November 2021 Reinscribing Land: Mike MacDonald's medicine and butterfly gardensTalk by Lisa Myers presented by Entomological Society of Canada and Entomological Society of Ontario. October 21, 2021 Collective Remembering Mike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly GardensLecture by Lisa Myers presented by McMaster University Hooker Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture. July 26, 2021 Mike Macdonald’s Butterfly Garden Panel DiscussionConversation between Lisa Myers, curator and artist, Becca Taylor, Director of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Centre, and Catherine Crowston, Executive Director and Chief Curator of the Art Gallery of Alberta. Organized by Art Gallery of Alberta and Ociciwan Collective. https://youtu.be/XUGxEdmUxB8 June 4th, 2021 Beyond the Buzz: Examining Bees Through an Interdisciplinary Lens Conversation featuring Sheila Colla, presented along the Bees, Land &amp; Food Justice Series, organized by the Centre for Bee Ecology, Evolution and Conservation. https://youtu.be/xC4p__TradQ May 13, 2021 Re-Inscribing land: Mike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly GardensPaper presentation by Lisa Myers, at the Land Back: Indigenous Landscapes of Resurgence and Freedom. https://www.doaks.org/research/garden-landscape/scholarly-activities/past-events/202020132021/land-back October 6, 2020 - March 16, 2021 MIIJIM: Food as RelationsOrganized by Finding Flowers. MIIJIM was a series of online conversations presenting Indigenous, Black and People of Colour food scholars, growers, earthworkers, artists, curators, professors, knowledge keepers and advocates who gathered virtually across Canada. October 6, 2020MIIJIM: Indigenous Food Sovereignties: Tania Willard, Dawn Morrison, &amp; Sherry Pictou https://youtu.be/rgU9gsTQ6AM October 20, 2020Indigenous and Black Food Relations: Dr. Priscilla Settee, Leticia Ama Deawuo https://youtu.be/sNyGiWifn2g November 10, 2020Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee Food Systems: Joe Pitawanakwat, William Kingfisher, Chandra Maracle https://youtu.be/J4Z1EtA91g0 November 24, 2020 Migrant Workers and Food Justice: Evelyn Encalada and Tzazna Maranda https://youtu.be/oYqud2qmY8c February 2, 2021MIIJIM: Food &amp; Gardens as Remediation: T’uy’t’tanat - Cease Wyss, Anne Riley and Joce Two Crows Tremblay https://youtu.be/tCqeL-GM3f8 February 23, 2021MIIJIM: Gardens as Art as Relations: Ursula Johnson, Andrea Fatona, Crystal Mowry, and Christina Battle. https://youtu.be/i-U1tFhGh_g March 16, 2021 MIIJIM: Carrying Food, Sounds &amp; Memory: Honor Ford-Smith, Beny Esguerra, Jacqueline Dwyer and Noel Livingston https://youtu.be/MLcF0XZPfww February 11, 2021Finding Flowers: Examining Intersections of Art, Ecology and PedagogyPresented by CSFS Future of Food Dialogue Series. Presentation by Sheila Colla, Lisa Myers and Dana Prieto https://ubcfarm.ubc.ca/events/event/finding-flowers-art-ecology-pedagogy/ October 13, 2020 On the Wings of a Butterfly: Discussing the Work of Mike MacDonald, Wild Pollinators, Ecology and Art⁣Presented by MSVU Art Gallery and Dalhousie Art Gallery as part of Nocturne 2020: Echolocation.Conversation with Laura Ritchie, Lindsay Dobbin, Frances Dorsey, Robin Metcalfe, Lisa Myers, and Michelle Sylliboy https://nocturnehalifax.ca/projects/2020/on-the-wings-of-a-butterfly-discussing-the-work-of-mike-macdonald-wild-pollinators-ecology-and-art/ June 8, 2020Wild Pollinators and the Gardens of Mike MacDonaldContingencies of Care Residency, co-hosted by OCAD University Graduate Studies + UBC Okanagan + Toronto Biennial of Art + Bush Gallery + Emily Carr University + kinādās collective. Presentation by Sheila Colla, Lisa Myers and Dana Prieto https://youtu.be/4pBs_HtFLFM March 2020Eco Arts &amp; Media Festival - Pollination: Exchange of IdeasLisa Myers and Finding Flowers hosted the Eco Arts &amp; Media Festival at York University, exhibiting art works, music, spoken word poetry and performances by York University students, faculty and alumni January 2020 Winter Listening Session - Soundtrack for the Radical Love of ButterfliesListening session hosted by Finding Flowers at the Faculty of Urban and Environmental Change at York University June - October 2019 Mike MacDonald: Planting One AnotherRe-planting of Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly and Medicine Garden at the Woodland Cultural Center, Brantford, ON, and planting of a new sister garden at Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Curated by Lisa Myers and organized by Finding Flowers October 2019Maloca Harvest GatheringGathering of students, alumni, faculty, staff and communities surrounding Maloca Community Garden at York University, hosted by Finding Flowers and the Faculty of Urban and Environmental Change, York University https://findingflowers.ca/Mike-MacDonald Sun, 12 Mar 2023 19:36:26 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Mike-MacDonald MIKE MACDONALD Mike MacDonald (1941-2006) was an award-winning media artist whose range of work extended from multi-channel video installations, digital projects, and Butterfly Gardens. BRIEF BIO <img width="1100" height="723" width_o="1100" height_o="723" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/4cce08da44db7e53462d718100dcdc1f3f55c642241179a66b14dc54a87b33a5/FIG-1-Mike-MacDonald-Seven-Sisters-1989-Video-Installation-7_55-minutes-Image-courtesy-of-the-Kitchener-Waterloo-Art-Gallery-Photo-Robert-McNair-detail.jpg" data-mid="174509905" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald, Seven Sisters, 1989. Video installation, running time: 7 videos, 55 minutes each. Courtesy of Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Photo: Robert McNair." data-caption="Mike MacDonald, Seven Sisters, 1989. Video installation, running time: 7 videos, 55 minutes each. Courtesy of Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery Photo: Robert McNair." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/4cce08da44db7e53462d718100dcdc1f3f55c642241179a66b14dc54a87b33a5/FIG-1-Mike-MacDonald-Seven-Sisters-1989-Video-Installation-7_55-minutes-Image-courtesy-of-the-Kitchener-Waterloo-Art-Gallery-Photo-Robert-McNair-detail.jpg" /> Born in Nova Scotia and recognized as a prominent Mi’kmaw artist,&nbsp; Mike MacDonald begun his art practice as a documentary filmmaker for anti-nuclear activism in the late 1970s. From the late 1980s into the early 1990s he recorded testimony and created visual documents for the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en nations during their land claim challenges. During this work came the origins of his garden artworks.While shooting videos near Kitwanga, BC, in an area threatened by clear-cut logging, MacDonald’s encounters with butterflies inspired him to talk with Elders in the region. By his accounts, it was then when he gained understanding of the butterfly’s connection to medicine plants and healing. MacDonald began planting medicine and butterfly gardens across Canada, learning the flora and fauna of various regions across the country. His gardens were created as places to contemplate the relations between all living things and questioning how resource extraction threatens Indigenous communities, land, and wildlife. LEARN MORE exhibition Powerful GlowCurated by Lisa Myers Featuring work by Jordan Bennett, Patricia Deadman, Ursula Johnson, Mike MacDonald, Peter Morin, Luke Parnell, Archer Pechawis, Anne Riley, Fallon Simard, Becca Taylor, Art Wilson and T’uy’t’tanat-Cease Wyss. Robert MacLaughlin Gallery (touring)November 26th, 2022 – April 9th, 2023 presentationCollective RememberingMacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly Gardens Lecture by Lisa Myers presented by McMaster University Hooker Distinguished Visiting Scholar Lecture. The lecture is an exercise of collectively remembering Mike MacDonald’s Medicine and Butterfly Gardens. October 21, 2021. planting MacDonald’s Gardens Contemplate Mike MacDonald’s garden artworks and the people and institutions that take care of their growth and memory.&nbsp; Learn from Mike’s knowledge on pollinators and native plants, and the work that Finding Flowers has been doing in revitalizing and thinking with these perennial projects.&nbsp; archive Mike MacDonald’s Website Access an archived version of MacDonald’s website and his Online Butterfly Garden created during a residency at the St. Norbert Arts Centre. Learn about his interest in exploring digital space along his research on native pollinators and plants.&nbsp; <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/02ea61459f9d3730a6a38a9817145dae6d92061f3796e72a360e33e23e0665ae/IMG_9423.JPG" data-mid="171423368" border="0" alt="Entrance sign for Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden at Banff Centre for the Arts. Photo: Dana Prieto." data-caption="Entrance sign for Mike MacDonald's Butterfly Garden at Banff Centre for the Arts. Photo: Dana Prieto." src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/02ea61459f9d3730a6a38a9817145dae6d92061f3796e72a360e33e23e0665ae/IMG_9423.JPG" /> <img width="2048" height="1338" width_o="2048" height_o="1338" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6340d652961179dbb8187c0a8cc66d5cc1068cae36263b8f6e17d8d7b9a6c5a9/17_PG-2048x1338.jpg" data-mid="171418457" border="0" alt="Mike MacDonald's Flower and Pollinator Quilts. Image: courtesy of Robert McLaughlin Gallery 2023. " data-caption="Mike MacDonald's Flower and Pollinator Quilts. Image: courtesy of Robert McLaughlin Gallery 2023. " src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/6340d652961179dbb8187c0a8cc66d5cc1068cae36263b8f6e17d8d7b9a6c5a9/17_PG-2048x1338.jpg" /> https://findingflowers.ca/Gardens Thu, 09 Mar 2023 02:55:09 +0000 Finding Flowers https://findingflowers.ca/Gardens GARDENS The late Mi’kmaw media artist Mike MacDonald planted over 23 pollinator and medicine gardens across Canada between 1995 to 2003. These garden artworks range as far west as the Musqueam/ Squamish/ Tsleil-Waututh territories in BC to Unama’ki, NS on the east coast. In these last four years, Finding Flowers has been revisiting, studying, replanting and tending these gardens, while learning from Mike’s attention to the profound relations that are sustained by them. <img width="4032" height="3024" width_o="4032" height_o="3024" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/54fed364ae1313008de698eb401b5d8b2b56967a7cac55caf5e468048dfc1745/IMG_9113.jpg" data-mid="171220195" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/54fed364ae1313008de698eb401b5d8b2b56967a7cac55caf5e468048dfc1745/IMG_9113.jpg" /> Butterfly and Medicine Garden at Woodland Cultural Centre Replanted in 2019 by Finding Flowers Original garden planted by Mike MacDonald in 1997 When we launched Finding Flowers in 2019, the only Mike MacDonald’s Butterfly and Medicine Garden we knew was still flourishing on the land, was located at the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff, AB. This garden has been a place to remember and reflect on Mike’s practice, and a source of inspiration for our work. <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/438f31cbd29e7117a8fce47b66417a46ad786198f1206d4bc305efe2261ff152/IMG_9380.JPG" data-mid="171221716" border="0" data-marker-id="2" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/438f31cbd29e7117a8fce47b66417a46ad786198f1206d4bc305efe2261ff152/IMG_9380.JPG" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/00612b06261d06becf6e866c153331f5b211c6d95ad1b6e1502e69d2bf23dae1/IMG_9423.JPG" data-mid="171221704" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/00612b06261d06becf6e866c153331f5b211c6d95ad1b6e1502e69d2bf23dae1/IMG_9423.JPG" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/1fd411df1ece06e13244209761c1fbbb0bc3e27b47e16ac1cae95c4a3f151893/IMG_9416.JPG" data-mid="171221708" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/1fd411df1ece06e13244209761c1fbbb0bc3e27b47e16ac1cae95c4a3f151893/IMG_9416.JPG" /> <img width="2048" height="1536" width_o="2048" height_o="1536" data-src="https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8ae59a342024837bb93819613f77f743fe80b5fd8b42ae2bc03f0eed9e3beec8/IMG_9414.JPG" data-mid="171221709" border="0" src="https://freight.cargo.site/w/1000/i/8ae59a342024837bb93819613f77f743fe80b5fd8b42ae2bc03f0eed9e3beec8/IMG_9414.JPG" /> Butterfly and Medicine Garden at Banff Centre for the Arts Visited and tended in 2019 by Finding Flowers Original garden planted by Mike MacDonald in 1997 Finding Flowers has been replanting, revitalizing and learning from MacDonald’s garden work, while supporting the growth of new Indigenous plant and pollinator gardens at various locations across the land known as Canada. Learn more about the flourishing gardens planted by Mike MacDonald and the new growth sown by Finding Flowers by navigating through the map below.