A call of the wild is going out to Canmore and Exshaw students from Wildsmart for art submissions.
The conservation strategy program is asking students from the two communities to submit two dimensional pieces that represent and reflect on a merging of love for wildlife and art.
“This is the first time for the WildsmART exhibition, with emphasis on the art and we just really wanted to see what the younger population thinks on this theme of living with wildlife,” said Wildsmart education outreach coordinator Tyler McClure.
“I get a chance to chat with a lot of people in town, but those conversations tend to happen with an older demographic, people who are adults in the community. But we don’t often hear from elementary and secondary school level voices and this is really the opportunity to hear what they have to say and through their lens.”
April 9 is the submission deadline, with photography, painting, print, drawings and collages all being accepted for the submission call. Interested students are asked to visit www.wildsmart.ca/news/art for information on the full rules and regulations for the exhibition, as well as access to submission forms.
“Pretty much anything that can be displayed in a 2-D fashion may be submitted,” McClure said. “We’ve been working really hard to get into schools and get into the younger groups and talking with those kids and those students to understand what it means to recreate here, what it means for them to be living with wildlife and to be able to give them a voice to share that with the rest of the community has been great. I’m hoping over the next few weeks we’ll start to see them rolling in.”
McClure added group submissions are also a possibility for students. “I’m open to people getting together and submitting a piece or work; it doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be one individual who worked on something,” McClure said, adding there is a limit of one submission per person or group.
At this time, WildsmART is open to students who are registered in schools or home education programs in Canmore or Exshaw, but McClure hopes in the future they will be able to offer the program to Banff students if more funding becomes available.
“The ages we are asking to participate are 10 to 18 years just because we’re looking for that slightly more mature viewpoint and the cutoff is high school students,” McClure said. “It’s that older, slightly more mature group we’re looking to hear from and get some interesting insights from.”
Submissions chosen will be displayed starting on April 20 at Three Sisters Gallery (2nd floor of Elevation Place) until May 13.
“We also have our annual Bear Day celebration coming up on April 11, just a couple of days after the cutoff for submissions, so we’re hoping to have a couple of pieces there to wet people’s appetites for the upcoming art show,” McClure said.
“I’m really interested in seeing the positive angles people take, as well as other angles – maybe people will point out places where we need to have more conversation or maybe they’ll spark some interesting debates about living with wildlife in the valley.”
