The 2022 Art+Earth Lecture will feature a review of the connections made during the Artist in Residence Program (June to October 2022) at the Walter Morgan Studio in Willow Point. This Campbell River Arts Council program features Shawn Decaire as our 2022 artist.

Shawn, alongside Sharon Karsten (Walk With Me) and Jenelle Pasiechnik (Curator of the CR Art Gallery), will explore the connections between the challenges of homelessness, poverty, drug and alcohol abuse and the various programs each organization collaborates on toward creative solutions. It will reveal much of the amazing work being done in Campbell River to address this complex set of connections.

Shawn Decaire is a member of the Laxwaxdaxw people, the southernmost tribe of the Kwakwakawakwe Nation. He was born in Campbell River in 1981. Shawn’s family was not involved with anything cultural due to the impacts of residential schools, but in 2001 he was invited by the people of Kingcome Inlet to join them on a traditional gathering of canoes.

Known as a Tribal Journey, this lifechanging experience took him from his village in Cape Mudge to the final landing place in Ambleside, West Vancouver. Over those two and a half weeks, Shawn was inspired in every cultural way from traditional singing to art and carving. During the journey Shawn met inspirational people who became role models to him, including the late Chief Frank Nelson, and the man who inspired him to be a traditional singer, Chief William Wasden Jr.

After returning home with all this inspiration, Shawn dedicated much time to learning the culture of his ancestors and the reasons why so much was lost. Near the end of 2002, Shawn made the greatest dedication of change in his life – he surrendered his addictions of street drugs and alcohol. He worked harder on his arts of singing, carving, and helping people. And for 20 years Shawn taught himself and learned from many great cultural teachers to become established in the cultural and artistic world.

Most of the traditional crafts Shawn creates are for ceremonies, such as potlatches and feasts. He does not sell much of his art. He said, “It is not the value of cash you carry that makes you rich, it is the love in your heart.”

We’re all experiencing the new realities of our changing climate, from extreme heat and atmospheric rivers to intense winter storms and longer, colder, wet springs.  The way we garden and the plants we choose to grow must be adaptable to these new challenges.

As we lose so many pollinators, birds and other critical wildlife, our gardens need to replace lost habitats. We can do this by selecting and growing more pollinator-friendly plants and by creating landscapes that are not only beautiful but are also more functional in terms of wildlife attraction and support.

The importance and relevance of gardens has also changed dramatically as they relate to our own health and well-being.

Don’t miss this opportunity to discover how gardens of the future will function and look.

Co-presented by the Museum at Campbell River, the Campbell River Arts Council, and the Haig-Brown Institute, the Haig-Brown Lecture was created to honour the legacies of Roderick Haig-Brown, who is recognized nationally as a celebrated author and conservationist, and his wife Ann, who leaves a lasting legacy in Campbell River for her service to the community.  The lectures provide an annual forum for writers to inspire a new generation with their vision for the environment, social issues and literary excellence.

About Brian Minter

Brian Minter began sharing his passion for plants with British Columbia’s gardeners when, in 1970, he and his wife Faye purchased Country Garden Store, a garden shop that had been part of Chilliwack’s community since 1957.

Brian, a University of British Columbia graduate (BA) and Master Gardener, quickly became BC’s go-to garden expert through his experience at both the garden centre and the display gardens. As such, He has hosted countless radio and television shows, is a frequent gardening columnist and is the author of Canadian Best Seller, ‘Brian Minter’s New Gardening Guide – Fresh Approaches for Canadian Gardeners’.

A recipient of the ‘Order of Canada’, the ‘Order of British Columbia’, an ‘Honorary Doctorate of Technology’, and many other awards, Brian is well known from his magazine and syndicated newspaper columns and TV and radio programs. Brian is in demand as a speaker by industry and gardening groups alike. Brian has sat on the boards of many community organizations including past Chancellor of the University of the Fraser Valley. Brian received an Award of Merit from the Perennial Plant Association in recognition of outstanding contributions to the perennial industry and was also inducted into the Gardening Writers Association’s Hall of Fame ‘in recognition of a lifetime of exceptional work and spirit promoting gardening and garden communications to the public.’ He currently writes garden-inspired articles for The Vancouver Sun and several Black Press papers in the Fraser Valley and is on CBC Radio (BC Almanac) every other Friday at 12:30pm.

In 1977, the Minters discovered a piece of land nestled beneath Mt. Cheam and by 1980, that passion for plants was transformed into 32-acre, world-famous Minter Gardens. After many enjoyable years, the Minter family made the decision to close the Gardens in the fall of 2013 and to focus their energies on Minter Country Garden Store, which is still growing strong!