Walk of the Woods

a series of slow quiet parades.

Inspired by a desire to become more familiar with the specific trees that are our neighbours, and the multiple connections that create a forest, we gathered people into a creative exploration of trees.

In each of the many communities we visited, people created costumes, then gathered in very slow moving, poetic parade.

Douglas Fir, Jackpine, Birch, Cottonwood, Larch, hemlock, apple, Ponderosa, Sitka Spruce and more

During the spring and summer of 2023 tree costumes were made in workshops around BC followed by tree parade appearances.

Grindrod : costume creation lab with artists and biologists

Vancouver: Artist Lab

Victoria: 3 workshops; participation in Walk of Old Growth

Enderby: Residency in Shihiya First Nations School, and three classes at MVBeattie, Enderby; Childrens’ Tree Parade

Armstrong: 4 day workshop; Earth Day Parade

Salmon Arm: 4 day workshop; Earth Day Parade

Vancouver: 3 outdoor workshops and 2 parades at UBC

Quesnel: 3 day workshop; Canada Day parade

Mission: 3 day workshop in Mission; parade at Heritage Park

Golden: 3 outdoor workshops; parades at Farmers Market and at outdoor concert

Lumby: 4 day workshop; parade at Seniors Centre

Splatsin: 2 workshops in costuming and stilt walking - Splatsin Band Youth

Enderby Summer camp workshop and mini Parade

Salmon Arm: 2 community workshops and parade at the opening of Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival

Vancouver: Workshops and parade at Moberly Community Centre, West Point Grey Community Centre, UBC Farm Market

Slocan Field House: 3 day workshop; Finale with Still Moon Arts at the Ravine Festival

Walk of the Woods took place during the spring and summer of 2023 in communities throughout British Columbia.

Project Artistic Directors: Paula Jardine and Cathy Stubington

Workshop facilitators: Paula Jardine, Cathy Stubington, Deb Humphries, Carolyn Uher, Anne Barber

Guest director: Anne Barber

Assistant facilitators: Natasha Lepine, Kathryn Cooke, Jesse Orr, Rainn Sines, Molly MacGregor, Jasmin Wright, Carolyn Knight,

Stage manager (interior): Dalynn Kearney

Stilt teachers: Renn Bankowski, Isabelle Kirouac, Anne Barber

Guest performers: Willoughby Arevalo, Renn Bankowski, Isabelle Kirouac, Rene Hugo Sanchez, Boris Sichon

Tree Walks: Prof. Warren MacTeague, Aita Bezzola, Barb Dutot, Lorelei

Administration: Jasmin Wright

Partners: M.V.Beattie Elementary School, Shihiya School, Prof. Warren MacTeague dept of Forestry, UBC; Monashee Arts Council (Lumby), Fairfield Community Centre (Victoria), City of Mission Arts and Culture, Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, Still Moon Arts Society, Kicking Horse Culture (Golden), Quesnel Arts Recreation and Culture, Splatsin First Nation Youth

Thanks to:

Alan Duncan Memorial Tree Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, Hamber Foundation, Telus Community Foundation, Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia

Vancouver Second Artist Lab 5 March 2023 golden willow. laura fukumoto.🌲lab#2 .jpeg

COMMUNITY PROCESS

We began the project with two “Artist Labs”, to which we invited a group of artists and biologists to get together and create tree costumes. This gave us a varied inventory of costumes to take to parade venues. It was also an opportunity to develop relatively simple templates that we could bring into the schools.

There were several ways in which people could engage with the project:

By going on a tree walk, by creating costumes, by wearing a costume and joining the Walk of the Woods, and by watching the parade!

In each community we visited, we held drop-in workshops, where people could come and spend between one and three days making their own costumes.

On Parade Day, people could wear the costumes they’d made, and we’d have extra costumes for people who decided on-the-spot to join the parade. Afterwards, we’d add the new costumes to our stash, and so we had an evolving collection of trees. We noted that we were gathering trees from different forest ecosystems, as we moved around the Province.

Once people had gathered, Paula led them in a warmup in which they were encouraged to close their eyes and imagine their roots, and trunk, and branches, and to imagine the wind blowing through their leaves or needles. The trees were asked to move as slowly as possible along the path.

Most of the parades were scheduled at a time and place where people were gathering for a purpose - including Earth Day celebrations, markets, concerts. This ensured us an audience, and folk to coax into joining us.

Some of the workshops began with a tree walk, led by a local expert. This allowed us to get to know the trees in the area before starting the making process.

IMPACT

One never knows how an experience affects a person. What we imagine is that participants and viewers will see trees in a new way, especially having made the effort of imagining being a tree. We call this empathetic learning.

We were in Mission twice: in July and again in September. On our return visit, a couple came to talk with us, who’d been in the July workshop and event. The woman wondered if I’d think she’s crazy if she told me that she is now noticing trees all the time, and in an entirely new way. I asked if she particularly identified with Birch? (remembering the tree costume she’d made). “That’s it!” she exclaimed. Her husband said, ”When I’m driving, she’s always saying “STOP! I want to look at that tree!”” and he mimed slamming on the brakes.

We realized that the project had impact even just when we were telling people that we were doing a Tree Parade - for example when we took posters around. People would stop for a moment, and we’d watch their imagination start up… “That’s a good idea!” was always the response.

At our parade at UBC, an audience member said that he felt a deep sense of calm, watching the trees move slowly, slowly through the plants.

Just as we began the parade in Quesnel, the skies opened up with an intense thunderstorm. We walked anyway, and all of the costumes (Including the cardboard ones) were completely soaked. We didn’t mind - the drought was intense.

A Gitxsan woman who’d been talking to us was so excited. “The trees are listening,” she assured us.

Fortunately the Recreation Centre allowed us to lay out all of our stuff overnight in a room, and it was dry by morning.