“I feel like I should share my process of healing and hopefully it can help somebody else.” – Katie Potter

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A collection of writing, visual art and photography is rising from the ashes of Jasper’s devastating wildfire.

To commemorate the one year anniversary of the fire, on July 25, the Jasper Art Gallery will open the exhibition Voices from Jasper. 

Coordinated by The Resilience Institute and led locally by Jasperite Brooklyn Rushton, the exhibition brings together a group of artists who created work in response to the fire and its ongoing impact. 

“Art can bring people together in such an amazing way,” Rushton said. “Not only can it bring the community together, but I think it can also help visitors understand what the community went through in a huge way.”

The Resilience Institute is a Canadian charitable organization that works to minimize the suffering caused by climate disasters through participatory informed education, applied research, and action towards resilience.

Throughout the fall and winter, the community-based program Stories of Resilience offered workshops to help in understanding the risks and impacts of climate disasters. Participants were invited to reflect on what resilience looks like in the wake of the fire’s devastation and in our changing climate. Some of the paintings, photographs, or pieces of writing that emerged from these workshops will be displayed in the body of exhibited work. 

“People contextualized [resilience and the fire] in such different ways, which I think is a really beautiful thing,” Rushton said..” And so I hope it shows people that they are resilient, regardless of how they’re feeling.” 

Voices from Jasper invites Jasperites and visitors alike to engage and connect with each artist’s creative but vulnerable manifestation of their memory, trauma, grief, frustration—and sometimes, gratitude— that have resulted from the fire. 

The exhibition features work from 10 artists, including Greg Deagle, who served as curator for the show; writer and facilitator Paulette Dubé; and Matricia Brown, an Indigenous leader and teacher. Although each artist works in a different medium, they all share the same intention: to create space for healing and connection. 

As the community approaches the anniversary—a time where trauma and difficult memories are likely to resurface for many in the town—the artists hope that their work will resonate with each local, allowing them to see, hear, and feel reflections of their own experiences in the work.   

For painter Katie Potter, the creative process reflected her perspective and experience by literally using fire in her materials. She threw canvases directly into a fire, then pulled them out, then painted them.

“It’s kind of like signifying that even though the canvas has been burnt and ruined, technically, I kind of brought it back to life. And brought the beauty back in it, even though it was devastated..” 

Writer Clara Manapul-Adriano, another Voices of Jasper participant, noted that the experience of working with an inspirational group of artists led to personal rediscovery. 

“I rediscovered so many things about myself and about my writing that I had long forgotten. Just being with the group, learning about their experiences, I was just so inspired.”

In addition to the visual and written art on display, Bow Valley singer/songwriter Scott Diehl will kick off the opening night by performing some of the songs from his new album Climate Stories. 

Diehl’s performance will include an original song which he described as particularly relevant to the exhibition. Horizon Glow was written about the wildfires in western Canada, he said. The opening lines include the phrase: ‘Jasper man is running for his life from the fire.’

Diehl hopes the performance, and the event more broadly, creates space for connection. 

“Coming together and sharing art in a public space and hearing open expressions of grief and strength and hope is hopefully going to go a long way toward making Jasperites feel like they’re not alone and that they can get through this,” Diehl said.

Rushton emphasized the night will be not just a chance for the artists’ voices to be heard, but other community members’, too.

“Ideally, people have conversations about their own experiences, and are just being present with the rest of the community.”

Voices from Jasper opens Friday, July 25 at 6:30 PM at the Jasper Art Gallery. 

Pop-up works will also be displayed in locations across town such as Su Casa, the museum, Lost Lands Cafe, and Community Outreach Services.

Sophie Pfisterer // info@jasperlocal.com