Creating a buzz: Indigenous artwork celebrates larger-than-life pollinator trail markings in York Region

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 22, 2022

Even the tiniest of undervalued creatures have big impacts on our daily lives.

Seed spreaders and pollinators are getting their day in the sun with the new, interactive, YR Experience trail markers regionwide art project, commissioned by the York Region Arts Council (YRAC).

The larger-than-life trail markers, which are glazed in an anti-graffiti coating, are part of a collaborative, interactive, art project created to reconnect people to the land presently known as York Region.

Ahead of celebrating national Truth and Reconciliation Day, YRAC unveiled new trail markers in Georgina (Moth) and Vaughan (Hummingbird). Earlier this summer the arts council unveiled the art installations in Aurora (Bee) and King Township (Butterfly).

Designed by Indigenous artist Don Chretien of Nipissing First Nation, the large trail markers also tell the story of each individual pollinator through a cultural narrative created by Ojibwe Elder Shelley Charles of Georgina Island First Nation.

“It’s our responsibility to acknowledge all of creation,” said Charles, a cultural advisor at First Nations Technical Institute School of Aviation in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

“Even the smallest creature has profound impact on our future. Pollinators are important for plants. And without plants, we don’t exist.”

On the back of each trail marking, there is a QR code connecting to the YR Experience trail project and the Indigenous world view for each different pollinator.

Every wing has a strong and storied past steeped in tradition.

Currently, there are four larger-than-life trail markers:

The Moth The butterfly The Bee The Hummingbird

Moth -- The Link, 20849 Dalton Rd., Sutton, Georgina;

Butterfly -- King Heritage and Cultural Centre, 2920 King Rd., King City, King Township;

Bee -- Aurora Town Park, 49 Wells St., Aurora;

Hummingbird -- Kortright Centre for Conservation, 9550 Pine Valley Dr., Woodbridge, Vaughan.

YRAC has secured funding for two additional markers to be unveiled in the coming months and is planning to commission another three in the coming years, said YRAC program curator Monica del Rio Pain.

Not only was the intention to connect the community to nature, it was also to shed light on the importance of pollinators.

Pollinators in art and pollinators in the garden -- the specific location of each piece of art was selected based on proximity to natural, or man-made, pollinator gardens.

“Pollinators become part of the story with what's happening in the environment," said del Rio Pain.

"Storytelling is a central part of Indigenous culture. It is utilized to teach history and the environment which we live in."

And there’s more to pollinating than just bugs.

Each piece of art, shaped like a large magnifying glass, is meant to draw people into becoming part of the art itself.

Trail walkers can spread their arms and become part of the pollinator wings.

#ExperienceYR selfies are encouraged -- become a modern-day pollinator by pollinating social media with local art and good vibes, said Chretien.

“Public art is so important,” said the former Newmarket resident. “It’s art for no other reason than to just come out and see it. And these trail markers are a drawing card to nature.”

Chretien is no stranger to public art, especially those interconnected with nature.

Along with the new YR Experience trail marker project, artwork can be seen throughout York Region: totem kilometre trail markers along the Tom Taylor trail in Newmarket; a signature planter and interpretive sign on the Nokiidaa trail in East Gwillimbury; and the Anwebi Aki, a place to rest and think sculptures, at the Aaniin Community Centre in Markham.

Chretien is also a visual art instructor with the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Vaughan.

The experience trail markers showcase his passion for contrasting warm and cool colours and feature his woodland-style.

The patterns found in the pollinator markings are all reoccurring patterns in nature -- stripes, bubbles, branches, hives and fractals -- and like pollinators are often overlooked, Chretien said.

For more information, visit experienceyorkregion.com.