Art exhibit takes a look at your backyard critters

“In my art practice, I’ve been kind of dealing with the notion of their being a nature culture divide and I’ve been focused on our (humans) relationship to wildlife for about a decade now. When I started doing my PhD, my supervisor suggested doing a kind of like an, ecology of Lethbridge focusing on backyard animals. So, it really fit in to what I’m interested in,” she told Lethbridge News Now.

“For the past two years, I’ve been collaborating with people. I put a camera in the front or backyard, with their help deciding where to best place it, and we see what kind of animals show up.”

Armstrong’s project is on display at the Helen Schuler Nature Centre Community Art Gallery. The exhibit features various prints of the backyard critters, as well as 100 small clay skunks.

She told LNN that feedback from residents has been positive since work on her project began.

“I can’t believe how positive and how willing to share their yards and their perspectives on things people have been. When I go, we put up the camera and then we do a brief interview, it usually lasts about 15-20 minutes, sometimes it will go on an hour if they have really good wildlife stories,” she remarked.

Armstrong conducted a survey as part of Backyard Wilderness and said that over 1000 Lethbridge residents responded. On Saturday, September 7, trail cam images coupled with quotes from her survey will begin scrolling on the indoor digital screen at CASA in downtown Lethbridge.

On Monday, September 9, six public billboards will be unveiled featuring images from Backyard Wilderness. The billboards are funded by the City’s Public Art Small Projects Program and will also include extracts from Armstrong’s survey.

by Justin Goulet

Art exhibit takes a look at your backyard critters

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