Bumble Baskets

A Participatory Eco-Installation Offering Sanctuary

In August 2017, community members came together over 6 sessions to use plant materials found on site or nearby. Evenings and weekend mornings were spent sitting in the pasture, learning coil-basketry techniques, listening to live music, and sharing stories about our relationship with the land – offering a breathing moment and place of respite. Inspired by learning that abandoned Bumblebee nests are sanctuary for 250 other species, the resulting works are sculptures evocative of these nests, placed in a Cottonwood tree overlooking the pollinator pasture and apiary.

​Acknowledgment and Gratitude to: ​

Sharon Kallis – Artist Mentor and Guest Artist
Nancy Holmes – Community Liaison and Project Advisor​
Fionncara MacEoin – Assistant Community Liaison

Guests, Artists, and Musicians:
Nils Loewen
James J. McEwan
Leila Neverland
Maiya Robbie
Annabel Stanley
Krystal Lezard of the Syilx Nation
 
Community Makers:
Pippa, Maureen, Robin, Emma, K.J., Linda, Yuhiro, Loretta, Laura, Jeannette, Aleksandra, Denise K, Mae, Rhonda, Stephanie, Christopher, Jennifer, Denise K, Haley, Curtis, and Tanis.

Donations:
ChaiBaba - iced tea
Bob - plums

And to Cameron Cartiere for creating this opportunity.

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Final Installation

Materials: Ponderosa Pine needles, wild grasses, Stinging Nettle fibre, Himalayan Blackberry fibre, etc 

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'WorkBees'

Here's an article by Curtis Woodcock for UBC-Os Pheonix Newspaper on the project.

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This community art project at the Brent’s Grist Mill Heritage Park pasture in Kelowna, BC, was inspired by Jaymie's work with mentoring artist Sharon Kallis at the Richmond Pollinator Pasture in 2016.  In collaboration with Border Free Bees and EartHand Gleaners Society, this event series was presented by the University of British Columbia Okanagan, in partnership with Emily Carr University of Art + Design and the City of Kelowna.