A B.C. badger has dipped her toes into the world of art — quite literally.
Bloom, a 13-year-old female American badger, made her painting debut with the help of staff at Kamloops’ B.C. Wildlife Park, where she has lived since being found as an orphan in 2006.
Animal care manager Tracy Reynolds said keepers regularly encourage their animals to paint as a way to keep them stimulated and to create bonds with their human caretakers.
“It’s fun for the keepers and it’s fun for the animals,” Reynolds told CBC Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce.
“We just put the paint on the paper, first, in little blobs, and the keeper encourages Bloom to come up on her lap…. then Bloom comes up and just smears it around with her hands.”
The end result is what Reynolds called a “bold” mixture of reds, greens and yellows, “kind of like a Rorschach.”
Reynolds said Bloom was primarily motivated by the food being offered to her while she painted, but thinks she enjoyed the process.
She said feeling the paint is a good sensory experience for the animals.
After consulting with fans on Facebook, the park has decided to auction off the painting to help pay for a new enclosure for another resident: Ranger, a flying squirrel who was found sick and dehydrated in August at an estimated age of four weeks old.
The park hopes to build Ranger a living space that simulates the night during the day and the day during the night so he’ll be active during park visiting hours.
Reynolds isn’t sure how much money Bloom’s painting will raise but hopes it attracts interest from animal and art lovers alike.
“I think it’s a pretty neat conversation piece,” she said.
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Last Thursday night, art appreciators and party-circuit regulars descended on the AGO for the gallery’s annual Arts Bash. In addition to raising $1.1 million for the museum, the event celebrated new exhibitions of works by Brooklyn-based artist KAWS (a.k.a. Brian Donnelly, who was in attendance) and the late American pop artist Keith Haring. Here’s a look at what went down and who turned out.
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The Art Gallery of Algoma (AGA) will begin its public talk series this evening as the Honourable Patricia Bovey presents Western Voices in Canadian Art: The Land, Culture, and Reconciliation at 7 p.m.
This event is free to AGA members, although space is limited so tickets should be reserved in advance. Admission for the general public is $15. Tickets may be reserved at the gallery located at 10 East St., by phone at 705-949-9067, or online.
Patricia Bovey, LLD, FRSA, RCMA, is former director of the Winnipeg Art Gallery and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. She has spent decades working in the arts and culture sector. Bovey was also an adjunct professor of Art History at the University of Winnipeg.
She writes and lectures widely on Canadian art; she was on the board of the National Gallery of Canada, and she served as the president of the board at the University of Manitoba. Patricia Bovey was a member of the Senate of Canada in 2016-2023.
Her latest book, Western Voices in Canadian Art, was published in spring of this year. The book is available for purchase at the Gallery Shop.
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Blue Water Health in Sarnia is showing off a new piece of artwork from a local Indigenous artist.
As part of the hospital’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, it unveiled a commissioned piece of artwork by John Williams.
It can be seen on the first floor atrium.
The project was made possible by a $10,000 Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage Funding grant, through the government’s 2023 commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation program.
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