On Wednesday, Nov 13, 10 artists gathered at the Champlain Heights Community Centre to learn lantern building techniques and begin constructing lanterns for our Light up the Night in Champlain Heights festival!
Eco-Artist, Joshua Ralph, helped lead the collabaration. He began with a land acknolwedgement honouring the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations whose land we gathered on.
Grace Nombrado, Executive Director of Free the Fern, also shared about our stewardship effort, which is an act of reconciliation, along the Champlain Heights Trail system.
The artists were provided with supplies for lantern building, including tissue paper, masking tape, packing tape, glue, a string of lights, batteries, branches, and a balloon.
Joshua then provided instruction on how to use invasive English holly branches to create a lantern.
- Cut holly branches to size using pruners (if you wish, you can scrape off the bark with a pocket knife)
- Connect the corners of the branches together using masking tape
- Join the branches together to create the “frame” of your lantern shape
- Cover the frame with clear packing tape
- Water down some white glue and then use a brush to paint it over the packing tape
- Spread strips of tissue paper in layers over the packing tape
- Paint another layer of glue on top of the tissue paper
- Let it dry over about a week
- For making your lantern more water resistant, you can cover your finished lantern with another layer of clear packing tape or coat with modge podge.
Then the artists got to work, some sketching out their ideas, while others cut holly branches, and connected them together with masking tape.
Joshua shared that the theme of this year’s lantern festival is “Connected Stories”. Within nature, there are many connected stories, such as salmon, who rely on native plants and, who in turn, give back nutrients to the soil. Mushrooms also connect trees in the forest through their mycorrhizal network. Joshua invited the artists to think of other “Connected Stories” in nature.
After the collaboration session, each artist took home their supplies to continue building their lanterns at home. They will meet again on the afternoon of Dec 15, to set the lanterns up along the Red Alder Trail. Light up the Night in Champlain Heights will then begin with a lantern procession at 6:30pm
Thank you to our partner artists: Amira Emma Routledge, Andrew Tuline, Ariana Chaparro, Charlie Sandeman, Christy Frisken, Kiki Nombrado, Madeline Berger, Megan Chursinoff, Orlando Marchetto, and Rex McDonald-Longworth.
This artist collaboration event was planned in parternship with the Everett Crowley Park Committee, and additional funding support was provided by Neighbourhood Small Grants & Park People.