Barrie Mowatt, a pioneer of visual arts, has a long and accomplished history as an educator, philanthropist, and entrepreneur opening the Buschlen Mowatt Fine Art gallery in 1979. Barrie is the visionary behind the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum, where he combines his passion for art, education and community service in exhibitions that bring great art to public spaces where people live, work, play and transit, free for all to enjoy, explore and be inspired by. Barrie is also the founder of the Celebration of Hope Foundation, co-founder of Taste the Nation, and the Buschlen Mowatt Scholarship Program at Arts Umbrella. Barrie received the Vancouver Business in Arts Award from the Vancouver Board of Trade, and the Ethics in Action Award, presented by Vancouver City Savings and the BC Work Ministry. He has twice been nominated for Western Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of socially responsible businesses.

3 words to describe Nature?

INCREDIBLE. AWE INSPIRING. MAGICAL

3 things Nature taught you?

PATIENCE 

GRATITUDE

FRAGILITY OF LIFE 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL FOREST 

YOSEMITE

HAIDA GWAII 

When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?

DWARFED AND INSIGNIFICANT 

When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?

ALIVE AND REFRESHED 

When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?

EXCITED, CURIOUS AND IN AWE 

When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?

GRATEFUL TO BE ALIVE IN THAT MOMENT 

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?

ALIVE AND CURIOUS ABOUT WHAT WILL FOLLOW 

When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?

ALIVE AND EXCITED 

Are you an Ocean, Mountain,Forest, or Desert person?

I’M ALL 4 OF THESE. 

I LUV LOOKING AT, CLIMBING & BEING ON TOP OF MTNS; AS WELL I LUV BEING DEEP IN FORESTS, AND IN THE OPEN DESOLATE DESERT AND WATCHING AND LISTENING TO THE POWER OF THE SURF…EACH ARE INSPIRATIONAL RETREATS WHERE I CAN BE AT ONE ONE WITH MYSELF AND IN AWE OF THEIR GRANDEUR AND IMMENSITY. 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

BEING ALONE IN THE MTNS PICKING HUCKLEBERRIES, DISCOVERING LADY SLIPPERS AND RUNNING NAKED AMONG THE TREES AND TALL GRASSES!