Cory Trepanier

Cory Trépanier is a Canadian landscape painter and filmmaker best known for his detailed oil paintings of the Canadian wilderness. He is also the creator of five films documenting his extensive painting journeys: "A Painter’s Odyssey", "Into the Arctic", "Into the Arctic II”, "TrueWild: Kluane” and "Into the Arctic: Awakening"

Canadian Geographic named Trépanier one of Canada’s Top 100 Living Explorers. He is a fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, a National Champion of the Great Trail, and a member of The Explorers Club, where he received the Canadian Chapters highest award, the Stefansson Medal.

In 2019, Cory partnered with the Canadian Geographic Education to create the INTO THE ARCTIC Film Trilogy K-12 teachers guide where his films are being made available to educators and students nationwide and beyond for free. Seven modules educate and engage about geography, environmental and social sciences, humanities, Indigenous culture, history, survival, and the arts.

In the Fall of 2020, Trépanier is set to launch a coffee table book entitled "INTO THE ARCTIC: Paintings of Canada’s Changing North" with Rocky Mountain Books. The coffee table book will feature his Arctic paintings, sketches and stories and feature a foreward by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Trépanier has been featured in media around the globe, and his documentaries broadcast internationally, sharing his passion for the wild places that he explores and paints.

3 words to describe Nature?

Beautiful. Irreplaceable. Freedom

3 things Nature taught you?

Patience

Wonder

Humility 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

The forest behind my home and studio in Caledon, Ontario

Lake Superior’s Canadian coastline

The Canadian Arctic. Can that 1.5 million square kilometres of archipelago be consider a “spot”?

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

Very small, but free, and curious about what lies beyond

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

Alive, surrounded by an endless living biodiversity, a nursery to so many forms of life

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

In awe at the power of nature, and wanting to reach of for my easel some day to try and paint this stunning display from life “en plein air” 

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

At peace, and grateful for a new to come, another day lived, and a new world about to unfold in the night sky 

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?

Excited for the show that is about to begin. And like a kid, reaching for a bar of soap and running outside into a rain storm for a quick shower, feeling the rain drops pelting down and stinging my skin as it washes me clean

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

Awakened, as fresh air rushes into my lungs with each breath I get a sense of adventure tingling inside. I want to face into it with my eyes closed and feel it rush by.

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

Being an Ontario native, I grew up more of a Forest person. My painting expeditions however — to the Arctic and other places — have deepened my appreciation for Mountains and Oceans in the last couple of decades. And even the Desert, as in the Polar Desert. I long to bring my easel to a hot desert some day, to try and capture the stunning beauty of its sandy curves and desert sun. Maybe then I will become more of a desert person too :) 

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

Ten. With so much negativity and challenges in the world — especially now in these unprecedented times of a pandemic and environmental degradation — time in nature, or even just contemplating nature, reminds me that there is so much to celebrate in this world. It feeds my sense of wonder and appreciation for each breath I take, and inspires me to share this experience with others, in hopes that they too may have their lives enriched by this gift that is available for free to all.

 Share with us a childhood nature memory?

I was maybe 10 or 11, and my family had moved to a farm near North Bay, Ontario: 200 hundred acres that backed onto 2,000 acres of Crown land. There was a creek behind our place, and my older brother Carl I had a small leaky dingy that we barely fit in. We got up early, dragged it through the field, and began meandering down the creek into the unexplored frontiers of our “backyard”. Chasing frogs, seeing waterfowl of all kinds, we were drawn onward by the lure of the unknown that lay beyond each bend. We carried on our quest until the sun lowered in the sky, eventually making our way back home. It was 30 years later, when my brother joined me in the Arctic for a month-long expedition to Ellesmere Island, that I realized how deeply that day from our youth, and many others like, embedded a desire for me to be in nature. A desire that would grow into a life long pursuit.


Martha Weidmann

Martha Weidmann is the CEO and Co-Founder of NINE dot ARTS. She started her career with Walker Fine Art gallery in Denver, then moved on to the most prestigious art consulting firm (at the time) in the region, McGrath and Braun. She is the Executive Director of Union Hall, an emerging and established artist platform giving Denver’s vibrant arts community a dedicated position in the Union Station neighborhood, and co-founder of dotfolio, an online art selling platform. She is currently serving on the Board of the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts.

3 words to describe Nature?

Omniscient. Life-giving. Generative

3 things Nature taught you?

Humility

Beautiful decay

Connectedness 

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Dauphin Island, AL, USA 

Blue Lagoon, Capri, IT 

Pawnee Buttes, CO, USA

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

Small (in a good way)

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

Alive

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

Like I should look for water

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

Humble 

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Like I should look for shelter

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

Like it's time to batten down the hatches

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

Ocean 

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

9 

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

As a girl growing up in Georgia, I used to hide in the azalea bushes catching and releasing color-changing green anoles. Sometimes I'd collect them in my lavender purse, but they'd always find their way out and escape. I always wanted to know if they'd eventually turn lavender being surrounded by all that purple. 

A girl in my class used to catch the anoles, pinch their jaws slightly and release the grip near her earlobes so that their mouths would clamp down on gently on her earlobe flesh for a temporary display of "lizard earrings". It was quite a sight, but I thought the lizards didn't like it at all. 

 


Barrie Mowatt

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! 


Maria Jenson

Maria Jenson is recognized as a leader in the arts nationally for advancing innovative strategies to sustain creative communities in the midst of rapidly changing urban environments. As Creative and Executive Director of SOMArts, Jenson has deepened the organization’s commitment to racial equity, creating clear pathways for Bay Area artists to incubate new ideas and grow their careers. Through her leadership, Maria has expanded SOMArts’ educational and public programs, advanced new public-private partnerships, and fostered groundbreaking exhibitions such as The Black Woman is God, The Third Muslim: Queer and Trans* Muslim Narratives of Resistance and Resilience, and many more. These initiatives further SOMArts’ mission to engage the Bay Area’s diverse cultural communities in inspiring creative encounters at the intersection of art and social justice.

As an ardent advocate for the civic and democratic roles cultural institutions should play, Jenson has championed creative projects in community-based and DIY as well as more formal and institutional spaces. Prior to joining SOMArts, Jenson was a key member of the External Relations team in the Marketing and Communications Division managing the transition, rebranding and reopening of SFMOMA during the museum’s $300 million expansion. At SFMOMA, she worked across all departments as a lead project manager on marketing and engagement initiatives and she launched innovative community partnerships as the museum’s Cultural and Civic Ambassador. Jenson produced the museum’s Economic and Cultural Impact study in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group, demonstrating the crucial role of cultural institutions in the civic and economic life of San Francisco.

Jenson was the Founding Director of ArtPadSF — an independent art fair launched in 2010 in partnership with Chip Conley. ArtPadSF transformed the Phoenix Hotel into an immersive and interactive platform to engage Bay Area artists, gallerists and art lovers, and enjoyed a successful three-year run that helped to launch the careers of many emerging artists.

A graduate of the 2018 Getty Foundation Executive Leadership Institute, Jenson is a sought-after speaker and thought leader on the role of cultural institutions in fostering a more democratic and equitable society. As the Bay Area continues to change, Jenson is leading SOMArts into its next iteration, strengthening and activating all parts of SOMArts' multivalent programming, including growing the organization's site-specific commissions and programs, as well as reinvigorating its artistic presence in the Bay Area.

3 words to describe Nature? 

Solitude. Grace. Ancestral

3 things Nature taught you? 

Resistance

Adaptability

Collaboration

3 most treasured Nature spots? 

Leo Carillo Beach (Malibu, CA)

Multnomah Falls (Oregon)

Cadeques, Spain

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

At peace and whole

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

Mythic, rooted

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

Powerful

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

Hopeful

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...? 

Sensual, alert, focused

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

Edgy

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

Ocean

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

10

Share with us a childhood nature memory? 

Planting a tree in my backyard and watching it grow over the years.


Marshall Birnbaum

Marshall Birnbaum is an artist, curator and photographer living in the mountains of Utah. He is the founder and director of the Summit Institute AIR (Artist in Residence) program based in Eden, Utah. He has previously curated the Art Programs for numerous Summit flagship events. He serves as an advisor to the SXSW Art Program and sits on the board for cultural development at Weber State University. Marshall is a Co-Founder at Escape Collective where he learned to build geodesic domes. Marshall is also a Co-Founder of The Hideout Riders Club dirt bike gang where he learned to pop wheelies on a dirt bike. His favorite color is Blue. His favorite flower is Cosmos Atrosanguineus. He enjoys distance running and touring far-away places on his bicycle. The longest Marshall has ever gone without blinking is about 53 seconds. Marshall can hold his breath for around a minute and a half.

Marshall has had photos published in The Atlantic, Surface Magazine, Forbes, Vogue, Outside Magazine, Arch Newspaper, Cultured Magazine, Complex, Alpine Modern, CLAD Magazine & Cool Hunting and has had writings published in Stay Wild Magazine.

3 words to describe Nature?

Organic. Evolving . Complex

3 things Nature taught you?

Life is strange

Time is relative

Keep asking questions

3 most treasured Nature spots?

Airports

Great Basin Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains of California

The East River, NYC

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

Like drifting

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

Like running

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

Oddly happy

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

Awake or tired

When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?

Hungry

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

Wild

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

Mountain Person!

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

11

Share with us a childhood nature memory?

When I was younger, I was told with great assurance and confidence by my school teachers that giant squids were pure fantasy. I was prohibited from selecting the animal for a science presentation which caused me great anxiety and sadness. When the Giant Squid was discovered in 2012 I felt an overwhelming sense of justice and validation in the universe.