Charlottetown Great thing happen here

For Rooted in Art 2025, four talented, local artists were chosen to showcase unique art installations throughout four of Charlottetown's Heritage Squares. Visitors enjoyed a self-guided tour, utilizing the map below to explore each piece and delve into the stories behind the trees and artists involved.
The City hosted an Artist Talk and Q&A at The Guild where attendees had the opportunity to meet the artists and hear firsthand how Charlottetown's culture and history influenced their creations.

About the Art

Jody Racicot
Jody Racicot has spent 37 years creating in the fields of fine craft, sculpture, film, television and theatre. He has served on the board of directors of the PEI Arts Council and the Canadian Crafts Federation. Jody has been awarded project grants from Canada Council for the Arts and the Province of PEI. His creations have been exhibited from coast-to-coast and featured in numerous publications. His multiple sculptures are displayed in collections across the Island.

Installation: If You Could See What I Have Seen
Often there’s a wall in a person’s home decorated with framed pictures spanning decades. These pictures give the viewer an impression of the resident’s personal history. What if an aged Red Maple tree showed us its pictures? What memories, relationships and scenes would they share? How would the tree see our world?

Standing sentinel on Weymouth Street, a Hillsborough Square Red Maple tree serves as this story’s narrator and witness. The artist imagines the tree's past surrounding its trunk in stylized pictures made from recycled metals.

Krishna Alpeshkumar Dalwadi
Only days after relocating to Charlottetown, Krishna stumbled upon a gathering of people creating posters for a climate rally in Rochford Park. She was drawn to the community and shared purpose. As an architect, she is especially sensitive to the relationship between the built environment and the natural world.

Though not Canadian by birth, she feels a responsibility to make a meaningful contribution to the place she now calls home. Krishna wants to encourage others, especially young people, to be aware of their surroundings, their local species, and the fragile beauty that sustains us.

https://www.instagram.com/rain.under.the.umbrella/?igsh=MTJxeXR4bXZyY2J0Yw%3D%3D&utm_source=qr#

Installation: Breathing Motifs
the term Warli Art comes from the community which is called Warli community from a province/ state called Maharashtra in India who have been practicing the form of art since 10th century

Warli is a tribal art style by the Warli indigenous community from Maharashtra, India. It has been practiced since the 10^th century. Using lanterns and traditional Warli Art, the tree’s living history is transformed into a visual form, reminding us that trees are more than landscape elements; they provide shade, meeting places, and dwellings for various birds and animals. Warli has an ability to transform complex narratives into clear, rhythmic visuals by the use of simple geometric shapes. The choice to use Warli allows the artist to share an aspect of her cultural heritage and introduces the community to a unique style of visual storytelling.

Terry Dunton Stevenson
Terry’s range of work includes painting, sculpture, printmaking, and exhibit design. She has had several solo exhibitions of her work on P.E.I. and off island. Some of her major public art projects include designing “Our Island Home” Interpretive Center in conjunction with the Confederation Bridge opening and a solo exhibition of large paintings at the Confederation Center. Her work expresses her relationship to this particularly beautiful environment. The gentle and always changing landscape surrounded by the sea continues to be her inspiration.

Installation: Wood Wide Webb
In today’s cultural landscape, the World Wide Webb has become a central means of communication for universal and local information and ideas. Like humans, trees also have an intricate ecosystem of communication, the mycelium network. Similar to human communities, trees support each other through passing nutrients and offering protection and help to younger trees.

Trees have historically inspired many unique art and cultural practices. They have lived for hundreds of years; imagine the stories they would tell us if we could understand them.

Christina Patterson
Christina is a multidisciplinary artist working with sculpture, painting, puppet-making, and art education, with a bold and expressive approach to storytelling through visual art. For 15 years she ran a successful custom cake topper and sculpture business. She has also published numerous children’s books, blending her vibrant artistry with storytelling. She continues to teach private art lessons, inspiring creativity in students of all ages.

Installation: Boat Loads of History
In Boat-loads of History the tree becomes the Island, standing tall, grounded in place, holding the stories of generations. Each boat is a vessel of memory: Indigenous ingenuity, settler resilience, and the industrious age of shipbuilding. Together, they illustrate how water has shaped PEI’s history, and how trees have provided the material and shelter to support those journeys.

Shipbuilding became PEI’s leading industry between 1820 and 1880. Over 900 ships were launched from 22 shipyards, with wooden vessels for export and commerce driving a bustling local economy and lessening the colony’s reliance on Great Britain.

From October 5th to October 20th, 2024, six talented local artists showcased unique art installations throughout Victoria Park. Visitors enjoyed a self-guided tour, using the map below to explore each piece and delve into the stories behind the trees and artists involved.

On October 20th, the Rooted in Art: Art Walk & Talk event invited participants to connect directly with the artists, who shared their inspirations, creative processes, and the meanings behind their work. Charlottetown's forestry team also joined the walk, offering fun facts and insights into the city's urban canopy. Attendees learned about the essential role trees play in our community, contributing to both the beauty and sustainability of Charlottetown.

About the Art

Marina & Tatiana

Colourful Harvest Tree

Colourful Island, led by Tatiana Mizerina, is a local craft business known for bright and cozy knitted items. Print Design Maritime, a solo venture by graphic designer Marina Simon, offers a range of creative design services. The two artists met on Prince Edward Island 10 years ago and have since collaborated on numerous projects, blending their artistic talents and creative visions.

Through this project, the artists celebrate the vibrant colors of nature, especially during this colorful season, bringing excitement and joy to the local community. While summer may be over, each season holds its own unique beauty to appreciate!

Brenda Whiteway

“The Air We Breathe”

Brenda Whiteway is a visual artist living on Prince Edward Island (Epekwitk). For Brenda, artmaking is a way to find pattern amid chaos, which enables her to communicate ideas and convey a sense of the world around her. In her current work, she explores the passage of time – particularly as it relates to rural life, past and present – and the effects of urbanization, technology and climate change on traditional ways of life. She has a deep respect for the beauty and mystery of trees and often hugs her favourite ones!

This project seeks to raise awareness of the ecological significance of trees, particularly in the context of climate change and their essential contribution to our well-being. This artwork combines forms shared by humans and trees, in a way that seeks to deepen the understanding of our relationship and dependence on the natural work, emphasizing that the air we breath is primary to our existence.

Ashely Anne Clark

“Midnight Moths”

Ashley Anne Clark is a multi-disciplinary artist working with themes of wildlife and the raw elements of nature. Her work provokes storytelling and appreciation for the untamed world. She enjoys transforming spaces to create a feeling of wonder and curiosity.  Her strong connection to the animal kingdom portrays a sense of awareness and empathy and asks the viewers to take a closer look at the wild world around them.

Moths serve as vital pollinators and food sources for various small creatures, including birds and bats, and are intricately connected to trees, which provide them with shelter and safety. This artwork celebrates this interconnection and highlights the importance of biodiversity, while offering curious viewers a glimpse into the natural world at night.

Christina Patterson

“The Weaving of Life: As Above, So Below”

Christina Patterson is an interdisciplinary artist working in sculpture, textiles, painting, and illustration. Trained as a graphic designer, she incorporates bold style and composition into her work. Her playful, whimsical style explores storytelling and human nature, bringing curiosity and movement into each piece. Her recent accomplishments include designing the 2023 Canada Winter Games medals.

This artwork celebrates the intricate connections between trees and their environment through circular woven cross-sections that symbolize tree rings, inviting viewers to reflect on the hidden bonds that sustain life. It embodies the concept of unus mundus (of Latin origin), representing the unseen weaving of life and the connections that bind us all in a unified world.

Sarah Nicole Dart

“Biodiversity of a Tree’s Ecosystem”

Sarah Nicle Dart is an alternative photography artist from Vancouver Island, British Columbia, living in Charlottetown, PEI. Her interest in photography began in the high school darkroom and took her abroad to study in Dublin, Ireland, where she won the Bronze Medal during the 2015 Irish Times Annual Photographers Competition. Since 2016, Sarah has been experimenting with cyanotype chemistry, finding mindfulness and inspiration in using plants, feathers, and found objects for printing.

In celebration of biodiversity, this artwork is created through non-toxic cyanotype sun exposure of local diversity and plant life, featuring wildflowers, ferns, lichens, and collected feathers from birds that inhabit the trees. By inviting viewers to contemplate this printed diversity, this artwork aims to deepen their understanding of the essential role trees play in providing habitat and maintaining the ecological health of their surrounding ecosystems.

Katie Strongman

“Condolences”

Katherine Strongman is an interdisciplinary artist from Summerside, PEI. Her recent work deals with feelings of isolation, connection, and belonging. After three years living abroad, she is rediscovering her connection to her home province and its landscape through art.

Created as an outlet for increasingly common feelings of environmental grief and anxiety, this artwork aims to resonate with viewers by expressing appreciation and a desire to protect what remains after devastating events like Hurricane Fiona, while encouraging reflection on the impacts of climate change and natural disasters on our landscapes and ecosystems.

This year, four local artists are installing art in four locations around Charlottetown as noted on the map below. Follow this self-guided tour to experience all four installations and to learn more about the trees and artists involved! The art installations were on display between September 23 and October 8, 2023. 

About the Art

Nancy Cole
"Metamorphosis"

Nancy Cole is a thread artist working to establish a visual body of work in her search for a narrative based on both faces and form. Legacy, abandonment, and nostalgia are the main themes in her practice.

Metamorphosis depicts Monarch hibernation. Each fall these butterflies migrate from Canada to Mexico, where they hibernate for winter by clustering around the branches of Oyamel fir trees. In spring, they journey back to Canada, heralding summer’s return and acting as important pollinators.  Monarchs are threatened by deforestation, disruptions to their migration due to climate change, and the loss of native plants along their migratory corridors. In Canada, the Monarch is listed as a Special Concern under the Species at Risk Act. Trees offer strength and protection for all species, including the Monarchs during their winter hibernation.

Instagram: @perrywinkle.cole                   
website: nancycole.imprimo.ca

Lucas MacDonald
After 15 years as a musician Lucus Macdonald shifted his focus to a more tangible art form. Drawn to the geometry of earthly landscapes and the orbits of astral bodies he began to translate these images into wood carvings. Self-taught and using only hand tools, he conveys with repetitive patterns the radiance of energy that reflects and illuminates life, each line representing the event of its own creation.

The tree’s rings are its life story. By examining them we can learn how old it is, the years it grew best, whether it survived fires or insect outbreaks, if it grew in a windy location or on an incline. Often we  humans keep our stories, especially stories of struggle and loss, to ourselves. But sharing stories can help protect others, heal oneself, and create a sense of community. The cross sections that make up this installation are fallen trees from post-tropical storm Fiona, the stories of these fallen trees acting as armor for the one still standing.

Instagram: @lucuscraft                     
Facebook: LUCUS craft                 
website:  lucus.ca

Marina Pogrebnaia

Marina Pogrebnaia is a graphic designer with a passion for music and nature. She plays the piano and creates her own compositions. Nature Waltz is intended to remind viewers that nature’s melody is all around us:

In the depths of antiquity, music intertwined with existence's very essence. It murmured through the breeze, pirouetted in raindrops' dance, and thundered with the storm's primal beat. Humankind started crafting instruments to echo nature's celestial whispers, composing an opus that wove dreams and narratives, while the eternal muse of nature's melody remained an unwavering source of inspiration in every note and chord.

Facebook: Print Design Maritime
website: www.printdesignmaritime.ca

 Monica Lacey
Monica Lacey is a Canadian/Italian multidisciplinary visual artist, writer, curator, and educator. She is driven by curiosity, service, and the pursuit of beauty in all its forms. She is inspired by flowers, water, ideas of home and belonging, and moments of change and liminality.

This textile-based installation of weaving and webbing symbolizes the radiance and the energy field of a tree. It is inspired by the ripple effect that the presence of trees has on its surroundings and living beings around it; the energy field of a tree extends far beyond its bounds and offers beauty, life, and healing to anyone who approaches. Take a moment to appreciate this tree and how you feel in its presence. How does the tree project its life and energy? How does our presence impact one another?

Instagram: @dancethechanges

Rooted in Art is an annual celebration of Charlottetown's beautiful urban forest. Normally, the initiative involves local artists creating art installations in City trees. The project allows participants to see trees through the eyes of local artists, observing and interacting with these essential assets in new ways. Unfortunately, this year Hurricane Fiona blew through just days before install was set to take place, knocking down many of Charlottetown's beloved trees and preventing the initiative from proceeding as usual. Instead, the City teamed up with the Charlottetown Library Learning Centre to display the four works of art. We invite you to wander through the building and connect with each installation and reflect on why trees are so important. Installations will be up from Monday, November 14 until Tuesday, November 22, 2022.

About the Art

Hannah Gehrels
"This is Why"

Hannah Gehrels (they/them) is an ecologist, educator, facilitator, and artist. Hannah spent many years studying frogs, songbirds, Pacific salmon, bees, and invasive green crabs where they established their love and curiosity for the natural world. After that, they founded the PEI Wild Child Forest School Programs, which is a play-based, inquiry-driven, and child-led recreational program designed to connect children and youth with the natural world through play. Hannah’s art is inspired by their relationship with the natural world, and they have worked with various mediums including poetry, collage, and graphic recording.

From spending the last 14 years working outside in close relation to the natural world, Hannah’s project This is Why speaks to the importance of protecting urban forests for future generations and demonstrates the interconnectedness between human lives and the life of urban forests. This installation has been created in collaboration with children who love to play and explore in Victoria Park.

Willow Davidson
"Eternal Heart"

Willow Davidson is a Creatrix and visionary living in an enchanting cottage on Epekwitk, the traditional and unceded territory of the Abegweit Mikmaq First Nation. Working with traditional and modern art tools and techniques her artwork blends science, art and nature. Her desire is to create works that celebrate the joy of creativity while leaving a legacy of giving back to the world that inspires her.

Eternal Heart is a love letter to trees and the role they play in our ecosystems. The installation is created from found natural objects ranging from driftwood, bark, fallen forest sticks, moss, twigs, pinecones, and branches. The piece celebrates that trees are at the heart of our urban forest and an essential part of the ecosystems that inhabit our rural and urban spaces.

Instagram: @thrivingmoon        Website: www.thrivingmoon.com

K Shawn Larson
"Maple Leaf Moments"

As a child, Shawn spent her days exploring the forests and fields of her family's farm. Her grandparents, who were working artists, lived nearby. Whether Shawn was watching her family paint, plant gardens, care for animals, or simply enjoying the beautiful forests and land, she knew she wanted to capture these moments. At home on PEI, Shawn's an avid painter. At times, these paintings bring attention to the environment: perhaps a wooded path shaded by trees, or watercolours of plants that add beauty and sometimes event food to wildlife nearby. Shawn hopes that by capturing these treasured moments in time she may help us al realize what we stand to lose if we are not more careful. Shawn's delight tends towards natural history in much of her art. 

Trees are essential for providing shade, creating wildlife habitats, and sequestering carbon, and much more. Throughout history they have also been important as symbols and emblems. Maple Leaf Moments includes a series of watercolour maple leaves that highlight the importance of maple trees throughout Canadian history.

Gloria Wooldridge & LiliAnne Webster
"Ode to a Tree"

From the time she won a neighbourhood art contest at the age of six, colour has been a driving force in Gloria Wooldridge’s life. This self-taught artist from Prince Edward Island transitioned from jewelry making and poetry to acrylic painting, then watercolour and line.

Her skill and style is constantly evolving as she boldly creates with vivid colour, determined to translate the beauty of colour from heart to canvas, depicting abstract florals, or while capturing the essence of the gentle rolling hills, beaches, and water scenes of Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province.

Gloria considers her greatest title is that of Mom to her two daughters and Nanny to Max. She is a former board member of the PEI Crafts Council, a juried member of the PEI Crafts Council, won a Canada-wide DeSerres art competition, and has been featured on the cover of The Buzz. Her artwork can be found at various locations around PEI.

Gloria is currently developing a curriculum for “Art for the Health of it” artist mini-retreats, focusing on the need for creativity for wellness and plans to work with local businesses to help employees recognize art and creativity as stress/coping tools.

LiliAnne Webster is a visual artist based in Charlottetown, who grew up in rural PEI. She works in many different mediums, including watercolour, acrylic and Linocut. LiliAnne also creates functional and decorative pieces from driftwood and textiles, finding inspiration for her work from nature. She has two diplomas from Holland College in the fields of graphic design and fashion design. As a lifelong learner she continues to take classes and workshops to enhance her creative practice. She has been part of group shows and exhibitions at The Guild, Eptek Art and Culture Centre, Georgetown Theatre, and Receiver. LiliAnne had a solo show at The Guild, featuring her pen and ink work.

Incorporating the work of both artists, Ode to the Tree sets an intention for positivity to surround this tree. As humanity, nature, and creativity are all connected, the artists believe that positive actions and intentions bring positive results.

Rooted in Art was lauched in 2020 as a way to celebrate the importance and beauty of Charlotteown's urban forest while helping the community to interact with trees in new ways - by seeing them through the eyes of PEI's talented artistic community. See below to learn more about Rooted in Art's inaugural year - meet the trees and artists that were involved and see the inspiring temporary art installations that were created!

About the Art

Meet the artists & their creations:

Ashley Anne Clark

Ashley Anne Clark is a  multi-disciplinary artist working with themes of wilderness, animal life and the raw elements of nature. Clark was born on Prince Edward Island and has since lived in multiple countries around the world including Thailand, Norway, South Korea and The United States. She studied Art Education at Concordia University in Montreal.  She has exhibited in multiple galleries across North America, and has taken part in a number of Artist Residencies and Arts Festivals. Her strong connection to nature and the animal kingdom portray a sense of awareness and empathy. She sources many materials from local forests and shorelines, incorporating these unique textures and elements into her work. By capturing a sense of emotion and personality in each animal she draws, they become more relatable to the viewer. In addition to drawing Clark has created a number of video installation pieces that are also inspired by nature. Her work evokes storytelling and appreciation for the untamed world.  “I am passionate about promoting the lives of animals around the world and conserving wildlife and protected areas. I aim to portray each animal as a living individual with their own thoughts, emotions and personalities. I enjoy incorporating materials from nature within my work to be able to directly link them to the wilderness and encourage a greater appreciation for these places.” - Ashley Anne Clark

Website: www.ashleyanneclark.com
Instagram: @_ashleyanneclark_
Etsy: Ashley Anne Clark

Nancy Cole

Nancy Cole is a Schurmans Point based textile artist.  Her work thrives on interaction. It is a unique interdisciplinary process that bridges visual arts, textile arts, installation, performance, and new media. Her textile based pieces are as theoretically diverse as the people portrayed in them, a response to us as individuals in constantly changing times. She often selects unconventional materials and the exposure to a limited range of materials only enhances her thematic process.

Instagram: @perrywinkle.cole

Monica Lacey


Monica Lacey is a multidisciplinary artist in pursuit of beauty, with a passion for nature, connection, communication and exploration. She holds a Diploma in Textiles and Photography from the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and has received several awards and grants for excellence in her work and service to her community. Monica has attended residencies in Canada and the US and her artwork is in public and private collections across North America.  She currently serves as Executive Director for this town is small inc., PEI’s artist-run centre.

Instagram: @dancethechanges

Jane Whitten


Jane Whitten is a basket-maker and knitter presently living in Summerside, PEI. Born in Australia, she has spent much of her adult life in Atlantic Canada establishing her craft practice while also pursuing her career as a special education consultant until her recent retirement.

Whitten’s basketry and knitting has been exhibited in group and solo shows in Canada, USA, New Zealand, and Australia. She was nominated for the Canada Council’s 2001 Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in Fine Craft and has won numerous awards for her work, which is in public and private collections nationally and internationally.

Website: www.janewhitten.ca
Instagram: @janewhittenbasketry
Facebook: Jane Meredith Whitten: Basketry & Knitting

Melissa Peter-Paul

Melissa is a Mi’kmaw woman from Abegweit First Nation, located on Epekwitk (PEI.) Growing up, Melissa was immersed in cultural teachings and was surrounded by a family of basket makers. She began her artistic expression at a young age, making regalia and beadwork, and is skilled in both traditional and contemporary styles. Melissa’s exposure to other Mi’kmaq artforms led her to quillwork, a traditional skill in which the ancestors of her maternal grandfather excelled. 

Melissa was accepted into an apprenticeship with Mi’kmaq Quill Art in 2015. Her training was grounded in the traditional insertion technique and utilized the study of both cultural teachings and formal material culture resources available through historic publications and museums. Quillwork is created by inserting porcupine quills, either dyed or kept natural, into birchbark. The pieces are then edged with quills, sweetgrass or spruce root. 

Over the course of her apprenticeship, Melissa learned techniques and protocols related to harvesting raw materials, as well as the complex geometry of traditional design work. Upon completion of her apprenticeship, Melissa has been integral in establishing a community of skilled quill workers. This community of quillers seeks to expand awareness of the artform and recently began working on collaborative projects. 

Melissa launched her professional career as a Mi’kmaq quill artist with her rst solo exhibit at Receiver Coffee presented by This Town is Small in Charlottetown in 2019. She is heavily influenced by 20th century Mi’kmaw quillwork and she is supported in her harvesting efforts by her family.