Heather Cline, ‘Viewfinder- Grasslands’, 5’ x 10’, 2024, Acrylic/Panel

‘Viewfinder’ is a collaborative project between artist Heather Cline and the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Cline is creating paintings inspired by viewing the landscape through a conservation lens, walking the land with staff and stakeholders of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

The initial project fieldwork consists of a series of one-on-one encounters in the environment. Cline is compiling ‘Field Notes’ for the project that consist of photographic documentation (land based and aerial) and audio recording. The goal is to have meaningful exchanges on the land that shift how Cline views the landscape. These encounters are being translated into large-scale paintings from the aerial viewpoint that depict this layered experience of the spaces. Painters can capture not just the reality of the scene but the emotional impact; they can layer possibilities with reality; simultaneous capture macrocosms, microcosms and explore a more evocative view of the land.

The artwork created for this project will be exhibited and toured as the ‘Viewfinder’ exhibition through the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery starting in the fall of 2025.

This painting, entitled ‘Grassland Pastures’, is the first work in the Viewfinder series. In June of 2023 Cline walked the land for three days with Krista Ellingson, MSc, Pag, Natural Areas Manager-Working Landscapes NCC. They visited an area in Southern Saskatchewan managed by the Val Marie Grazing Corp who are working with the NCC on sustainable agricultural practice to protect natural grasslands. Cline then returned to conduct an aerial survey of the area with private Pilot David Stanchuk and Krista Ellingson. This painting combines multiple images, viewpoints, and is a visual representation of the rich experience of viewing the land with the help of someone deeply connected to the landscape.

Nature Conservancy of Canada

The Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) is Canada's leading national land conservation organization. In Saskatchewan, NCC has secured more than 170 properties and has helped to conserve over 198,219 hectares of ecologically significant land and water in Saskatchewan.

Grasslands are one of the rarest and most at-risk ecosystems in the world and are a critical part of Saskatchewan. They filter our water, help prevent flooding and droughts, sequester carbon, and for thousands of years have provided sustenance for humans. Over the past 25 years, Saskatchewan has lost more than 809,000 hectares of native grassland and now less than 20 percent remain intact. With a high diversity of species and some large tracts of native grasslands still intact, Saskatchewan has an opportunity that is not possible in other parts of the world – and opportunity to conserve grasslands forever.

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