Re: “No blue trees, please,” Editorial, April 2. I agree that Squamish is one of the most beautiful places in the northwest and a wonderful respite for Vancouverites and others from the urban centre.
The Blue Trees, however, do nothing to detract from this but rather enhance Squamish’s position as a city nurtured by nature and in coexistence with nature.
The artist’s focus with Blue Trees is to bring attention to the tree as a critical element in the survival of the universe. In the artist Kon Dimopoulos’s own words, “trees are the lungs of the universe.”
The Blue Tree Project provides not only an opportunity for local citizens to engage in dialogue about nature and the environment, but to temporarily enjoy the difference that hopefully helps to make one ever conscious of the importance of trees in our life, critical to the history and the future of Squamish.
Blue Trees become the catalyst for learning, community engagement and social action, the mandate of Vancouver Biennale. Via our Big Ideas education curriculum, the dialogue within schools and via young people will expand the discussion regarding our environment and their role as citizens.
The Blue Trees are not an isolated installation. Each community in which they are installed takes on the distinctness relevant to that community. In fact, Blue Trees is a community engagement opportunity, a call to action.
Citizens of all ages are encouraged and invited to participate in the environmentally safe pigmenting of the trees and in so doing build on the spirit of community and the dialogue within community.
Squamish describes itself as a gateway to recreation. As urban travellers make their way up and down the Sea to Sky Highway, it will be Squamish that will stand out in their minds – Squamish, the city that has had the courage to use public art as a vehicle for engaging discussion and dialogue and just maybe encourage those travellers to detour along Cleveland Avenue or maybe into Garibaldi Highlands to discover what it is about Squamish that is so seductive.
So yes to Blue Trees for helping us rediscover our gratitude for nature and engage in discussion about community, lifestyle, lifetime learning and trees as the lungs of the universe.
May Code Blue, the medical emergency call-out, never be heard in the Squamish Valley!
Barrie Mowatt
President/Artistic Director
Vancouver Biennale
