Tuesday, September 1, 2026
Unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples/Vancouver, BC – Okanagan artists will unveil nature-inspired artworks on Saturday, September 19 at Artiverse 2026, the Penticton Arts Council’s annual arts festival. The exhibition marks the culmination of Artvocacy, a creative advocacy program led by the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – BC Chapter (CPAWS-BC) and the Penticton and District Community Arts Council (PDCAC), and will be shown alongside live music, food trucks, and vendors as part of the wider festival.
Twenty-four artists from across the South and Central Okanagan came together through Artvocacy to build skills, find community, and learn how to turn their love of this place into art that speaks up for it. The program took participants through educational webinars on species at risk, nature protection, media, government engagement, and transforming ecological grief into action. They attended masterclasses in photography, writing, and visual art. They went on the land — visiting the Ashnola Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area, the NTAMTQEN Community Garden, the Meadowlark Festival, and local nature walks — to learn directly from the landscapes and communities at the heart of their advocacy. Then, over three months, each participant developed a final keystone project: an original work representing what they learned, what they value, and what they want to see protected.
For many participants, this program offered something rare for rural artists: professional development, a creative community, and tools to engage with the political processes that shape the landscapes they care about. This summer, a group of participants took those tools into government offices, meeting with MLA Donegal Wilson and MP Helena Konanz to share why nature protection in the Okanagan matters to them personally.
The exhibition arrives as the region recovers from a devastating wildfire season — including the Bald Range wildfire, which broke out near Summerland on August 7 and grew to more than 21,000 hectares. That context is not lost on the artists. The South Okanagan-Similkameen is one of the four most endangered ecosystems in Canada, home to 246 species at risk, and is acutely vulnerable to the increasing intensity of wildfire seasons. Protecting and stewarding these landscapes — through initiatives like the proposed South Okanagan-Similkameen National Park Reserve (SOSNPR) and the Ashnola Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area — is not separate from the wildfire conversation. It is central to it.
Tristan Boisvert, Executive Director of the PDCAC, wrote about this directly in a recent Castanet op-ed: “By now, an Okanagan summer comes with a routine. You check the wind and you check the evacuation maps… For some of our neighbours, it’s the third evacuation in seven years.” Of the work Artvocacy participants made this year: “Devastation and beauty can exist in the same frame… We are trying to hold both, to grieve what is being lost and insist that more can be saved.”
The exhibition is family-friendly, free, and open to all. Visitors will encounter paintings, photographs, writing, and mixed-media works that are as varied as the artists who made them — and as grounded in the specific beauty of the South Okanagan as the landscapes that inspired them. Whether this is your first time learning about the local environment, or you’re a dedicated nature nerd, there is something here for you.
Visitors are also invited to sign the Artvocacy “Protect the Okanagan” petition, which is working toward 1,500 signatures in support of protected areas in the region. The program plans to bring participant voices and the petition to the BC Legislature in November, taking the conversation directly to provincial decision-makers.
“This program was never just about making art — it’s about giving people who love this place a way to speak up for it. Our participants are painters and photographers and writers, not career environmentalists, and that’s exactly the point. If you care about the South Okanagan-Similkameen or the Ashnola, come sign the petition, write a postcard, and tell us what this place means to you — we’re bringing every voice to Victoria in November.”
— Brynna Kagawa-Visentin, Artvocacy Program, CPAWS-BC
Event Details
What: Artvocacy’s culminating exhibition, part of Artiverse 2026
When: Saturday, September 19, 2026, 4–9 PM
Where: Penticton Arts Council, 220 Manor Park Avenue, Penticton
Admission: Free and open to the public
For interviews, contact:
Brynna Kagawa-Visentin, Artvocacy Program, CPAWS-BC
brynna@cpawsbc.org
604-685-7445 x 7
About CPAWS-BC
The Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society – BC Chapter (CPAWS-BC), established in 1978, works to protect wilderness across British Columbia’s lands, freshwater and ocean territories, safeguarding parks, protected areas and wildlife corridors for future generations.
About the Penticton and District Community Arts Council
The Penticton & District Community Arts Council works hard to provide opportunities for artists and community members to come together in celebration of all things art! We believe in a vibrant, flourishing, and sustainable artistic community that is inclusive and accessible to all.
