Towards the end of February of 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine. Images emerged of this senseless invasion. I felt outrage, frustration… and helpfulness. The local community’s Ukrainian Society held marches. I participated. But there had to be more.
In a quite conversation with my studio’s landlord, we conceived the idea of covering the large walls in the building with painted sunflowers, Ukraine’s national symbol. I provided the paint and canvases and invited the public to come to my studio and paint sunflowers. I suggested a price and all money collected was sent to the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. A substantial amount of money was raised. But more interesting, all the participants, ages ten through to ninety-two, felt that they too had contributed in some way to help the Ukrainian people’s struggle in Russia’s horrific invasion.
Tricia Sellmer shared her keen observations of how the changing landscape and evolution of cook books and recipes have altered social habits and family traditions. After her talk she entertained questions for discussion from the floor. Participants were encouraged to bring a favourite recipe or story of their family traditions to share and to be included in a compilation. Her lecture, From Clay Tablets to the Internet: An abbreviated history of cookbooks, was the accumulation of the exhibition, Tried, Tested and Proved, an exhibition on the history of cookbooks which she co-curated with Dennis Oomen and Enid Damer.
The very first board game recorded was played over 5500 years ago. Since then human beings have been playing games, often changing and adapting them to their cultural surroundings. Games People Play explored twenty-five different games from around the globe and in some cases made special note of those games that shared both a common origin and a set of rules. As curator Tricia Sellmer worked with Ben Eastabrook and Craig Engleson to develop the exhibition Games People Play that was central to a TRU World initiative for Thompson Rivers University's International Days, 2012.
Connecting the Dots reflects the notion that artists either locally or globally are able to come together, connect and thus give voice on different ideas, issues and themes. This notion becomes increasingly apparent when today, we are not only connected through digital media and technology but also seem to rely on this digital and social phenomena in our everyday lives.
As curator, facilitator, writer and artist, Tricia Sellmer worked with and guided thirty-nine local and international artists through two time slots, three exhibition venues, and a number of workshops and artist talks plus a catalogue to accomplish the project, Connecting the Dots, in 2012.
These two chairs were created in 2005 and 2006 to support The Chair Affair, a fund raiser for the local CanGo Grannies, which is a grassroots organization that started in Kamloops by three grandmothers to support the Stephen Lewis Foundation in its bid to raise awareness and the much needed funds to ease the pain of HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Students A. E. Perry Elementary, in Kamloops, B.C., painted self-portraits followed by portraits of significant people in their lives. These portraits were photo-transferred onto textiles to become quilt patches, and then sewn together to to create the foundation for the quilt. Using traditional quilting practices, students, parents, quilting guild members, teachers and many other community members contributed daily to the completion of the quilt by stitching on personal artifacts and decorative embellishments. All the while, stories and experiences were shared and traditions passed on. The 9 'x 7' community quilt now hangs in the school entrance as legacy of their collective engagement and community voice.
In 1995, at the age of 36, Judy Reimer, of Vancouver, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She wanted to leave a legacy. Judy Reimer's initiative, inspiration and determination created the Life Quilt for Breast Cancer quilt. She created the first stitch in October 1995 and the quilt was unveiled on October 1999 in the Great Hall of the Vancouver Law Courts after traveling back and forth across Canada. The Life Quilt for Breast Cancer quilt consists of three large panels and 700 squares that measure six by six inches in diameter.
Over 20,000 people participated in the building of the quilt, either through making squares or stitching in large quilting bees. Chazou Contemporary Art studio provided the space and facilitation for Kamloops residents to paint or stitch their squares. The studio also provided a safe space for participants to share personal stories. This was one of the squares created in Chazou contemporary Art Studio.