Artist Heather Hochbaum shows her art project depicting the river and the communities that access it. (Angela Brown/battlefoNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Eye on the arts

Artists take on 2016 oil leak that impacted North Saskatchewan River

Jul 6, 2019 | 1:14 PM

It’s an artistic list that depicts a dark episode for a critical waterway: an adding machine, the colour black, fauna displaced, visual cut-outs of children “lost” by environmental damage, and quilted cubes representing the communities that live by and access the river.

These are some of the images Saskatchewan artists brought together for the show at the Chapel Gallery in North Battleford called “As Long As the River Flows: an art response to the North Saskatchewan River oil catastrophe.” The artists reflected on the 2016 oil leak that impacted the waterway, and also the general impact overall when any environment becomes contaminated, leaving communities vulnerable.

In July 2016 a pipeline broke near Maidstone and sent about 40 per cent of 225,000 litres of diluted heavy oil into the North Saskatchewan River, affecting water intakes in the cities of North Battleford, Prince Albert and Melfort. In June 2019, a judge at Lloydminster Provincial Court fined Husky Energy $3.82 million for three environmental charges related to the incident.

Artist Heather Hochbaum from Battleford created a set of quilted cubes, representing the river and the communities that live by it and access it as a water source, for her piece “To Lose Or Not To Lose.”

“They all need the water in the North Saskatchewan River,” she told battlefordsNOW, during Friday’s reception for the show.

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“If we’re not careful at better managing pipelines and things like that, then it is going to impact us greatly, and it did,” Hochbaum said. “Businesses were shut down …you just don’t realize how important water is until you don’t have it.”

The City of North Battleford had to access water from the Town of Battleford following the oil leak until the cleanup was completed. Prince Albert also had to bring in water supplies.

Artist Sherron Burns with her piece “Stranded.” (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Artist and educator Sherron Burns from North Battleford depicted two birds standing on a piece of driftwood with her project “Stranded,” while her husband Cliff Burns wrote two poems for the show.

She said most of the art in the show simply reflects the theme of the impact on the environment from pollutants and other contaminants in general, not the 2016 oil leak specifically, because the participating artists are coming from many different places throughout the province.

“It does get us thinking about the environment and about water and our place in it,” she said of the show. “A lot of people are commenting on oil and using oil in a way for their materials. It is a bit meta to be taking that material that is in our river that we are concerned about and now using it for something that’s beautiful, and still thoughtful. There is lots to think about.”

“Collateral Damage” by artist Monique Martin. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Artist Monique Martin of Saskatoon submitted three pieces for the show, one of which was called “Collateral Damage” that features an adding machine with a roll of paper depicting black prints of fish, using motor oil and ink, with the impressions seeping through the paper.

“They say how much did an oil spill cost? But that’s always the cleanup,” she said. “They don’t talk about the little fish that died …all the things that become part of an ecosystem that disappear are priceless. So I wanted people to think about that.”

“What is the collateral damage from an oil spill – not just the direct damage, but the indirect damage?” Martin said.

“One by One” by artist Laurie Blondeau. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

Artist Laurie Blondeau of Saskatoon submitted two watercolour-ink combination paintings for the show, depicting children climbing rocks by a river. Her piece called “One by One” shows two children who appear similar to cutouts, without any distinguishing characteristics, in a bold, colourful background. Blondeau describes the children as “lost,” indicating they are harmed in some way whenever their environment becomes toxic.

“To me, what’s happening in our environment today, in our world today in nature, we’re finding many people are getting sick from very different types of contaminants, oil could be one of them … some pesticides,” she said. “All kinds of things get into our water and expose us to [toxicities] that are harmful to our bodies.”

She said she is concerned for the future of the children who are impacted particularly.

“I ski, hike, skate, and canoe,” Blondeau added. “You see the deterioration over time … you also see the forest fires, [and other events], and it makes me sad.”

She said artists are one of the few groups that can actually bring attention to the issue “without malice.”

Blondeau added as a cancer survivor herself she is especially concerned about the health of the environment overall, on a personal level.

The work of 20 artists was selected for the “As Long As the River Flows” exhibition which runs until July 21 in North Battleford. The art show will appear in Prince Albert next.

angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow