Forwarded by Marla Cranston:
The Backlands Coalition is bringing the unique urban wilderness of the Halifax Backlands across the harbour to art and nature fans in Dartmouth! Through the works of eight talented local artists, “The Backlands” exhibition offers an exceptional glimpse into the area’s stunning natural landscapes, ecosystems and wildlife.
August 11 to September 28, 2025
In the Case Galleries at The Craig Gallery (window galleries just outside the main gallery)
Alderney Landing Community Cultural Centre
2 Ochterloney Street, Dartmouth
Gallery’s exhibition info: alderneylanding.com/events/the-backlands
From Chase to Case: Curated by Frances Dorsey, the exhibition is a fresh twist on the successful “Backlands Suites” show held in April at the Chase Gallery in the Nova Scotia Archives. The new show in Dartmouth includes these visual artists, working in a range of media:
Each artist employs a particular vision for channeling their investigations of the Backlands, created over time and deep familiarity with the terrain. Collectively the drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptural explorations and weavings speak and echo back to one another, forming a resonating choral voice.
· Avid birdwatcher Joshua Barss Donham is taken by the granite outcroppings, whalebacks, remains of early forest burns, and delicate forest plants of the Backlands. His evocative photographs of birds and ecosystems are both seductive and poignant.
· The Backlands behind Frances Dorsey’s home are a constant reminder of the natural world lying inches beyond the door. Woven compositions inspired by the terrain with particular attention to the astonishing glacial erratics question glacial, and human, time.
· Jennifer Escott observes intently, photographing the minute world of tiny plants on the forest floor, offering fascinating and wonderfully strange organisms that are a miniature universe teeming with life. We are invited to see the world in a grain of sand.
· Painting primarily in the en plein air technique, Geoffrey Grantham connects with the raw surrounding landscape in a very personal way. The intimacy of this relationship affords him a profound and rewarding experience.
· Ron Kuwahara brings the mind of the physicist, highly respectful of the forces of nature, to the spirit of the artist who sees the harmony and beauty of the natural world. His paintings explore patterns of light and shadow with splashes of abstracted colour.
· In an abstract and minimalist style using paper and cardboard, Frankie Macauley references the topography of the McIntosh Run trails with three-dimensional sculptures.
· The charming story Rumie goes Rafting by children’s author Meghan Marentette was created using tiny handmade puppets and props, photographed in real life surroundings in the Backlands.
· Painter Christopher Webb describes the Backlands as “a space beyond utility–a terrain shaped by time, resilience and natural forces rather than human intervention.” His carefully rendered images of human encroachment on this space note fragility but also a kind of hopefulness that nature will in the end win.
The diversity in approach of the visual artists echoes the multifaceted richness of the Backlands, and the other wild spaces around our city. This collection of works is just a taste of the reflections of many additional visual artists, musicians, writers, dancers, philosophers, scientists, thinkers, humans who equally derive joy, inspiration and a delight in existence from experiencing these spaces.
We hope that viewers will be moved to visit and consider the Backlands, and join in the efforts to cherish and protect this and other such areas around HRM from further development, so that future generations can experience the same wonder that we do today.
The Backlands Coalition is a volunteer-led organization of 12 local community and conservation groups. We bring together dedicated naturalists, citizen-scientists, biologists, birders, conservationists, business owners, residents and artists. Join us to experience the wonder of these 1,350 hectares of unique forests, sculpted granite barrens and rare ecosystems, bordered by Purcell’s Cove Road, Herring Cove Road and Williams Lake Road.
For artwork images and to arrange interviews with the artists or curator throughout August and September, please contact: Marla Cranston, (902) 210-5547, marla.cranston@gmail.com
Learn more about the Backlands Coalition and our affiliated community groups: www.backlandscoalition.ca
Join us on social media:
· Instagram @backlandscoalition
· Facebook @BacklandsCoalition
· Bluesky @backlandscoalition.bsky.social
· X @HfxBacklands