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20 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • THURSDAY, MARCH 16, 2017 ARTS FOCUS WATERLOO CHRONICLEWATERLOO CHRONICLE By Bob Vrbanac Chronicle Sta� If trees could talk what would they say? It's something that local photographer Deb Cripps has been thinking about since she was a little girl growing up in Nova Scotia. It was the age of free-ranging parenting, where her mother loaded her up on food and sent her out to explore for the rest of the day. � e dark was a sign for her to return from her daily adventures. "On summer mornings by mother would line us up at the door with homemade bread and peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and tell us to get out," said Cripps with a laugh. "It was a diff erent time." Th e place Cripps would often escape to was a grove of trees, that after a while developed a personality of their own and they communed with her. "I would go to favourite spot with trees that I considered to be my friends and I would tell them stories," said Cripps. "I would talk about my brothers and the troubles they caused. "I would do this everyday and eventually the trees would talk about and tell me their stories." � ose � ights of fantasy always stayed with her and now serve as inspiration for a new exhibit called the Illuminative Forest of Story- telling Trees she created with her partner Carl Hiebert. Th e exhibit opens with a gala evening March 23 at Th eMuseum in downtown Kitch- ener. Hiebert is of course the famous photogra- pher and Waterloo book writer who survived a hang-gliding accident in 1981 to become Cana- da's fi rst paraplegic fl ight instructor. He has since become renowned for the pho- tography he's done for six best selling books captured while � ying his ultralight aircraft and down on the ground exploring his Mennonite roots. "When I met Carl many years ago, I said one day I'm going to create a forest of talking trees," said Cripps. "It stuck with me that this incredible experience of a child could still be someplace I belong. "They became a way for me to express myself and share my thoughts in a safe envi- ronment." Th ere is also a belonging component to the exhibit that brings together 17 trees made up of collected images and art pieces and inhabited with personalities tied to the humor tree, the identity tree, the sustainable tree and the trans- formation tree. "It's about starting off with a simple idea and you hang on to it with enthusiasm and tenacity," said Hiebert, whose fi rst project, Gift of Wings, took half a decade of work to create. They hit on 17 total trees for the project because the art installation is also a gift to cel- ebrate Canada's 150, and they plan to tour it around the country with the backing of spon- sors and arts supporters. "As artists we're change makers," said Hiebert, who along with Cripps, belongs to the Sentient Collective, a group of artists com- mitted to making a difference. "As you tour through this exhibit, it's about making change in a positive way." The trees voices and stories are borrowed from people like comedian Ron James and award-winning author Carrie Snyder. Each tree comes with a QR code that visitors can scan using their smart phones to hear sto- ries. Th e trees' experiences are also written out for visitors to read. The exhibit wraps up by giving patrons a survey of the exhibit that explores their feelings and the community they live in. "It's got a belonging barometer compo- nent," said Hiebert. "People can add their own stories around feelings of belonging." Th ey said the data will be shared with local organizations and municipalities as a measure of community engagement. Th ey've been creating the trees for a year- and-a-half and the talking forest has been assembled in their Waterloo home as they put the finishing touches on the experience last week. "When I put together the � rst prototype it was talking to me," said Cripps. "I quickly set out 17 trees with 17 themes. It was such an intuitive process. "The tree would just come to me and it would talk to me, and I knew what it looked like and its emotional presence. It was intuitive, but it was a lot of hard work as well." Hiebert he was impressed with the creativity and the composition of the fi nal forms. "� e creativity around each tree on a given day had me saying, 'Wow," he said. "Only an artist can do that kind of stuff because it comes from in inside where you � nd your wellspring of creative thought." As works of art they stand by themselves. Transformation tree captures monarch but- terfl ies from cocoon to fl ight, with the branches spread out to help along the way. Th e Sustainable Tree combines aerial imag- es of a farm that morphs from river to urban centre back to beautiful sky. � e fact that all facets of that landscape are around us make Waterloo Region one of the greatest places to live in all of Canada, said Hiebert, "And I've been all over Canada." "You don't realize how close we are to all of that until you're in the air," said Cripps. Cripps is especially moved by a tree called resilience. It is tired and battered, and shows the dark lines of a long life. But it is still standing, and signifi es a journey a lot of people have to go through. "We've endured a lot in our life together, more than most I hazard to say," said Cripps about the emotions that fl ow through her out of that tree. "It bubbled out of that idea of getting up that one last time, when life gives it to you again and again. "In our work we've worked with NGOs and development work, and we've not only endured our own suff ering but that of others, and this tree mirrors that message of getting up one more time." "No matter who we talk to so many people have tree stories," said Cripps. "Th ere's the tree they sat under with their grandmother while she peeled apples, or the one where they bur- ied their favourite pet. "It explores the whole idea of connecting with the land. We're so fortunate to have such a grand place to live from the east coast to the west coast." Tickets for the gala evening are going fast and can be secured at www.illuminativeforest. ca. Cripps and Hiebert hope to take the project to as many communities across Canada as pos- sible, and are looking for more sponsors. For sponsorship opportunities, can contact them at oneofakind@giftofwings.ca. If trees could talk Illuminative Forest of Storytelling Trees has something to say as it opens at � eMuseum Deb Cripps and her partner Carl Hiebert have combined to create the Illuminative Forest of Storytelling Trees, opening March 22 at TheMuseum. The exhibit imagines what trees would say if they could talk, and they're in front of the Humor Tree voiced by comedian Ron James. BOB VRBANAC PHOTO