About the Project
Sites of Transformation is a multi-year participatory arts research project exploring a central question: how do we hold and share embodied, relational knowledge as our communities navigate accelerating change?
Each year, I introduce a new prompt to activate that year's events. The five prompts build on one another, mapped to the five movements of my Inclusive Community Preparedness framework - awareness, resource, connect, assess, and create.
Workshop participants, using waste and land-based materials, create handmade paper which is used at the activations. At each activation, those papers become a growing visual archive - a living record of what communities already know about navigating change, built response by response, event by event.
When the project wraps in five years, the collected responses will be buried in a pollinator garden - returning what was written to the land that helped make it possible.
Since the summer of 2026, Sites of Transformation has been activated at 7 events across the Lower Mainland.
Why a butterfly?
Metamorphosis is the model of transformation I'm drawing from for this project. Imaginal cells are already present in the caterpillar and inside the chrysalis, they activate and become the foundation for the butterfly's development.
This project pulls at the imaginal cells in our collective: what do we already have to navigate the change we're moving through, and build what comes next?
Why art?
Non-verbal communication requires more reflection and often offers richer responses. A participatory art activation gives participants the opportunity to contribute to a larger conversation without having to ground the discussion in having the "right" words to say but in creating something that is meaningful to them. It also overcomes language barriers, welcomes children, and is accessible to a wider range of participants.
Designed for participation
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Low-barrier
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Intergenerational
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Accessible to different levels of participaton
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No art experience needed
Activities
Two ways to bring Sites of Transformation to your community.
ACTIVATIONS
A lightly facilitated, meaningful activity for indoor or outdoor conferences, festivals, and block parties. Participants drop in and engage with the prompt, response, and visual archive for as long or as short as they'd like — leaving with a reminder that they can do hard things, and so can so many others in their community.
A great addition between conference sessions, especially for events with more challenging topics like climate or social change — or as a participatory alternative to shopping at community events.
WORKSHOPS
2-hour workshops for groups of up to 12 participants, working with harvested and waste materials to make dye and paper while exploring what it takes to change — what to let go of, and what to grow, to meet accelerating social and climate change. Leaving with an embodied, collective experience of transformation.
A grounding addition to conferences, retreats, or staff days. This workshop turns the lens inward: not what else needs to change in their organizations or communities, but what it takes to stay resourced enough to keep showing up.
Where We've Shown Up
Please see my Instagram for the latest news about my events and exhibits.
GREENWAY GATHERING by Britannia Community Center Association
- Vancouver BC - September 2026
MCSPADDEN COUNTRY FAIR
- Vancouver, BC - September 2026
BC CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE by the British Columbia Co-operative Association
- Abbotsford, BC - September 2026
SENIOR'S HEAT RESILIENCE COMMUNITY FORUM by Simon Fraser University and Comprehensive Approach to Enhance Older Adults' Preparedness for Extreme Heat
- Vancouver, BC - September 2026
FRIDAY LUNCH MEET by Hastings Crossing BIA
- Vancouver, BC - August 2026
PRIDE MARKET by Dyke March
- Vancouver, BC - August 2026
SUMMER SUN FUN-DEMENTALS by South Vancouver Neighbourhood House
- Vancouver, BC - August 2026
