Coldstream Nature-Based Arts
Art can connect us to nature, and build our vision and understanding of ecosystems and relationships. As part of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021-2030) we want to support conservation and restoration awareness through nature-based art.
To create a healthy environment that benefits both people and nature, we believe that investing in communities is critically important.
That is why we are putting our money where our mouth is and launching Coldstream Nature-Based Arts as a thank you to organizations and communities that partner with us on conservation and restoration projects.
What is Coldstream Nature-Based Arts?
Coldstream Nature-Based Arts will work with partner organizations and communities to generate interest, awareness, and opportunity for local artists. We pledge to invest, showcase, and promote local art that builds connections between people and nature as part of our business model for Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions.
Each Art Competition will focus on a nature-based theme coming from the collaborative restoration projects between Coldstream and our client. Local artists that meet the eligibility requirements will be able to enter their art into the competition and will receive cash prizes and website promotions for their art if they are chosen as the winner(s).
We will elevate and empower artists so that their messages about the importance of nature can be heard. We want to be a role model for other companies to demonstrate what stewardship and partnership with nature and with communities looks like.
Detailed descriptions of the art competition rules and eligibility requirements will be released to partnering organizations and communities as these are developed. This is a work in progress!
Our Goals:
Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions creates abundance in nature through collaborative restoration projects with our partners.
Coldstream Nature-Based Arts creates awareness of the incredible power of nature to unite and inspire us all into taking actions through the arts.
Together, we are creating a vision of unity and connection to the natural world using nature-based arts, conservation and restoration.
We are giving back to the organizations and communities that have supported us by expanding the opportunities for artists to reach more people and have a greater impact from their nature-based arts.
Eligibility:
At this time, eligibility for the Nature-Based Arts competitions will be limited to Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions project partners and partnering communities. In the future we hope to have corporate sponsorships for other nature-based art competitions.
How Nature-Based Art Themes are Chosen:
Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions reviews its conservation and restoration projects annually and chooses the nature-based themes for the art competitions in collaboration with partnering clients. Coldstream reserves the right to withdraw a competition if there is insufficient funding or community interest to support the competition.
Themes will be based on the species or ecosystem focused on during Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions projects. For example, the first Nature-based Arts Competition will be held in Xwísten in 2021, with a theme of Chinook Salmon based on our Chinook Conservation Hatchery Broodstock Collection Program in the Lower Bridge River.
The intent of the competition is to promote healthy and vibrant ecosystems that can support the species (or ecosystem) named in the competition. Artists are free to interpret the theme as they see fit. Artists can focus on and highlight any aspect of the theme that relates to conservation, restoration, culture or sustainability.
Our ultimate goal is to build this arts program into a fund that will directly support new ecosystem restoration projects.
Prizes:
Winners will be allocated the following cash prizes:
First Place: $1,000
Second Place: $500
Third Place: $300
Honorable Mentions: $50 x 4 winners
Total Cash Prizes: $2,000
This prize money purchases the art directly from the artists. Coldstream Nature-Based Arts will convert any physical art pieces into digital media that will be displayed in the online gallery.
Through these purchases Coldstream Nature-Based Arts retains the rights to the physical art created for this competition and/or the digital version created or submitted.
Winners receive:
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Their cash prize in exchange for the purchase of their art
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Promotion on the website (currently in development) to showcase their work
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Additional commission should Coldstream Nature-Based Solutions choose to auction items as part of prized art collection or collectible series to support a decentralized restoration and regeneration fund for communities and nature
Dreaming Even Bigger!
We are dedicated to supporting communities and artists to build their voices around conservation and restoration, and we are dreaming even bigger at Coldstream Nature-Based Arts. Currently we fund and support small scale restoration and community programs, and are working towards funding larger conservation and restoration projects ourselves!
To get there, we hope to create high-profile nature-based art collectibles and collections for fundraising and auction the art from our contest winners as #CLEANNFTs. This would provide an even bigger cash payout to the winning artists, while creating revenue streams that would support regeneration, restoration and remediation projects, cover program operating expenses, and create a fund for an “artist in residence” program.
Right now this opportunity doesn’t exist, but we hope that as we grow, we will increase our reach and impact.
Feature Competition - Xwísten - Chinook Salmon
The first ever Nature-Based Arts Competition will be held in Xwísten in 2021, within the St’at’imc Nation. This pilot project will help us establish a system and rule set for future competitions with other partnering communities.
The theme of this competition is Chinook Salmon, based on our conservation efforts for the critically endangered Bridge River Chinook Salmon stocks. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting first step!
If you have any questions, or to send in your submission, please email art@coldstreamnbs.com
