The Art of Safe Keeping

03/28/2026

Shadow or… Drawing!

Remember that last week we made ink from charcoal off the different wildfires? Artist is using this ink to make artworks of a selection of precious belongings that people want to keep safe in case of evacuations.

Using mostly photos that participants have sent in, Petra draws the items with pencil, black pen and then charcoal ink. In this specific case, every bead was drawn to match every individual one in the necklace. 😅

This work is of Petra’s own precious belonging: her ostrich eggshell necklace from Namibia. Curious why this item is so important to her to keep safe? At the exhibitions that we are working towards, all the artworks will be accompanied by the stories of the people that own them.

The first exhibition will be at the in New Denver, July 14-19, after which the work will be exhibited at .langham for several months starting July 24.

03/18/2026

The next move. We made ink with charcoal that Petra collected from all 6 wildfires that were part of the 2024 Slocan Lake Complex Wildfires.

Making this ink worked out so well thanks to the tips and tricks generously given by artists Kalika Bowlby, Genevieve Robertson and Morgen Bardati, who all three specialize in natural inks and pigments. Elizabeth Poarch helped Petra with grinding the charcoal and by the end looked like a firefighter who just emerged from a burning forest. The value of community! ❤️

The inks will be used in the artworks that Petra is making of precious belongings that people said to want to keep safe in case of wildfires or other natural disasters. What would you keep safe?

We would like to give special thanks this time to Slocan Lake Arts Council and Slocan Solutions Society, as they stepped up for the second time to help us access additional funding to work on this phase 2 of the project! Thank you to all the committed people out here that support the arts and community.

02/22/2026

We have some exciting developments to share with you about our project "The Art of Safe Keeping".

1. Artist Petra Hekkenberg got nominated for "Business of the Year" by the Slocan Valley Chamber of Commerce with her artwork and this project. You can VOTE for her here: https://pollunit.com/polls/sqo4z7at1mlrguk4crl3aw

2. Radio and newspaper features. Petra was interviewed by CBC/Radio-Canada Daybreak South, and twice by Kootenay Co-op Radio. Nelson Star News wrote an article about the project that made the front page. It's been a busy February, arts for the win! :) You can find all these media features and listen to the interviews on the home page of this project: www.theartofsafekeeping.ca

3. On separate occasions, BC Wildfire Service, Regional District of Central Kootenay (elected) officials and the Ministry of Emergency Management and Climate Readiness (EMCR) visited The Art of Safe Keeping which is currently on display at the MLA's office of Brittny Anderson in Nelson BC. Petra explained the project to them and good discussions were held about the technicalities around keeping people safe; both emotionally and physically. It is so great to see the genuine interest from the industry for this art project!

4. Another beautiful gallery has been confirmed for exhibiting the final results of this project in 2027! We keep the details secret for now. ;)

And so the project continues!

This project is funded by the following main funders and many smaller businesses: West Kootenay Regional Arts Council Columbia Basin Trust Slocan Valley Legacy Fund Regional District of Central Kootenay Town Architecture Inc.
SIFCoo
Slocan Village Market

02/06/2026

ON THE RADIO

This morning I was live on Kootenay Coop Radio .com, talking about the project and it's value for our society! This broadcast will be repeated tonight around 5:25 PM pacific time. You can listen to it on their website or of course on their radio frequency if you're in the area.

Yesterday, I was live on Chris Walker's CBC radio show "Daybreak South" to talk about this project. You can look up the recording on their website! (news links cannot be posted on FB)

02/05/2026

The first exhibitions of "The Art of Safe Keeping" are confirmed!

July 14 - 19, 2026: Hidden Garden Gallery in New Denver, BC
July 24 - Sept 15, 2026: The Langham - Kaslo Cultural Centre, BC

These exhibitions will include new work from artist Petra Hekkenberg, which is part of phase 2 that she is working on now.

We plan to tour with this final exhibition in 2027 and still have room in our schedule to exhibit at more galleries that Summer.

12/16/2025

Exciting mail came today! ARTiculate magazine arrived with a beautiful article about our project "The Art of Safe Keeping" as well as two other art initiatives that help people process the impact of wildfires.

Great timing because tomorrow you can visit the project!
Dec 16th between 3 PM - 4:30 PM we have an open house for "The Art of Safe Keeping", which is currently on display in the MLA's office of Brittny Anderson in Nelson! 433 Josephine St. Stop in and see the interactive map and luggage tags. You can participate in the project as well if you like, and artist Petra Hekkenberg (myself) will be there to talk about the project.

Thank you West Kootenay Regional Arts Council for keeping our important art magazine of the Columbia Basin alive in print, and for featuring our project!

And a huge thank you to all our sponsors, including but not limited to: Columbia Basin Trust Slocan Valley Legacy Fund , Town Architecture Inc., Regional District of Central Kootenay and SIFCo

12/10/2025

We are so thrilled that MLA Brittny Anderson put on an open house at their office especially for our Art of Safe Keeping project that is on display there this year! Both artist Petra Hekkenberg as well as Brittny Anderson will be there. Come see this community art project about wildfires and say hi.

Tuesday Dec 16, 3-4:30 pm at the MLA’s office in Nelson. More details in their post.

12/03/2025

On a day of total downpour, we moved our community art project from New Denver into the MLA’s meeting room of in Nelson. It will be on display there until next Summer!

We are very excited and grateful for this, because this means it can continue to be a conversation starter, and keep the topic of wildfires and its substantial (mental) health impact on the radar.

On December 16th between 3 -4:30 pm we will have an open house at the MLA’s office where everyone is invited to come see the project. I will be there myself, as well as Brittny Anderson. Come on out if you are curious to see the interactive map that filled up this Summer with the journeys of people during the Slocan Lake Complex Wildfires of 2024, as well as an overview of all the emergency responders that came out to help during that time and where they came from. So far we are aware of 1300 responders, and are still gathering more data on this.

Next to that, there is a display wall with the writing of people that interacted with the show in the Slocan Valley this past Summer, in which they share what precious belongings they would want to keep safe if needing to evacuate.

If you are in the area, come say hi on December 16th!

10/10/2025

A sweet little mention of The Art of Safe Keeping in the newsletter of the West Kootenay Regional Arts Council.

Thank you so very much for being one of the main funders of my project Columbia Basin Trust!

It could entail producing a graphic novel, citing Shakespeare or demonstrating circus skills—there are myriad ways to get people in the Columbia Basin engag ...

09/21/2025

The map of is on the move! September 7th was our last day for the interactive exhibition, the space is empty again as if nothing ever happened, and you may wonder what is happening with the big map that everyone engaged in?

Well, exciting news! After it’s current temporary storage, it will hang in the meeting room of our MLA Brittny Anderson in Nelson. Both the map and the luggage tags will be featured there, which is great exposure for our Slocan Valley, as well as the pressing topic of wildfires.

Carl Schlichting generously donated his expertise and knowledge in building a cover for the map, so now it’s ready for the move to Nelson this October!

Once it’s on display in the MLA’s office, people can view the map on appointment. Simply reach out to us here or email [email protected] or [email protected].

Meanwhile, phase two of this project will get started! You can still share with us what your precious belongings are that you want to keep safe. Visit www.theartofsafekeeping.ca, send it in, and maybe your belonging gets selected for an artwork!

09/07/2025

We are open one final time TODAY before we break down this interactive exhibition about the 2024 wildfires.

11 am - 4 pm, New Denver Main Street,
Next to the Gather Cafe, # 303

Artist Petra Hekkenberg will be at Garlic Fest herself with her nature-based illustrated artwork and photography. Booth 157