WHITEBARK PINE BUMP UP!

August 19, 2022

12:00 PM - 15:00 PM

Join BUMP and Parks Canada for fun, food and music on a live mural site with Mackenzie Brown/Kamamak as she paints to raise awareness around the endangered Whitebark Pine tree. We will be joined by local DJ duo THEY/THEM for this BUMP UP.

We partnered with Parks Canada to create a mural to increase awareness among Calgary audiences of the whitebark pine in and the ongoing conservation work conducted by Banff National Park to protect this species-at-risk.

The Whitebark Pine tree is an endangered keystone species in Banff National Park. Found within high-elevation forests in Western Canada, whitebark pine seeds are nutritional foods for birds, squirrels and bears; their growth influences snowmelt, soil development and the habitat conditions of other plants. When the health of whitebark pine suffers, so too do the species and ecosystems they support. The species-at-risk is in decline across Banff, Jasper, Kootenay, Yoho, Mount Revelstoke, Glacier and Waterton Lakes national parks. 

After a nationwide call for artists to paint this mural and a careful decision making process between BUMP and Parks Canada, Mackenzie Brown, an IndigiQueer Nehiyaw iskwew (Cree Woman) artist was selected to paint this mural. We are so excited to launch this mural to the public on this day!

Artist: Mackenzie Brown/KAMAMAK

DJ: THEY/THEM