In 2011, eco-land artist Sydney Lancaster began an artist residency at our five acre homestead close to the historic Victoria Trail that runs along the North Saskatchewan River, northeast of Edmonton. The land was settled in the early 1900s by Russian immigrants who brought with them Siberian peashrub, Caragana, a fast-growing shelter belt. By the time we acquired the land in 2003, the caragana had overtaken the homestead yard. Sydney began exploring the possibilities of working with the caragana--weaving branches, creating pathways, setting up motion sensitive cameras to capture the passage of animals through these spaces. The work continues, going deeper into the land's geological and anthropological history.
