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ReWild: The Art & Science
ANNAPOLIS ROYAL, Nova Scotia (October 14, 2025) – ARTSPLACE Gallery presents “ReWild: The Art & Science” , a multidisciplinary exhibition by naturalist and artist Bev Wigney. This project chronicles a fifteen-year journey of ecological restoration and creative observation on a two-acre property beside the Round Hill River.
When Wigney moved to her century home in 2010, she was met with a landscape dominated by non-native trees and plants, remnants of centuries of colonial cultivation. What began as curiosity became a long-term act of reclamation. Over the years, she has reintroduced native species to rebuild an ecosystem capable of sustaining birds, mammals, and insects. The exhibition reveals this transformation through a blend of photography, watercolour illustration, field sketches, and video, offering viewers an intimate portrait of nature’s resilience when given space to heal.
Her camera traps have captured the return of foxes, bobcats, deer, bears, and countless smaller creatures, confirming the success of her rewilding efforts. Through her lens and brush, she documents the gradual reawakening of biodiversity, inviting others to imagine what is possible when we act as caretakers rather than consumers of the natural world.
“As a lifelong naturalist, Wigney combines art and science to record the complex life unfolding on her land,” said Sophie Paskins, ARTSPLACE Gallery Director.
Bev Wigney’s photographs have appeared in numerous field guides, books, and museum exhibits. She is the founder and administrator of the “Annapolis Environment & Ecology” group on Facebook, where she continues to share her studies of local flora and fauna.
Bev Wigney’s “ReWild: The Art & Science” opening reception Sat. November 1, 2025, 12-2 p.m. Light refreshments served, all welcome. Artist talk November 18, 7p.m. (donation). Exhibition continues through November 22.
ARTSPLACE is a public Art Gallery that is operated by the Annapolis Region Community Arts Council, a registered charitable, community organization dedicated to encouraging and promoting the arts. Supported through the Province of Nova Scotia and the Canada Council for the Arts.
ARTSPLACE Gallery is located at 396 St. George Street in Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia
View announcement on ARTSPLACE
UPDATE, Dec 6, 2025. Bev’s talk of Nov 18th is now posted on Vimeo: Artist Talk: Bev Wigney | ReWild: The Art & Science
“As a lifelong naturalist, Bev Wigney has been photographing, drawing, painting and writing about her observations of the natural world. In recent years, her study has incorporated the use of trail cameras to observe wildlife without interrupting their activities. Many secrets have been revealed, especially through the use of video recordings. Bev’s gallery talk will be about her continuing efforts to rewild a small acreage, and of the ways in which her studies of flora and fauna have been recorded through various artistic means. Included in her talk will be an explanation of how trail cameras can be used for both nature study and artistic inspiration.
ARTIST BIO:
Bev Wigney is a naturalist living alongside the Round Hill River near Annapolis Royal. She has been rewilding two acres of formerly overgrown, mostly invasive brush, into an increasingly rich habitat for wildlife. For the past two decades, she has been photographing nature with an emphasis on macrophotography of invertebrates. Her photos have been used in many field guides, books, magazines, and museum exhibits. In more recent years, nature journaling has become an integral part of recording and sharing what she observes. Bev is the founder and admin of the Annapolis Environment & Ecology group on Facebook.”