| Membership | Price (+HST) |
|---|---|
| Single | $85/year |
| Single Plus | $120/year |
| Family | $130/year |
| Family Plus | $175/year |
| Contributing | $300/year |
| Supporting | $600/year |
| Sustaining | $1,000/year |
| Benefactor's Circle | $2,500/year |
| Director's Circle | $5,000/year |
| President's Circle | $10,000/year |
Arts Exhibit: ‘Of Wonders, Wild and New II’
Date & Time:
January 31 to April 6, 2026* (Tues-Sun)
As part of “Bloomland in Oz“, RBG presents “Of Wonders Wild and New II”, the second installment of our showcase visual arts exhibition.
“Of Wonders Wild and New II” brings the world of contemporary woodworking to the RBG with 6 feature artists from across Canada, Six Nations, Italy and Spain each exploring the medium of wood through carving, installation art, sculpture and woodblock printing, joined by members of the Ontario Wood Carving Association.
Bloomland in Oz tickets required
About the Exhibit
Royal Botanical Gardens manages many trees, including those in its nature sanctuaries and cultivated gardens. In its nature sanctuaries, RBG protects 1,000 acres of forest with over 70 species of trees. The cultivated gardens contain nearly 4,000 specimens. Additionally, over 175,000 trees have been repurposed and placed in stream-restoration projects around aquatic ecosystems.
In Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, we’re introduced to the Fighting Trees, defenders of the forest who, though protecting the forest, meet their fate by the axe of the Tin Woodman as Dorothy and her companions travel North.
This act of destruction is viewed as necessary for the travelers even though they recognize the conservation value of the Fighting Trees. Much like the Beautiful Cities Movement, a design and city building philosophy popular at the time of the writing of OZ, mankind is conflicted as it both reveres and seeks to control nature through brute force.
This sense of duality, or conflict, in values is ever-present in Oz and our present day. The notion that nature can be both celebrated yet casually discarded in pursuit of progress is central to our global climate and conservation crisis.
In Of Wonders Wild and New II, our artists explore the themes of the power and beauty of nature, duality, our impact on the environment, and the material splendor of wood.
Artists
Featured Artists
- Willy Verginer – Ortisei, Italy
- Marc Sparfel – Barcelona, Spain
- Renee Condo – Verdun, Quebec
- Breanna Shanahan – Hamilton, Ontario
- Kelsey Powless – Six Nations
- Ericka Walker – Head of St. Margaret’s Bay, Nova Scotia
Supporting Artists
- Sonya DeLaat, Tor Lukasik-Foss, Lisa Pijuan-Nomura, Kayla Whitney – Hamilton, Ontario
- Ontario Wood Carvers Association
Soundtrack
- John Smith aka Strongeprocess
