Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre Art For Wildlife Interview
Photo Credit: WHRC
Established in 1984, the volunteer-driven Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre has played an integral part in returning sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife back into the Manitoban wilderness. A registered charity with an accredited wildlife veterinary hospital, the WHRC utilizes photography and other creative arts to fund life-saving treatments for their patients, as well as patient food and enclosure habitat. This February, the WHRC will host the Art for Wildlife Online Art Auction, an eleven-day event where supporters can purchase amazing art with all proceeds going to the centre. In this interview, I discuss the importance of art in wildlife rehabilitation with Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre’s Fundraising Development Coordinator, Kelly O’Donnell.
Before we get into the specifics of the art auction, I’d like to ask about the use of photography on your various social media accounts. How do you feel photography helps connect the centre to the general public?
We use photography constantly to connect the Centre to the public! It’s one of the best ways we can bring the public inside of Wildlife Haven without causing stress to our wildlife patients. Wildlife Haven is an Animal Hospital, and although so many people would love to get an inside look at some of the amazing and unique wildlife patients being cared for, we have to ensure the safety and comfort of our wildlife patients first and foremost.
This means we are as hands-off as possible with recovering wildlife, as we want them to be able to recover in a stress-free environment. We also want to ensure they stay wild for better success upon release. Photography is one of the main ways we can really show the important work happening at Wildlife Haven, feature some of the amazing wildlife patients that come through the Animal Hospital, and showcase their amazing stories of recovery and release!
Photo Credit: WHRC
Now to delve into the art auction itself: Why art? What do you think it is about purchasing art that draws people in to supporting a cause like the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre?
Art is a great choice for an auction as there is always a variety and something that can appeal to everyone! Everyone has a different taste, budget, and style.
Art and wildlife also have a lot of crossovers - not only in terms of the people they attract, but wildlife is one of the main inspirations for many artists! They go hand-in-hand!
When someone buys a piece from our art auction, it is not only a beautiful piece to display in their homes, it also represents the gift they have given to sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife in need.
Looking at the art auction entries themselves, I’ve noticed that many of the pieces are connected to nature in some way. Why do you think our wild spaces are so impactful on our lives?
Yes! It seems many of the pieces that are donated tend to be wildlife and nature-themed. We don’t require this by any means, but these pieces do very well as our supporters are mostly wildlife and animal lovers!
Wild spaces are incredibly impactful on our lives! Every animal that makes up Manitoba’s environment plays an important role in the biological processes that are essential to life itself here. Seeing wild animals’ resilience and beauty is something that impacts so many of us to our very core! We are so lucky to live in a province with a rich and unique biodiversity, and we are also so lucky to have plenty of parks that preserve those spaces for us to enjoy.
Not to be outdone by the creative talents donating to the auction, you have several animal ambassadors that are artists in their own right. What goes into creating an ambassador original?
Yes! We currently have 17 very special raptor and reptile ambassadors, which are permanent residents here at Wildlife Haven. Each has a story to tell about why they are not able to return to the wild and a lesson to teach about how we can peacefully coexist with wildlife.
We have a different technique for creating artwork with each ambassador! We use non-toxic paints and we never force them to participate, but it is great enrichment for them!
Jet, our Crow ambassador, holds the paintbrush with his beak - though he won’t do it for very long! We have him slide or drop the paintbrush onto the canvas, creating unique shapes and designs that only he could make happen!
Elliot, our Eastern Box Turtle ambassador, walks through the paint across the page, so you get his beautiful footprints and tail swipes across the page.
For Roo and Tigger, our Tiger Salamanders, we have a different technique! We place them in water and set them gently on the page to create a water stain on the page. After, we fill in the water stain with watercolour to outline their unique shape.
Our feather artwork is done using imprints from the feathers of our raptor ambassadors! These feathers are collected during their moulting season every year.
Photo Credit: WHRC
Whether it’s donating art or purchasing a piece for yourself, what impact does an event like the Art for Wildlife Online Art Auction have on the daily operations of a place like the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre?
It has such a huge impact! Our Art for Wildlife Online Auction is one of our biggest fundraising events of the year. The auction always happens in February, which is right ahead of our busiest season - a.k.a. spring time and BABY season!
During this season, we have our biggest influx of wildlife patients. We can receive over 100 calls a day about sick, injured and orphaned wildlife, and get up over 300 patients receiving care in our Animal Hospital at a time.
The Art for Wildlife Online Auction sets us up with funding that will help us provide medical care, food, staff and shelter to over 2,000 animals that will be admitted to the Animal Hospital this year. The community’s participation in the auction means so much to us, and goes such a long way!
Kelly, thank you so much for taking the time to answer questions about the role of art at the WHRC and good luck with the auction!
Whether this interview is your first exposure to the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre, or you’re a long-time admirer of their work, please consider purchasing a piece of art from the auction here between the dates of February 9th to 19th, 2024, or donating directly to the centre here. As an added bonus, eagle-eyed supporters will find three of my framed prints among the items up for auction, so be sure to place a bid!
Photo Credits: WHRC
