BC Parks Foundation

BC Parks Foundation and Vancouver Art Gallery Partner to Promote Health Through Nature and Art 

Starting today, healthcare professionals registered with BC Parks Foundation's nature prescription program PaRx can prescribe their patients a free visit to the exhibition Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape—marking the first time a national nature prescription program has included an art gallery experience. By bringing these two elements together, this partnership offers a unique opportunity to improve well-being through immersive experiences with both art and nature. 

“Nature offers itself to our imagination,” says Andy Day, CEO for BC Parks Foundation. “If we listen, as great artists do, we hear the cedar trees whispering wisdom for living, the sedge grasses soothing our sorrows with their songs, the humpback whales breathing wealth into our mind’s dwindling reserves, the Canadian geese startling awake our sleeping spirits. We behold the sky and stars, our awe lifting us beyond our grief, our limitations, and our struggles. This partnership celebrates the power that is British Columbia, and British Columbians. It celebrates how artists like Emily Carr have passed along a deep, shared truth through their great works: experiencing our nature is to be inspired, healed, and joined into the family of life.” 

Spending time in nature is one of the best things we can do for our health. It lowers stress, improves mood, and even reduces the risk of chronic disease. Decades of research in medicine, psychology and art therapy also link close engagement with art to improved physical wellbeing, reduced loneliness and improved life satisfaction. Now these two healing forces are coming together through this unique partnership. 

“Museums and galleries have a wealth of potential to become healing places where people can simultaneously experience the health benefits of nature and art through social prescribing.  Combining social connection, creativity and natural landscapes in one space is a uniquely powerful way to improve people's mental and physical health,” says Dr. Melissa Lem, PaRx Director. “I can't wait to start prescribing visits to the Vancouver Art Gallery.”

During the first year of the collaboration, each prescribed visitor and their preferred guest will receive free admission to the Gallery along with a wellness kit and special printed guide for Emily Carr: Navigating an Impenetrable Landscape, thereby fostering social connection and reducing financial barriers. Visitors are then encouraged to go outside and spend time exploring local parks or getting involved in protecting nature. 

“The Vancouver Art Gallery is honoured to collaborate in this visionary program, which represents a major step towards growing a culture of care in our community. We look forward to bringing the restorative power of nature indoors — creating a welcoming and safe space for healing, reflection, and connection at the Gallery,” says Sirish Rao, Senior Director of Public Engagement & Learning at the Vancouver Art Gallery. 

A formal prescription for a gallery experience will consciously use art to reduce loneliness and social isolation — major public health risks linked to a wide range of diseases and negative health outcomes. The Emily Carr exhibition uses the spatial metaphor of closeness to and distance from nature to probe Carr’s thinking about the BC forests and coastal landscapes she is known for painting. The works on display not only encourage slow looking and mindfulness—which will bring about a sense of calm and reduce feelings of anxiety—but also cultivate local viewers’ connection to their land, language, place and community. 

"This unique partnership between the medical and artistic communities is a wonderful example of how we can rethink traditional approaches to health care and offer holistic solutions to wellbeing,” says Hounrable David Eby, KC, Premier of British Columbia. “I look forward to seeing the positive impact this program will have on the lives of many. Together, we can create an environment where healing, growth and connection thrive."  

At BC Parks Foundation, we believe that nature is essential for well-being. By integrating artistic expression with time spent outdoors, we hope to inspire even more people to connect with the land, their communities, and themselves. Want to learn more about how PaRx is bringing the benefits of nature to people across BC and beyond? Visit Park Prescriptions to explore the program.