[BCMA] [MEDIA RELEASE] Two Major Exhibitions Exploring Land and Environment Open at Kelowna Art Gallery

[Moderated BCMA subscriber listserv]

For Immediate Release


Two Major Exhibitions Exploring Land and Environment Open at Kelowna Art Gallery


Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets'lo:tseltun: Floor Opener

Rita Leistner: The Tree Planters

January 24 to May 31, 2026

Nicola Wealth Gallery at the Kelowna Art Gallery



January 20, 2026 - Kelowna, BC: Two visually arresting exhibitions open this week at the Kelowna Art Gallery. They offer audiences distinct yet deeply connected perspectives to consider humanity's complex relationship with the land. Visitors can see them starting January 24th.



Floor Opener by Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets'lo:tseltun and The Tree Planters by Rita Leistner examine our impact on the environment and each other through a selection of paintings, sculptures, photography, and video works. "Together, these exhibitions open up space for reflection on responsibility, resilience, and the systems that govern our relationship to the natural world," says Nataley Nagy, Executive Director of the Kelowna Art Gallery. "The works themselves are stunning to behold, but they also ask important questions about our history, our current trajectory, and the ways in which we choose to move forward."



In Floor Opener, Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets'lo:tseltun presents bold, uncompromising paintings that confront colonial suppression, environmental destruction, and Indigenous sovereignty. Of Cowichan (Hul'q'umi'nu`m Coast Salish) and Okanagan (Syilx) descent, Yuxweluptun's forty-year practice is marked by fearless critique, biting satire, and deep spiritual resonance. In works such as Wild Fire Storm (2024), towering, totemic forms appear engulfed in flames beneath storm-darkened skies, transforming environmental catastrophe into a charged symbolic landscape. The exhibition's title draws from Northwest Coast Indigenous ceremonial traditions. In longhouse gatherings, a "floor opener" is the one who opens a ceremony by singing or performing and inviting spiritual presence, storytelling, and shared knowledge into the space. In this way Yuxweluptun's paintings function as ceremonial invitations, asking viewers to engage with layered histories of colonialism, Indigenous ceremony, and spiritual presence that continue to shape contemporary life.



The Tree Planters by Montreal-based photographer and filmmaker Rita Leistner focuses on the physical labour required to restore damaged landscapes. Leistner's large-scale photographic portraits capture tree planters at work in remote forests across British Columbia, balancing on fallen logs, carrying shovels and bags of seedlings, while navigating terrain shaped by logging and increasingly by wildfire. Leistner brings a deeply personal perspective to the series, having spent a decade working as a tree planter herself and planting more than half a million trees.



Her Canadian Screen Award nominated documentary Forest for the Trees (2021) infuses the photographs with both intimacy and urgency. Viewers will be able to watch the full 91-minute film within the exhibition.



An Opening Reception for both exhibitions will be held on Friday, January 23, 2026, from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at the Kelowna Art Gallery. This event is free to attend.



An Exhibition Tour with the Artists is organized on Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 10:00 am. Join artists Rita Leitner and Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun for a personal tour of their respective exhibitions. This event is included with admission to the Gallery and free for Members.



Floor Opener and The Tree Planters both run from January 24 to May 31, 2026, in the Nicola Wealth Gallery at the Kelowna Art Gallery. Floor Opener is organized by the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery with assistance of Macaulay + Co. It is presented with support from Kimmitt Wrzesniewski. The Tree Planters is organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and curated by John Geoghegan. The Kelowna Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of RBC Royal Bank as the Exhibition Season Partner for 2026.



The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in the heart of Kelowna's Cultural District. For more information, visit kelownaartgallery.com or call 250-762-2226.



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Image Credits



Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets'lo:tseltun, Wild Fire Storm, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 108 x 82 in. Courtesy of Macaulay + Co. and the artist. Photo: Byron Dauncey



Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets'lo:tseltun, Rainy Cowichan winter Ceremony in the Longhouse, 2004, acrylic on canvas, 92 x 76 in. Courtesy of Macaulay + Co. and the artist. Photo: Byron Dauncey



Rita Leistner, Jennifer Veitch, 2017, Pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Silk Baryta Paper flush mounted to Aluminum Composite Panel, courtesy of Rita Leistner / Stephen Bulger Gallery. © Rita Leistner.



Rita Leistner, Russell Robertson, 2017, Pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Silk Baryta Paper flush mounted to Aluminum Composite Panel, courtesy of Rita Leistner / Stephen Bulger Gallery. © Rita Leistner.



Resources



           Floor Opener Webpage: https://kelownaartgallery.com/floor-opener/

The Tree Planters Webpage: https://kelownaartgallery.com/the-tree-planters/

KAG IG: https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/



For a selection of more high-res images, or to arrange an interview with the artists, please contact:



Joshua Desnoyers (he/him)

Marketing and Events Coordinator



Kelowna Art Gallery

1315 Water Street, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R3

250-762-2226 ext. 305

josh at kelownaartgallery.com<mailto:josh at kelownaartgallery.com>

www.kelownaartgallery.com<http://www.kelownaartgallery.com>
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