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If you've ever spent a summer planting trees, you'll know just how grueling it is.

Rita Leistner turns her lens on the people who are replanting our forests in 'The Tree Planters.' She should know, she's spent over 10 years doing this labour herself.

Visitors can explore her compelling large-scale portraits which bring the planters to life and showcase the chaotic ground beneath their boots.

'The Tree Planters' is on until May 31, 2026 in the Nicola Wealth Gallery.

Thank you to @RBC Royal Bank and @nicolawealth for their support. 'The Tree Planters' is organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection @mcmichaelgallery and curated by John Geoghegan.

1.) Planter Jennifer Veitch (detail)
2.) Planter Belal Basse (detail)
3.) Planter Aaron Wong (detail)
4.) Planter Sally Enns (detail)

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The land is speaking. Are we listening?

This #EarthDay, two exhibitions on our walls remind us what's at stake and also what is possible.

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun's "Floor Opener" speaks in the language of the forest itself: spiritual, urgent, and uncompromising. 🔥 His work has long warned of what environmental destruction costs, a message that hits close to home here in a community that has lived through the smoke and ash of wildfire seasons that rewrote our hillsides.

Rita Leistner's "The Tree Planters" offers the other half of that conversation. 🌲 She points her lens at the quiet, backbreaking work of people who answer the land by putting it back, one tree at a time in terrain scarred by logging and fire.

Both shows are on view now. Come listen.
On view now through May 31.

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“Forest for the Trees” explores the physical and emotional aspects of a community of Canadian west coast tree planters.

Deftly weaving together still photos and film footage, Rita Leistner, an award-winning Canadian photojournalist, filmmaker and erstwhile tree planter, beautifully captures the contradictions in the experiences of the tree planters.

Now streaming on our YouTube channel!

Cover photo by: @ritaleistner

#treeplanting #treeplanter #treeplantingbc #canadiandocumentary #canfilmday

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Happy National Canadian Film Day! 🍁

“Forest for the Trees” is a moving portrait of the physical and emotional realities of tree planting on Canada’s west coast.

Blending still photography and film footage, award winning Canadian photojournalist and filmmaker Rita Leistner (@ritaleistner ) captures a world shaped by hardship, healing, solitude, and belonging.

Now streaming on our YouTube channel.

#treeplanting #treeplantingbc #treeplanter #canfilmday #canadiandocumentary

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Rita Leistner looks beyond the forests to the people on the ground replanting our natural spaces.

Her compelling portraits bring the subjects to life intimately. Viewers can almost feel the uneven terrain the planters stand upon and the callouses that line their shovel hands.

Relax and sink into @ritaleistner's full-length documentary "Forest for the Trees" (2021) as part of your visit @forestforthetreesdocumentary

'The Tree Planters' is on until May 31, 2026 in the Nicola Wealth Gallery.

Thank you to @RBC Royal Bank and @nicolawealth for their support. 'The Tree Planters' is organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection @mcmichaelgallery and curated by John Geoghegan.

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"Forest for the Trees" is a full-length 🎞️ documentary by photographer and filmmaker Rita Leistner @ritaleistner.

Visitors can kick back and watch “An epic poem about tree planting that digs us inside the planters’ lives and dreams” — John Greyson, film/video artist

The film @forestforthetreesdocumentary is screened inside 📽️ 'Rita Leistner: The Tree Planters.'

Plan to view her stunning large-scale photographs before settling into this intimate look at the real boots-on-the-ground people who plant the next generation of forests in Canada.

'The Tree Planters' runs until May 31, 2026 in the Nicola Wealth Gallery.

We would like to extend our appreciation to @RBC Royal Bank and @nicolawealth for their support. 'The Tree Planters' is organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection @mcmichaelgallery and curated by John Geoghegan.

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Rita Leistner shines a light on the real people who work in BC's remote and rugged landscapes in 'The Tree Planters.'

Leistner's large "action hero" photos bring the subjects to life in such an intimate way that you feel the uneven terrain they're standing on and sense the relentless physical demands of the job.

Viewers can watch @ritaleistner's full-length documentary "Forest for the Trees" (2021) as part of their visit. @forestforthetreesdocumentary

'The Tree Planters' is on until May 31, 2026, in the Nicola Wealth Gallery.

We would like to extend our appreciation to @RBC Royal Bank and @nicolawealth for their support. 'The Tree Planters' is organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection @mcmichaelgallery and curated by John Geoghegan.

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🎨 Kelowna Art Gallery stop you shouldn’t miss

Went to see two incredible artists on exhibition right now —
Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (Lets’lo:tseltun), whose powerful work confronts colonialism, land rights, and environmental destruction, and
Rita Leistner, @ritaleistner photographer, filmmaker, and former tree planter who planted over 500,000 trees before turning her lens toward the planet and conflict zones.

Both shows hit hard in the best way, about land, identity, and our responsibility to the Earth 🌎

Tips for a Local 👌🏼.
Kelowna Art Gallery @kelownaartgallery has FREE admission every Thursday, so it’s the perfect low-key culture stop before dinner or drinks downtown.

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Now open.

'The Tree Planters' by Montreal-based photographer and filmmaker Rita Leistner captures tree planters at work in remote forests across British Columbia.

@ritaleistner 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 full length documentary "Forest for the Trees" (2021) is screened within the exhibition for visitors to view as part of their experience.

📆 January 24 to May 31, 2026
📍Nicola Wealth Gallery at the Kelowna Art Gallery

Organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and curated by John Geoghegan. Thank you to Exhibition Season Partner: @RBC Royal Bank

Join Rita Leistner for an Exhibition Tour on Saturday, January 24, at 10 am. This event is included with admission (Free for Members).

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🌲 COMING SOON 🌱

'Rita Leistner: The Tree Planters' presents a series of large scale photographs and video work by the Toronto-based artist that documents the labour of Canada’s tree planters and seasonal workers who reforest clear-cut landscapes one seedling at a time.

📆 January 24 to May 31, 2026
📍Nicola Wealth Gallery at the Kelowna Art Gallery

Organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and curated by John Geoghegan. Thank you to our 2026 Exhibition Season Partner: RBC Royal Bank

Join Rita Leistner @ritaleistner for an Exhibition Tour on Saturday, January 24, at 10 am. This event is included with admission (Free for Members).

🖼️ Rita Leistner, Aaron Wong (detail), 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, Jennifer Veitch (detail), 2017, pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Silk Baryta Paper flush mounted to Aluminum Composite Panel, courtesy of Rita Leistner / Stephen Bulger Gallery. © Rita Leistner.

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Went treeplanting when I felt lost.. tattooing met me there 🔏🌿 now it’s my turn to bring her back to the forest 🧩

Picture of me planting in 2017 taken by @ritaleistner for her project « Forest for the Trees »

#montrealtattoo #foresttattoo #naturetattoo

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Rita Leistner’s show “Tree Planters” at the McMichael. So beautiful in the perfect environment. Go see it live - it’s inly on til the end of November!

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