The second season is underway at Altona's Gallery in the Park, with Winnipeg based painter Hollande Bezan's exhibition Return to the farm installed on the main floor of the Schwartz House.
The works honour her family’s agricultural roots which are anchored just north of Inglis. The paintings explore over a century of connection to the land, honouring the Bezan family and its enduring farming legacy through five generations.
"So my great-grandfather came from Ukraine in 1908, and he wanted a better life, so he came here and worked for several years in the Assessippi/Inglis area for more established farmers," she explained. "(He) saved up money, bought a farm just north of Inglis, Manitoba, and he bought it for $1,200 in 1912. He then he got married to my great-grandma, who also immigrated from Romania, I think their villages were pretty close together, but regardless they raised eight kids together. My grandpa was the youngest. My grandpa and my grandma raised six kids, and they farmed a lot of crops. My grandpa did pure bred Red Hereford cows, so those were always around."
Bezan spent most of her life growing up in Winnipeg, and during her younger years spent time on the farm, including every Summer at her grandparent's.
"It became evident to me, when I talked to my Winnipeg peers, not all of them came from farms or had a connection to the farm," Bezan reflected. "So I realized this is actually really special, getting to see my great-grandparent's farm, like their homestead. No one's living there. It's sort of dilapidated, but full of all these memories and stories. Then my grandparents farm, it just feels like I really wanted to encapsulate all of that, because time goes really fast, but it's also really slow, and they created this really cool legacy."
Nostalgia for the farm and draw to rural roots
Weaved throughout the exhibit is that feeling of nostalgia for the farm and rural living that many Southern Manitobans have, something Bezan identifies with with her home being Winnipeg.
"I feel like, as a child, I was one of the last groups of kids without phones, and so I really got to immerse myself in that," she said. "I think for everybody it's healthy to be out in nature and to work with your hands, so I feel even though I'm still in the city I have this garden. We're all welcome back at the farm anytime, because my cousin and my uncle are are farming there. It does feel kind of like it's becoming a rare thing, and I feel really lucky to have experienced it and my cousins and their kids can still go."
And there is one painting, in particular, Bezan hopes gallery goers will take a moment to enjoy. It's titled Seeds of succession.
"There's also a painting I did of my great-grandparent's kitchen window, and what's kind of fun about it is there's these jars of seeds that my great-grandma left there, she collected them, and had a big garden." explained Bezan. "She spent a lot of her older years just praying for her family, and the future generations, so I feel like that kind of ties the whole thing together. Everybody in my family, when they see that window, it just makes them think of her."
Hoping to spark memories and inspire the special farm feeling
From a farm, or no connection at all, Bezan is excited to share these stories and memories through the exhibit.
"If they have a connection to their own family farm, definitely I think there's a lot of pieces they're going to see that hopefully spark a memory for them," she said. "Even if you don't have a connection to the farm, there's little paintings that I've done of little flowers, and there's little moments where you're really present in that space. It's still important to get out into nature, and so I feel like even someone who doesn't have that direct connection can still experience that feeling."
Also exhibiting in the second season are Kae Sasaki and Wanda Slawik.
You can listen to the entire conversation with painter Hollande Bezan, below.