Project page: https://sugarloafnorthshore.org/education-and-outreach/the-seeker/
Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center, located on the North Shore of Lake Superior, has partnered with queer, Minneapolis-based public artist, Diver Van Avery (they/them) to host a unique, site-specific art project that will be available for visitors to experience from June 1 to October 31, 2024. Van Avery spent four months in residence at Sugarloaf Cove where they wrote and created “The Seeker”, an audio story featuring original songs about how the restoring woods of Sugarloaf Cove and the expansive water of Gitchi Gumi help a griever release their pain, discover love, and remember their origins. Visitors can listen to this site-specific story as they walk the one-mile trail from our visitor center through the forest, along Sugarloaf Creek, to the shore of the Great Lake. During the summer of 2023, “The Seeker” received overwhelmingly positive feedback and we are thrilled to premiere it to the larger public this summer.
• “The Seeker” will be available for visitors to experience from June 1-October 31
• The experience is free while donations to Sugarloaf Cove are encouraged
• Visitors can borrow headphones and listening devices from the Nature Center during open hours
• People can also download the audio from Sugarloaf Cove Nature Center’s website and listen to it on their personal device and headphones on their own
About “The Seeker”
“The Seeker” explores the healing that can happen as we face the impacts of the deaths we have experienced both in our personal lives and in the natural world within the age of extinction.
To write the story and songs, Van Avery researched the geological history and the forces of lava, ice, and melting water that shaped the landscape of Sugarloaf Cove and the North Shore.
They also studied the more recent history of the site including the paper company that owned and clearcut the land before donating it to the state. Since becoming a nature sanctuary, the forest is growing back and flourishing with the help of the North Shore Stewardship Association.
The story within “The Seeker” is rooted in Van Avery’s queer identity and perspectives on how their relationship with the natural world has allowed them to release binary ways of being and seeing and embrace plurality. Listeners are also encouraged to imagine forward and explore what is possible when we view the restoring landscape as a source of hope in these complex times. A visitor last summer shared, “I feel deeply lucky to have had this experience with this art piece. It is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, and I will take it with me in the lifetime and the next.”