Response By
Mhairi McFarlane
Pearl Sargant Centennial Quilt, 1967
fabric GIft of Connie Sargant, London, Ontario, 2017Response
People in Canada are in many ways closely tied to nature, more so than many realize. So many things we regard as “quintessentially Canadian” are nature: beavers, moose, loons, maples, and here in Ontario, trillium. Seeing both maple and trillium incorporated into this quilt design is a great reminder of the importance of looking after the real pieces of nature from which we have derived so much symbolism, so that we are not left with only the symbols.
Mhairi McFarlane is the Ontario Director of Science and Stewardship at Nature Conservancy of Canada. She has coordinated field-scale restoration of various habitats throughout southwestern Ontario, and serves on the board of the Ontario Invasive Plant Council. She holds a PhD in behavioural ecology from the University of Exeter in Cornwall, England.