This four-seasons backyard playground we call home has produced world-class athletes, built a tourism economy, and hosts adventurers from around the world year after year. This November, the Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery presents Elevation – an ambitious exhibition exploring the vast expanse of the mountains in the Kootenays. The art/history exhibition is a celebration, but also explores the resounding environmental impact, the elitism of mountain sports, land and resource use, and more.

“Elevation presents a balanced approach to understanding mountain life, and the highs and lows – the peaks and valleys – of living in and interacting with such a formidable landscape,” says Nelson Museum Curator Arin Fay. “There is so much to be grateful for, but also so much that is taken for granted.” Elevation presents mountain life through many lenses, including geology, history, sports, art, climate change, and environmental activism.” 

The exhibition features a showstopper art piece by Tyler Toews, photography by Sinixt photographer Derrick J. LaMere, contributions from Eileen Delehanty Pearkes, Douglas Noblet, and other community contributors, and was heavily researched by co-curator Darren Davidson and Museum Research Intern Sam McGuire. 

Elevation is the third in a series of hyper-local community-supported art/history convergence exhibitions. It follows the same model as 2018’s award-winning exhibition Mountain Bike Retrospective, and The Grow Show in 2021, which is slated for publication release in spring 2024.