The Gail O’Riordan Climate and Arts Legacy Fund
Celebrating Gaia Series: A Metamorphosis in Consciousness, April 2025 to April 2028
Gail was a cellist with the Victoria Symphony for over 30 years and a teacher and mentor to hundreds of students before she passed from cancer in 2018. Gail believed that performing art is a powerful force
for inspiring audiences to respond to the climate and ecological crises that are upon us. Gail’s vision is for a planet that is both safe for humanity by living within nature’s planetary boundaries and just by offering diversity and equal opportunities for all people.
Her Legacy Fund was established in 2019 to bring together creative artists to help raise collective consciousness to achieve these goals. This transformation will require a metamorphosis in consciousness where community interest is more important that individual self-interest.
Love of nature is a fundamental part of our Canadian heritage.
Over the coming three years, there will be a series of events by several performing arts groups with opportunities for dialogue to entice people to attend the Celebrating Gaia Festival in April 2028. The events scheduled for 2025 are listed on the website.
There will be additional performances in 2026 and 2027 featuring the themes of nature, biodiversity and justice to increase public connection to Gail’s vision. There will also be opportunities for dialogue to engage the public in discussion on how we might shift our thinking and behaviour to live within nature’s limits. Many of these productions will be collaborations with a range of performing arts groups to increase the scope and impact of the messages.
In April 2028, Christ Church Cathedral supported by Climate and the Arts will suspend a large-scale model of the Earth – known as Gaia in Greek. The model will inspire a commitment by all of us to live within nature’s limits.
Luke Jerram, a UK-based multi-media artist, has created a large-scale model of the globe based on precise photos of the planetary surface taken by NASA. It is an inspiring sight in full colour 3D that simulates seeing the Earth from the Moon to appear as realistic as possible.
A three-week Festival celebrating the Model is planned for April/May 2028 with specially commissioned works based on the theme of nature, biodiversity and justice to enable audiences to witness the awe and majesty of the Earth and celebrate this fragile living ecosystem. The intention is for the model to inspire people to think, discuss and act in ways to live collectively within nature’s limits rather than focusing on self-interests – A Metamorphosis in Consciousness… as Gail was convinced that only a universal change in human consciousness will enable us to adapt to the changing climate.
