Wild Roses

Local interdisciplinary artist Katie Strongman is showing new quilt work entitled Wild Roses in the North Nook Gallery. The exhibit is viewable 24/7 in the front window of The Arts Guild in Charlottetown until July 31.

Wild Roses centres the Virginia Rose, a plant native to PEI whose ecological role extends far beyond its visual beauty. These resilient shoreline shrubs help stabilize coastal landscapes, while their blossoms provide abundant pollen for pollinators and their rosehips sustain wildlife through the winter months.

The work reflects on the enduring influence of 19th-century English garden traditions across the Island’s public and private spaces. While aesthetically celebrated, these cultivated landscapes often privilege non-native and at times invasive species, obscuring deeper considerations of ecological interdependence and the relationships between plants, place, and habitat.

Through embroidery, beading, appliqué, and quilting, Strongman creates a vivid gesture of recognition and celebration for a species that quietly supports the health and continuity of the land and its communities.

This exhibit is made possible with support from The Arts Guild and the City of Charlottetown through its Arts & Culture Grants.