Merritt pets featured in art exhibit for providing ‘comfort, peace’ during natural disasters

After all the chaos and natural devastation people in Merritt faced last year, some artists with animals used their skills to highlight the comfort and joy their pets and livestock gave them during some of the most challenging times in their lives.

In November, the City of Merritt was one of the hardest-hit regions impacted by the massive rainstorm. This came just months after devastating forest fires ripped through the town during the summer.

Artist Amanda Pryzner-Dunn was one of the several thousand who evacuated because of the flooding. Till now, she hasn’t been able to go home because of the damage.

But from the time Pryzner-Dunn had to flee her home until now, her dog Jeff has been by her side for comfort.

“There were days that were obviously quite difficult. And we were feeling weary at times, but it’s almost like he would give us that time,” she explains. “Jeff would know when it was time to also get out and get some fresh air … And we’d head to the dog park or go for a walk. And it did just kind of bring some routine and normality.”

Jeff is a rescue dog from the B.C. SPCA in Kelowna that Pryzner-Dunn adopted about five years ago. She adds, because of a head injury he is blind.

“He certainly might be blind, but he can definitely sense when some major situations are happening and when we’re just stressed.”

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As a tribute to her pet, Pryzner-Dunn painted a portrait of Jeff, which will be displayed at the Creature Comforts art show at the Nicola Valley Art Gallery in Merritt.

This exhibition is a collection of work artists have created to share stories of how pets have been an important part of their lives amid the wildfires and floods.

Curator Jano Howarth is another testament to how much pets can offer their owners a sense of comfort in difficult times. She had to evacuate from Merritt to the Shuswap with her son and their cat.

When thinking about a theme for the exhibition, she considered centering it around the fires and floods but noticed “there just seem to be so much hurt.”

“There was still so much damage and so many people who are still displaced. So I felt let’s come out from just another angle and do a community art show focusing on these creatures that we do so much for and they do so much for us,” Horwath said.

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For artists like Pryzner-Dunn, she says after experiencing so much loss, it felt good to her to focus on the positivity in her life.

“After sort of experiencing losing my home and belongings, and kind of having some big life changes the last couple of months, my creative mind space wasn’t ready to sort of create in the same way that I would normally be expecting to. And I think that the subject was perfect, because it was kind of outside myself to really find something, some sort of optimism outside of all of the chaos that’s going on, and pets are often kind of a steadfast member of the family,” she says.

“Jeff had been through a lot with us during the past couple of months and was a constant reminder of how to seek out comfort. And he provided us with lots of comfort and peace. So it was time to honour him in that way.”

Pryzner-Dunn is one of 17 artists exhibiting their work from January 26 to March 13 and is open to the public Wednesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.