Author and musician Shannon Matter often cycles past Heritage Woods secondary, admiring the Port Moody high school’s structural design and First Nation artwork.
Last year, still needing illustrations for her latest book, Arctic Rescue, the Coquitlam resident asked the art teacher if — by chance — she had any students to help her.
Eager to expose her students to “real-life learning,” Sheri Tompkins invited Matter to speak to her Art Careers cohort to see if a student would take on the challenge.
Less than three months later, Olivia Oh presented Matter with a series of images to complement her poetic text about the state of polar bears and their declining habitat.
Matter was blown away by the quality of the work: Watercolour and acrylic wash scenes, depicting a mother polar bear and her cub on ice floes and the whales that save them.
“She’s the star of the book,” said Matter of Oh, during an interview at Heritage Woods secondary last week.
Oh, 17, who plans to attend Emily Carr University of Art + Design in the fall and last month clinched the Don Portelance Scholarship for her artwork at Coquitlam Centre, said the book project was close to her heart as she’s an environmental activist.
“I already cared about the topic and, reading the words and being visual, it didn’t take long to do.”
Matter was inspired to write the book based on a card she received in 2001 from friend Tinesja Vanel.
The image of a mother polar bear on its back, playing with her cub, spoke to her until 2014, when she began to research about the plight of the species from climate change.
Polar Bears International, the World Wildlife Fund and Enchanted Learning proved to be valuable resources as Matter delved into the study.
Arctic Rescue is Matters’ fifth publication and she hopes Heritage Woods will continue its partnership for her next work: Streaky the Comet: Book Two, due out in 2020.
Meanwhile, Arctic Rescue will be added to the Port Moody Public Library’s White Pines Collection of local authors, in August.
To order a copy, visit shannonmatter.com.
