Positive Energy Quilters

Gabriola Island and Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada

These quilts represent the views of more than fifty people who oppose B.C. Hydro's plans to build a gas-fired power plant near Nanaimo, B.C.

Quilters and artists from Gabriola Island and Nanaimo expressed themselves visually in their quilt squares and have used the quilts as a means of drawing attention to the environmental, political, and financial issues involved in the Vancouver Island Generating Project.

Much of the hand-stitched quilting was done in public places so that the quilters could talk to passers-by about the gas-fired plant. The quilters joined many others opposed to the Vancouver Island Generating Project, and took the quilts to community meetings, to rallies and marches, to Nanaimo City Hall, and to the sidewalks outside venues where Hydro and various governmental agencies held meetings, panels, and reviews.

Photos of the quilts and documentary material from the quilters were submitted to B.C. Hydro, to the Environmental Assessment Hearings, to B.C. Utility Commission Hearings, and to the media.
Although the Vancouver Island Generating Project has been denied approval by the B.C. Utilities Commission, BC Hydro continues to promote construction of the plant. The quilts are still being used and displayed as eloquent images of opposition to the project.