Vancouver, B.C.
Mildred German’s ‘Meadow’ at the 15th Annual Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show (September 2 to October 7)
Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Mildred Grace German’s artwork is inspired by the beauty of wild plants and flowers and the struggle to protect green spaces in big cities such as Vancouver Mildred German Vancouver, BC – “Meadow” is the title of Vancouver-based multidisciplinary artist Mildred Grace German’s artwork as part of the 15th Annual Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show. The exhibition opened on the evening of September 2 at its regular venue, Gallery Gachet, located at 9 West Hasting Street, Vancouver, BC. The Friday opening reception was packed with an art-loving crowd.
German, who is also a professional chef and a certified gardener, has been inspired by the struggle to protect green spaces in big cities such as Vancouver. In the past, she became a long-time volunteer with Farm Folk / City Folk Society. Currentlyt, she gardens with her parents and takes care of a cat.

“Nature is part of our overall wellness,” shares German, whose work then and now remains nature-inspired. “At many times, it is very humbling to lay down in the field of grass, with your back on the ground, and watching the sky above, with all the clouds!” German adds. Other nature-inspired artwork by German was her 2008 installation “Waiting”, which featured a backdrop of big fluffy clouds, and blue skies. (“Waiting” was featured in the book, Families Apart: Migrant Mothers and the Conflict of Labor and Love by UBC Geography Professor Geraldine Pratt. “Waiting” was exhibited at Gallery Gachet and at the Museum of Vancouver (MOV) as part of the Work of Migration project, and the Maleta project.) German also created a poetry video entitled “Flowers” during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of Reel Youth’s Fresh Connections which premiered on November 9, 2021.
https://www.reelyouth.ca/freshconnections-films.html
As an avid writer, German’s love for wild plants and flowers was reflected in her article “Take Time To Smell The Flowers”, which was published in Issue #29 of Right to Food zine, rtfzine.org. German has also written numerous articles on the climate change crisis. German is also one of the artists of the 8th Annual VINES Arts Festival https://vinesartfestival.com. Along with Carlos and Mirager, she presented “In Search Of Hope: Kariton, Karton, Cartoon!”, an installation about the global supply chain crisis.
2022 also marks German’s 4th consecutive year of participation in the VINES Art Festival. WHAT ‘OPENING UP’ MEANS: THE 15th ANNUAL OPPENHEIMER PARK COMMUNITY ART SHOW . This annual show began in 2008. Year 2022 marks its 15th year of featuring “artwork and insight of artists and community leaders connected to or displaced from Oppenheimer Park, the green space known as Lek’leki, the Powell Street Grounds, Paureu gai, the backyard of the Downtown Eastside; the unceded land of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.” This year’s show is the grandest yet with 80 participating artists.
“Although the world looks very different in 2022, we are proud to carry on the tradition of the Oppenheimer Park show for its 15th consecutive year. For some artists, participating in the show is an annual tradition, while others are contributing for the first time,” as mentioned in the 15th Oppenheimer Park Community Art Show catalogue. “This year’s iteration of the Oppenheimer exhibition revolves around futurity and questioning what ‘opening up’ means. Common themes of identity, place and perspectivism also surfaces, as these artworks act as a monument to the lived experiences and agency of the artists.
” A community partnership between Oppenheimer Park, Carnegie Community Centre Association (CCCA), and Gallery Gachet, and with support from the British Columbia Art Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and City of Vancouver, it is proudly a free art show for spectators. Each participating artist receives an artist fee. Participating artists are also free to sell their artwork and to keep 100% of the sale.
German’s new book of poetry has just been published and available at Barnes & Noble.
“An Iroy Nga Tuna (The Motherland), A Dedication is a poetry collection written in 2021 from the heart and reflections of the author herself as a diasporic Filipinx in Canada during the 500th year celebration of the Battle of Mactan (1521). Marking the valour and victorious battle of the natives of the Eastern Visayan region of the Philippines against Ferdinand Magellan, the archipelago also became remarkable in its role in the first world circumference voyage recorded. Yet, the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan and Catholicism also means the arrival of the false gods and its empires in the Philippines, and of the colonial spirituality and mentality affecting world peace to date.”