The UFV Abbotsford Library has a new exhibit running through Jan 30, 2024. A Flood of Stories presents expressive artwork created by people who were affected by the atmospheric river flooding of 2021.

Dr. Michelle Superle, associate professor, and research associate in UFV’s Food and Agriculture Institute, teamed with student assistant Sydney Marchand to launch the Flood Stories project in 2022. During the first stage, they invited Sumas Prairie residents to share their experiences through spoken, written, and artistic formats. The second stage was running an ‘expressive arts’ contest for children and youth in Abbotsford and Chilliwack, and UFV community members. Submitted work appeared at the Reach Gallery Museum in early 2023.

“Flood Stories was one of the most important and rewarding experiences of my life—and it’s actually altered the trajectory of my career,” Superle says. “The original goal was to offer cathartic storytelling experiences for those affected both directly and indirectly by the flooding. We accomplished that goal—and so much more. It’s exciting to learn that Flood Stories was the most well-attended exhibit the Reach has hosted in the Community Arts Space. But it’s life-altering to hear from participants who experienced benefits like empowerment, healing, and creative productivity because of involvement with the project.”

The new exhibit brings back some of the most powerful works as a reminder of the eastern Fraser Valley’s resilience. Children’s artwork is being displayed in the hallway of UFV Abbotsford’s building G. Other highlights from the exhibit are showcased inside the library, although Superle says there’s only space for a fraction of the works.

“It’s such an honour to have the work participants created displayed again,” she says. “For me, it validates their stories and highlights the importance of those stories—as well as the power of expressive writing and art in the healing process. It’s so gratifying that the UFV Library recognizes the value of these kinds of research outputs by showcasing arts-based, community-based research like this.”

There is also a collection of books available for check out that relate to expressive and creative arts therapy.

Superle is now taking the original project a step further in partnership with the University of Victoria’s Climate Disaster Project. This new version, called A Flood of Stories, expands the scope to include more than the flooding of 2021. Anyone who wants to share a story about climate disaster, sustainability, and/or food security is invited to participate in Superle’s 20 Harvest Challenge and/or the Climate Disaster Project.

“I have incredibly mixed feelings about continuing with this work,” she says. “I am overjoyed to be able to share and facilitate empowering narrative processes with people who have experienced adversity. Being privileged to play a role in getting important voices heard is the epitome of why I do what I do as an English professor. On the other hand, the fact that this work is continuing is due to the effects of climate change on real people’s real lives, so in that sense, it’s heartbreaking that there’s so much scope to carry on with the work.

“I do hope and believe that these approaches to storytelling are effective, both for the storytellers and for the people who experience the survivors’ stories. I have faith in the power of these stories to make a difference.”