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Welcome to Finn Slough and the Finn Slough Heritage & Wetland Society. The residents and fishers who live and work in this unique community invite you to explore the pages of this website and uncover the many delightful aspects of the "Slough"; its Finnish roots, the who's who of wildlife and plants, current events related to our community and its role in the rich heritage of the Fraser River.

Discover Finn Slough! Click on the buttons to the left and be sure to visit our Gallery to view images collected from today's artists.

Finn Slough (or sometimes Gilmore or Tiffin Slough) can be found on the south arm of the mighty Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. The Slough is bounded on the Fraser River side by Gilmour Island and on the north by a dyke built to protect Richmond. Access to homes on the Gilmour Island side of the Slough is by a wooden draw-bridge, creating a definite sense of isolation from the nearby urban areas of Richmond and Vancouver.

Amazing Art Year (2017) for Finn Slough!

Right now, a chance to see Finn Slough artists in the Galleria, Richmond City Hall: "Inside, Looking out" up until June 12 2017. More about this below.

2017 has been a great year for Finn Slough’s involvement with art. For 17 years now, the Art about Finn Slough show has been showcasing representations of Finn Slough made by artists who live in Richmond, visit Richmond, love Richmond and have been moved by Finn Slough’s historical and ecological difference.

Artists have long been drawn to Finn Slough because of its small-is-beautiful way of relating to its place on the planet and these artists have wonderfully represented what they saw and shared in the conversation that this place prompts. We are honoured to celebrate their vision and enjoy the way the diverse work speaks about the place.

And it is probably no surprise that Finn Slough also has its own population of artists who actually live there, close to and inspired by the water, the tides, the diversity of plant and animal life that graces the place.

Our annual Art about Finn Slough show this year ran from April 6 to 9^th. As a special treat, this year, from April 2 to April 29 two Finn Slough artists, Melanie Thompson and Liane Varnam, exhibited in the Rotunda of the Richmond Cultural Centre in conjunction with our annual art show in Art FROM Finn Slough. Varnam’s magic realism that blends local references and images with big ideas, making the impossible possible resonates in a thought provoking way with Thompson’s beautiful and also stark “wreaths” made of found objects, including seal bones found in the Fraser by another Finn Slough resident. These found objects make their own comment as they reform and complete the deconstruction prompted by natural forces like the Fraser River.

As well, in Richmond City Hall, the “Inside, Looking Out” show in the Galleria, showcases Finn Slough artists from April 25^th to June 12^th 2017. This show represents how these artists have distilled their experience of Finn Slough as a natural world with some human activity gently stitched on the edge, and as a domestic home-space, an observation point from which to understand the larger world of their daily lives. What gathers the work here is a kind of response to two questions: What do you see out YOUR window? How does your home frame your view? Like the natural habitat, the answers are diverse.

This is an opportunity to see how Finn Slough residents' artistic vision connects with their home place and how their homes shape their views of the world. Featured artists: Glen Andersen, Leanne Currie, David Dorrington, Marina Szijarto, Liane Varnam and Tom Wren.

Part of a talk given by Nadeane Trowse at the 13th Annual Art About Finn Slough Show.

Marina Szijarto, one of our residents has presented at this event on the subject above.

The title of this particular PechaKucha is "Secrets of the Fraser: the stories, hidden histories and creative inspiration that flows from the waterway of the Fraser River".

The evening revolved around a presentation format where each presenter shows 20 images for 20 seconds each while speaking (about a 6 ½ minute presentation).

'PechaKucha' - is organized by Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site and the City of Richmond Public Art Program.

" PechaKucha events provide a platform for individuals to share ideas, network, and show work in public. The event will offer the community to meet the presenters and engage in conversations about the arts and culture.

The PechaKucha organization is a non-profit, grass-roots group. The event is free to the public and participating presenters are not reimbursed. More information can be obtained on the PechaKucha website: www.pechakucha.org."

Here is a video by Marina Szijarto called Meditation with Tides, a beautiful time lapse art piece showing the pulse of the Finn Slough tides.

In Marina's words: “At Finn Slough, Richmond, BC. 'Where history & nature gently co-exist'
This stop action movie was taken from the deck of a floating converted net-loft. It was originally taken to capture the many tourists who visit Finn Slough over its historic 90 year old bridge, but the movement of the tide, the 'breathing' of the place became the point of interest, the meditation.”

The Belcarra South Preservation Society is trying to keep Metro Vancouver from demolishing their homes. Here are a couple of links pertaining to their struggle. One to the Society’s page and the other to a very good article by Charles Campbell.

The 2008 Art About Finn Slough Show theme "A Bridge to History" generated some wonderful bridge stories from some of the residents. Read them here. A definite piano theme seems to be running through.

Here Al is bringing the fish boat EVA down Finn Slough from its winter cradle for the summer. To get through the drawbridge over to Gilmour Island it is necessary to remove five planks, so David is lifting the last one just in time. Hear that sound? That's the distinctive pop-pop pop-pop of EVA's classic make and break Easthope gas engine.

A very brazen Piliated Woodpecker came by as I stepped out today and could care less that I was filming.

There has been a wild bee nest in this shed at Finn Slough since before 1982.

George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary