Painting the Highway
Nicole Bauberger paints by the side of the highway just west of Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., in 2011. Photo by Miranda Bouchard.
You could say Nicole Bauberger is a stop-and-start driver. No, it’s not frequent washroom breaks or snack attacks. It’s her art project – Get There From Here.
A Yukon resident, she has been taking long drives in different parts of Canada since 2008, documenting the journey in paintings that measure one foot by one foot. She stops every 50 kilometres, pulls out her brushes and sets to work. She has basically travelled across Canada from sea to sea to sea.
Now, a pop quiz to test your understanding of Canadian geography. How many paintings would that be? Bauberger says 220, and, faced with skepticism, googles her route to confirm that it’s roughly 11,000 kilometres. Divided by 50, yup, that's about right.
Her paintings show highway scenes familiar to Canadians – overpasses, directional signs, multiple lanes of traffic – the transient vistas we see while driving, but usually don't focus on.
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Nicole Bauberger, “Get There From Here #51 (west of Montreal),” 2011
oil on cradled panel, 12” x 12”
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Nicole Bauberger, “Get There From Here #49 (east of Montreal),” 2015
oil on cradled panel, 12” x 12”
Her project is displayed at the Art Gallery of Swift Current in Saskatchewan until June 25 and then heads to its next stop at the Esplanade Arts and Heritage Centre in Medicine Hat, Alta., from July 15 to Sept. 2.
Bauberger's images draw a response from viewers. “It is possible that the road, as Canadians, is our biggest common cultural artifact,” she says.
She usually does three paintings a day, then camps for the night. She travels alone, although she took her mother along the Highway of Tears in Northern B.C., which is notorious for abductions of solo women travellers. She is careful to stop in safe, legal spots. If it’s raining, she paints inside her truck.
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Nicole Bauberger, “Get There From Here (between Edmonton and Grande Prairie),” 2009
oil on cradled panel, 12” x 12”
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Nicole Bauberger, “Get There From Here #204 (Dempster Highway, Yukon),” 2008
oil on cradled panel, 12” x 12”
Bauberger has struggled with loneliness at times, but also recalls the kindness of strangers. Near Portage La Prairie, Man., a highway worker gave her a safety vest so oncoming drivers would see her more easily.
“In the most beautiful gentle way he said: ‘If I gave you this, would you wear it?’” It smelled like someone else had been using it, but it made her feel less alone. “Once I put on that high-visibility vest, I felt I was part of the team. These guys had made me part of the team of people out there working on the road.”
Painting beside a highway is not for the faint of heart. “It’s not a pleasant place to work,” says Bauberger. “It’s loud. But I felt like occupying and humanizing that space was something that was interesting enough to be worth doing.”
Art Gallery of Swift Current
411 Herbert Street E, Swift Current, Saskatchewan S9H 1M5
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