Emily Kelsall, who identified herself as one of the people who covered Emily Carr’s 1934 painting Stumps and Sky with maple syrup, said she was with a group called Stop Fracking Around. The group is calling for an end to the Coast GasLink Pipeline project, which is under construction from Dawson Creek to Kitimat on BC’s north coast. The group told the media that, along with other protesters around the world, they are targeting artworks because too little is being done to stop the progress of human-caused climate change. “I think any publicity we can get as an organization is worth it because the climate crisis is the most pressing crisis of our time,” Kelsall told CBC News. “And the government, instead of acting responsibly, is building fossil fuel infrastructure, doing the exact opposite of what science and ethics say we should be doing.” Emily Kelsall spoke to CBC News on Saturday, November 12, after she said she poured maple syrup on an Emily Carr painting at the Vancouver Art Gallery to draw attention to the global climate emergency. (Shawn Foss/CBC News) A press release from Stop Fracking around identified the other person involved in throwing maple syrup on Carr’s painting as Erin Fletcher. In an email to CBC News, the Vancouver Police Department said two women entered the art gallery Saturday afternoon, put maple syrup on the painting and then posed for a third person who appeared to be taking photos and videos.

Police said no arrests have been made, but officers are investigating the incident. Kelsall said her gallery staff escorted her and Fletcher from the gallery. In a statement, the Vancouver Art Gallery confirmed that the painting was vandalized but there was no permanent damage to the artwork, which a recording from the gallery says “can be seen as a lament for the commercialization of the old forest.” The gallery said it was cooperating with the police in the investigation and that while it supports the free expression of ideas, targeting artworks in places like art galleries is wrong. “Vancouver Art Gallery condemns acts of vandalism to works of cultural significance in our care or at any museum,” Anthony Kiendl, director and CEO of Vancouver Art Gallery, said in the statement. “Making safer spaces for communication and ideas is central to our mission.” Kelsall told CBC News that the team checked to make sure the painting was covered in glass and wouldn’t be damaged by the maple syrup before proceeding with the vandalism.