Exploring the Okanagan arts scene means never quite knowing where you'll end up. So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that my most interesting opportunity as a writer thus far has come from a festival named after a man I'd never heard of. At least, not before this spring. I made the assumption that it must have been the name of some artist or family that had lived in Summerland. Maybe someone who started the festival years ago, or maybe just some rich guy who put up the money for it. Whatever the story was, I needed to know it.
The rich guy theory fell apart fast. It turns out Ryga was born into the Depression in the farming community of Deep Creek, Alberta, only a few hours from where I grew up. His parents, like most of the people in Deep Creek, were Ukrainian immigrants with no wealth to speak of. It's a story I've heard before. My grandparents and their families were German immigrants to the prairies, and most of George's story in Deep Creek could have been a stand-in for the story of my own relatives. It was a time when people worked thanklessly in the hope that one day their children wouldn't have to. But unlike so many others, George Ryga wouldn't wait for future generations to make it out of Deep Creek.
Now, famously, George made it out on his own. He refused to accept that where he came from would define his life. And like so many of us, he found in the arts a refuge from a place that couldn't understand him. Most people are shaped by where they land. What those around them do and enjoy becomes what they do and enjoy. But there are those of us for whom the situation we're dropped into is never quite in line with who we truly are. George was one of us. And just like me, it was the arts that helped him find his place in the world.
Growing up, and even today, I've always been a step out of sync with the world around me. Naturally curious, I've spent years working through counselling to understand myself better. It became apparent to me a few years ago that I was quite likely on the autism spectrum, and since discovering this fact, I find the world a lot easier to understand. I came to the realization that it wasn't a problem that I had different interests than those around me, and I've made more efforts to find things that I can properly connect with. Intentionally or not, this is what shapes my work.
I can't claim to have faced the hardships that George Ryga did. I have no evidence that our personalities were anything alike, and he began his pursuit of education and artistic realization at a far younger age than myself. But I do find his story to be relatable, and not just because it started very close to my own. George knew as a young man that he was in the wrong place, and his journey led him to accomplish his most notable work in Summerland. While my own road to the Okanagan looked very different, and quite frankly, a lot less interesting, I've also found my place here.
There's something about the Okanagan that inspires. It drew George here, it drew me here, and it continues to draw people every September for the Ryga Arts Festival. George's most famous works were written to give voice to marginalized people. His work to bring awareness to Indigenous issues created a legacy of recognition for those whose stories rarely reached the stage. The range of people and groups who fall into that category is wide and diverse. None of us can claim to understand the experience of all others, nor should we. Nonetheless, at the festival, we all have a chance to share the stage.
In my short time involved with the festival, it's this openness that I've been most drawn to. It's the type of environment I spent a long time looking for, but didn't always believe I'd find. This will be my first Ryga Arts Festival, but from all that I've gathered about past installments, it will offer an experience I've found so rarely: the chance to enjoy an event without having to mask my natural self. That's what this festival offers, and not just to me. It gathers artists, performers, writers, and neighbours from across the province and beyond, each arriving with a different story. Just like George Ryga, we'll all find a place in Summerland this fall.
As for me, I've spent the last few weeks getting to know the man this is all named for. There's a biography next to me that I've read cover to cover, and I've still got plenty of questions for the person who wrote it. But that's a story for another day.