Holly Arntzen By Judy McAllister Holly Arntzen slips off her bicycle releasing long wisps of hair from beneath her helmet. Her gracefully slender frame leaves a refreshing image of her sense of place. Holly speaks with passion about the role music plays in her life. She remembers nature always being her backyard and singing amidst it all. Mount Seymour, Lynne Valley, Cortes Island and the Salish Sea are her heritage sites. From the 1980s onward she has performed at major folk and children's festivals. Her heart and soul interweave flawlessly into her songs. Holly sings and strums her dulcimer with free-flowing energy, culminating in a message of deep love and caring for Earth. Holly is not only a songster, but also an educator. She leads hundreds of children, throughout school programs called "Voices of Nature", in song surrounding various environmental settings and sustainability issues. Her understanding of how our individual and collective footprints impact the places we love form the crux of the educational materials she and her late partner and producer Stephen Foster, created. Their CDs and resource materials lace the library of curriculum schools use to have children learn about their home place. The hope is that children will make sound choices in contributing towards making an ecological footprint. In her Winds of Change album, Holly directs children through song lines tackling the ecological issue of climate change. She captures their spirits in loving what she herself loves, the natural world around her. She sings with the children:"I believe we are capable of helping. I believe that it's not too late to change" This sing-along then becomes a family affair. The infectious interest ripples outwards as one child singing "Orca Baby" shares with her mom what she knows about nature. Her mother claims that this never would have happened otherwise. Holly stresses the need of children to play in nature. She remarks that everyone needs to feel that joy and simplicity that music also stirs in children. "This combination of children and music brings a purity that touches deep within and is always coming from this new place, an innocent, pure place." Her expressive eyes enliven her words of simple goals within the power of all, especially children. Unifying efforts will be her artistic focus in a project called EcoFest, a national community outreach initiative to educate about ecology through music and the arts. Its objectives are to support the Decade for Sustainable Development 2005-2015. Artist Response Team (ART), Holly's "cultural swat team", partnered with Royal Roads University, Recycling Council of BC, Macleans magazine, Central Okanagan Regional District, and many others for EcoFest 2007. A sense of gratitude for nature is the backdrop for the celebrations to be held in B.C., Alberta, and Quebec, along with getting to the matters at heart for sustainability to happen. Come share in the spirit of this project, experience Holly's passion, and join the response. Back to Profiles