The Circle Education is bringing the Salt Spring Island She Shed Tour back on May 31st, 2025. Salt Spring women are opening their She Sheds – places for women to create, write, make, grow, think and escape – to the public for one day as a fundraiser for the Pass it On Girls program. It is a unique and rare opportunity to peek into these creative spaces and to be inspired.
Virginia Woolf once argued that, for women, writing fiction required a “room of one’s own”. Nowadays more and more women, not only writers, are dreaming of a special space to create, write, make, grow, think and escape the bustle of daily life. During the self-guided tour on Saturday, May 31st, everyone who’s interested in these backyard oases can meet the women behind the sheds and learn about the different ways they use them.
Susan Wetmore was the mastermind behind the first She Shed Tour on Salt Spring Island in 2018. The former Salt Spring resident was looking for new fundraising ideas when she stumbled upon the She Shed movement – women reinventing sheds for personal space for work, relaxation, or creativity. “I like to think out of the box and I was fascinated by these creative spaces that women had created. That’s how I came up with the She Shed Tour. I searched high and low, but it seemed it had never happened in this neck of the woods before.”
She found that Salt Spring, with its vibrant art community, was the perfect place for a She Shed Tour. “Salt Spring is home to a lot of creative people and in 2018 we found fourteen women who wanted to open up their sheds for one day and tell visitors about the story behind their sheds. We had a wide variety of She Shed owners, both young and older women. Together they formed an eclectic mix of artists, potters, sculptors, weavers, jewelry makers, wood workers, blacksmiths and seamstresses.”
Photo: Adina Hildebrandt and Susan Wetmore in 2018.
The focus on women and their creative spaces fits in really well with the programs of The Circle Education. In the Pass it On programs teenagers learn all kinds of life skills, for example how to deal with emotions in a healthy way, which will have lasting benefits later in life. Having a space where you can get away from your busy life, to create and express yourself, increases self-esteem, alleviates anxiety and stress and contributes overall to better mental health.
The first She Shed Tour attracted locals and people from Vancouver Island, Vancouver and even the United States. Wetmore: “It was a beautiful day, it was busy at every shed and people enjoyed the personal stories behind those special places. It was a true success and I am so glad that this event will happen again.”
Salt Spring artist Wendy Taylor was one of the fourteen She Shed owners on the first She Shed Tour. In the courtyard of her lush and exotic garden, she transformed a toolshed into a tiny gallery. It’s where she displays and stores her artwork, inspired by the natural surroundings of the Pacific Northwest Coast. “I created Gallery 59 when I moved to Salt Spring Island 22 years ago”, she says. “I did not have enough space for my art in our house, so I took it on as a project to transform the toolshed, which had two tiny windows, in the garden into a little art gallery.”
Wendy created her shed out of recycled and repurposed materials. “Found objects, like two French doors and windows I had stumbled upon years earlier on one of my walks, have been upscaled with love in this little building,” she continues. “I put in the doors and the windows myself and made shelves on the walls to display my paintings.”
During the She Shed Tour, Wendy had a constant stream of visitors. “Most people came for inspiration, they were interested to see how the sheds were built, what materials were used, and what the inside looked like. They were surprised to see how different all the sheds were, there was so much diversity: little sheds like mine, but also bigger ones. I think it was a unique experience. People had the rare opportunity to peek into someone’s creative space and see what they create, and the chance to support young women at the same time by participating in this lovely event.”
The She Shed Tour is a self-guiding tour and will take place on Saturday, May 31st. Do you have a Shed Shed and would you consider participating in the tour? Please send an email (before Saturday, March 23rd) to our She Shed coordinator Natalie Moore at [email protected]