On Saturday, May 31st, Salt Spring women are opening their She Sheds to the public for one day as a fundraiser for The Circle Education’s Pass it On Girls program. Multi-disciplined visual artist Melanie Thompson was on the inaugural tour in 2018 and will be part of the event again this year.
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, everyone interested in these backyard oases can meet the women behind the sheds and learn about the different ways they are built and used.
Visual artist Melanie Thompson is returning on the tour this year and is one of the thirteen sheds that are open to the public on May 31st. “I had so many people visiting seven years ago, it was really great”, she says. “I was immediately drawn to the idea of opening up my shed and participating in the tour. Normally, it is just me here, creating art all by myself. I love to have this opportunity to talk about art and show my work to other people.”
Thompson’s husband built the She Shed in 2009, using reclaimed materials. “After finishing my Fine Arts diploma at Emily Carr, I had a small studio in a cabin on the Fraser River in Vancouver. I loved that space, but travelling back and forth from Salt Spring to work there, became less practical over time. Meanwhile on Salt Spring Island, we had a neglected vegetable garden, so we transformed the garden area into my studio space. Now, I buy veggies from local farmers and spend my time making art instead”, she says with a smile.
You can find Thompson in her shed daily. “Even if it’s just for a couple of hours. It’s a space dedicated to creating art – not necessarily to produce something for sale, but to show up and be present with the process. I love that it is my space and it exists solely to support my creative life.”
The She Shed Tour on May 31st (10 am – 4 pm) is a unique and rare opportunity to peek into creative spaces and to be inspired. Tickets ($25 per person) are available at https://thecircleeducation.org/she-shed-tour/
The She Shed Tour and the Pass It On Girls program share the desire to empower women and girls by fostering creativity, mentorship, intergenerational relationships, and strong community connections—both support spaces where confidence and self-expression thrive
