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Artist pays tribute to Woodlands residents

The Record
Published: Saturday, February 28, 2009

Michael de Courcy wants to help restore the identities of former students at Woodlands School.

The artist, a longtime New Westminster resident, is the creator of Dead and Buried: The Cemetery at Woodlands, a multimedia exhibition opening at the Amelia Douglas Gallery at Douglas College on March 5.

"There are no surviving photos of the burials at Woodlands. It was literally out of sight, out of mind," de Courcy said in a press release.

His work is a remapping of the Woodlands cemetery, indicating where each person was buried in relation to the existing Woodlands Memorial Garden, which opened in 2007.
"I'm trying to resolve unfinished business," de Courcy said. "With the Memorial Garden, the cemetery now looks like a park. I'm trying to give a sense of the scale of it. Over 36 years, there were two to three burials a week."
Part of de Courcy's work is a recreation of the Woodlands staff barbecue patio, which was built using gravestones of the deceased in the 1970s.
De Courcy has cast replicas using concrete and chosen names to engrave on select stones - including Nora Lyas and W. Bennett, the first and last residents buried, respectively. A barbecue will top the stones.
"I was driven by what I perceive as a great injustice served upon those who were buried when their last vestiges of notoriety, their grave markers, were unceremoniously removed and disposed of," he said.
Woodlands has a long history in New Westminster, having opened in 1878 as the Provincial Asylum for the Insane. It was renamed Woodlands School in 1950 and operated as such until 1996.
As Woodlands, its residents included people diagnosed with physical and developmental disabilities, those with behavioural challenges and wards of the province.
Survivors of the school say there was physical and sexual abuse by staff. A class action suit against the provincial government in connection with the issue is currently on hold.
De Courcy started researching the school in 2001, when the province announced it was selling the Woodlands site for redevelopment.
He first explored Woodlands in a 2003 exhibit, Asylum: a Long Last Look at Woodlands.
Dead and Buried is the first in a series of events that explore the lasting impact of institutionalization on individuals and families across B.C. All the events are taking place at Douglas College in March as part of the Woodlands project.
Asylum, a seven-minute documentary by Douglas criminology instructor and filmmaker Lisa G., will be screened on March 12. In the film, a nurse recalls her days working at Riverview Hospital in 1949 and 1950.
The play Imperfect, a fictional story inspired by the Woodlands School and other institutions, is being staged from March 20 to 28.
Our Story, a panel discussion featuring former Woodlands residents, their families, a former employee and academics from Douglas College, takes place March 27.
Dead and Buried will be on display until April 4 at the Amelia Douglas Gallery, on the fourth floor of Douglas College at 700 Royal Ave.
An opening reception is set for March 5, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., and an artist's talk is scheduled for March 6 at 10 a.m. in Room 1614 at the college.
For information, call 604-527-5723.

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