This June, we are delighted to welcome the Oshawa Garden Club Butterflyway Rangers to our Backyard at the RMG for a special family-friendly experience! Young gardeners and grown-ups alike can join us and learn something new.
Flowers have sprung all over Downtown Oshawa! Let’s celebrate our beautiful botanical gardens and our very own Backyard at the RMG with artwork!
In the Backyard, two local Butterflyway Rangers (Ann Couch and Judy Jaeger) will be on hand with some fun activities, information about attracting pollinators to your garden, how to be part of a local Butterflyway and answer garden related questions.
In the studio, use a variety of found-objects and materials to stamp in flower shapes. We are getting messy with ink, making our artworks stand out against a colourful collaged background.
In the lookout, admire our backyard through the giant window. Use strips of paper to curl and swirl them into coils. We will arrange them to make an intricate and sculptural paper quilled creation.
About the Butterflyway Project
The Butterflyway Project is a citizen-led movement growing networks of habitat for bees and butterflies across Canada.
Launched by the David Suzuki Foundation in 2017 — alongside its Quebec sister program, L’effet Papillon — the project began in five cities and has since grown into a national network of volunteers creating habitat in yards, school grounds, boulevards and parks. From inception to 2025, the foundation trained 1,850 Butterflyway Rangers in hundreds of communities throughout Canada. Rangers work with neighbours and local partners to plant native wildflowers, grasses, trees and shrubs. When 12 or more habitat gardens are established in close proximity, a new Butterflyway is established.
Butterflyway impact to date (as of 2025):
- 132,000+ native wildflowers and grasses planted
- 3,600+ trees and shrubs planted
- 7,600+ habitat gardens established
- 157 official Butterflyways established
The Butterflyway Project is rooted in the award-winning Homegrown National Park Project (2013–2015), which created butterfly-friendly corridors in Toronto neighbourhoods. The project and various Rangers have received numerous local and national accolades and awards, including the Canadian Museum of Nature’s Nature Inspiration Award.
Interest in the project continues to be strong, with hundreds of Canadians applying to become Butterflyway Rangers each year. Rangers receive training, resources and ongoing support, and become part of a national network of people rewilding the places they live.
Butterflyway Rangers are volunteers who lead local efforts to create pollinator habitat and bring people together around nature-based action. Rangers organize small teams, support garden projects and help establish a Butterflyways in their communities.
Rangers are community builders, educators and habitat creators. They don’t need to be gardening experts — just people who care, are willing to learn and are excited to work with others. Rangers receive online training from David Suzuki Foundation staff and guest experts and have access to online toolkits, resources and seasonal guidance. Rangers also can connect to a national network of Rangers through webinars, online meetups and regional gatherings.
About Oshawa Garden Club
The purpose of the Oshawa Garden Club is to promote interest in all things Green; horticulture, agriculture, environmental responsibility, a communal enjoyment of nature and more. Our mission remains committed to encouraging engagement with and the improvement of our community green spaces. Visit www.oshawagardenclub.ca for all our activities and membership information.
About The Backyard at the RMG
The Backyard at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery is an outdoor space designed for community use, artistic engagement, and quiet reflection. Enjoy a picnic, read a book, catch up with a friend, listen to the sounds of the creek, meditate, do some yoga – use this space to bring you joy and well-being.
Suitable for ages 3+
Adult supervision is required in all gallery/ studio spaces.
Free admission, no registration required.
The Robert McLaughlin Gallery is a proud participant in Ontario Power Generation’s Power for Change Project, supporting the areas and people where OPG operates.
