Where Does the Rain Go?

Pietro Sammarco with Helena Krobath, Liz Toohey-Wiese and the grade 4/5 students of University Highlands Elementary

Juli Talerico

Where Does the Rain Go? is a collaborative art project undertaken by the students in grades four and five at University Highlands Elementary School. Led by sound artist and arts educator Pietro Sammarco, participants explored the path that rainwater makes from the peak of Burnaby Mountain down across its face, through storm drains and flood ponds and into the numerous creeks that ultimately flow into the ocean.

Over eight weeks of exploratory field outings and creative workshops, and with the help of guest artists Liz Toohey-Wiese and Helena Krobath as well as their own teachers Cara Taylor and Christine Yee, students worked in small groups with the rain and creek water to create paintings and sonic compositions.

Installed first in the Library of University Highlands Elementary so that students could share their learning with the rest of their school community, Where Does the Rain Go? will be presented before the public along with many other artists’ works as part of the first exhibition of the new Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum, which opens on SFU’s Burnaby Mountain campus in Fall 2025.

Organized by the Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum in partnership with University Highlands Elementary, SFU Faculty of Education and SFU School for Communication

Video documentation by Qiuli Wu
Photo documentation by Juli Talerico

Related Programs

ExhibitionInaugural ExhibitionEdge Effects

Artists

Pietro Sammarco

Helena Krobath

Liz Toohey-Wiese

Made possible with the generous support of the Tuey Charitable Foundation

Special thanks to UHE Education Assistant Robyn Hurst; SFU Faculty of Education volunteers Lelia Chang and Shelly Li; Lindsay Holliday, Principal, University Highlands Elementary; Milena Droumeva, Director and Glenfraser Endowed Professor in Sound Studies, SFU School of Communication; Ching-chu Lin, Assistant Professor, Arts Education, SFU Faculty of Education; Lynn Fels, Professor, SFU Faculty of Education; and Marianne and Edward Gibson Art Museum staff members Mackenzy Albright, Susanna Browne, Russell Gordon and Sydney Laiss

Images (28)

Three containers filled with dandelion flowers are placed on a green speckled floor. One container has an orange lid and another has a black lid, while the third is a white container with flowers inside. A small stack of watercolor paint tubes and a paper plate sit nearby. A brick wall is visible in the background.

A metal pot filled with loose, dried plant material sits on a black heat source on a bright green floor. Nearby, a strainer and a metal spoon are visible, along with scattered plant debris and a clear cup. The background features a brick wall.

A blue cart filled with various jars and plastic cups is shown. There are several jars labeled "Beets," "Coreopsis," "Red Cabbage," and "Potato" containing colorful liquids. In front of the jars, numerous clear plastic cups filled with dark liquids are arranged, with some spilling over. In the background, there are tables with scattered plant materials, and the flooring is bright green.

A group of children sits on the floor in a room, attentively watching a presentation. Two presenters stand in front: one holds a clipboard, while the other gestures towards a projected image on a screen displaying landscapes. In the background, tables are set up with items and snacks, and large windows let in natural light. The flooring is green, and the walls are made of brick with some decorative light fixtures.

A group of children is sitting on a turquoise floor, surrounded by colorful artwork laid out in a grid pattern. The artwork consists of various painted and collaged pieces with overlapping borders in a range of colors, including orange, green, and blue. Hands are visible as children engage with the art, with some reaching toward the pieces. Brown craft paper is visible beneath the artwork.

A young girl in a pink puffer jacket leans on a railing, looking intently at a small body of water surrounded by greenery. Behind her, a line of people, including children and adults, stand on a path that runs alongside the water, some holding bags and a box. The scene is bright and sunny, with lush vegetation in the background.

Two young girls are positioned near a shallow stream surrounded by rocks and greenery. One girl, wearing a white shirt and headphones, stands with her hands raised, while the other, dressed in a pink sweater and shorts, leans down to use a portable microphone near the water. The scene captures a natural, outdoor setting with earthy tones and vibrant foliage.

A group of children is gathered around a man with a beard, who is seated at a desk and animatedly explaining something with his hands. The room features colorful artwork on the walls and audio equipment, including a computer and speakers, on the desk. The children, varying in age and appearance, appear engaged and attentive.

Pietro Sammarco’s creative practice improvises with found sounds to learn about our relationships to place. He has taught listening and audio production at Emily Carr University, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre, and the Vancouver Public Library’s Inspiration Lab. From 2016 to 2021, he programmed educational activities at VIVO Media Arts Centre, to deepen community engagement with the non-profit’s exhibitions, archives, and facilities. Pietro earned his MA from SFU on the unceded territories of the səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), studying soundscape composition with Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp, and youth media with Stuart Poyntz. He joins the Gibson’s team as their new Curator of Learning & Community Engagement in October 2025.

Helena Krobath was born in Matsqui after their family immigrated from various parts of Eastern Europe to Manitoba and British Columbia in the 1930s and 1950s. Krobath now lives in unceded territories known as Vancouver, where she works with sound and visual arts, transforming field recordings and homemade instruments with digital software and experimenting with place-based experiences, especially soundwalking and immersive play. Krobath also does sound design for the award-nominated Invisible Institutions Podcast, teaches in the field of Communication, and facilitates community-based arts exploration. They are particularly interested in how narratives are created not only with words but with our senses, movement, and arrangement of space.

Liz Toohey-Wiese is a settler artist residing on the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and sə̓lílwətaʔɬ peoples. She is a graduate from the MFA program at NSCAD University. She completed her undergraduate degree in painting at Emily Carr University, also undertaking coursework at the University of Victoria and the École Nationale des Beaux-Arts de Lyon. She has taken part in solo and group shows across Canada, and has undertaken artist residencies at the Sointula Art Shed (2019), the Caetani Cultural Center (2020/21/22), Island Mountain Arts (2021), the Similkameen Artist Residency (2023), Artscape Gibraltar Point (2023), and the Klondike Institute for Arts + Culture (2024). Deeply interested in the history of landscape painting, her paintings explore contemporary relationships between identity and place. Her most recent work explores the complicated topic of wildfires and their connections to tourism, economy, grief, and renewal.