‘It’s a tradition’: Snowshoe artists return to winter carnival in Riverview, N.B.

For the fifth straight year, Matt Robinson has created a massive piece of sustainable art on top of a frozen reservoir in New Brunswick.

It was sunny and cold Saturday with no wind whatsoever at Riverview’s Mill Creek Nature Park – absolutely perfect conditions for Robinson, a snowshoe artist and photographer from Nova Scotia.

“Every year we’ve been back here. Five years in a row we lucked out weather-wise,” said Robinson.

Robinson and his friend Allan Kruise created a 50-metre diagram in the snow as part of the activities for the annual Riverview Winter Carnival.

There were 20 cm of snow atop the frozen body of water.

“You can’t afford mistakes when you have a perfect canvas. If you veer off course, it’s there. You can’t fix it. Mother Nature makes a perfect canvas. You step on it, it’s marked,” said Robinson.

It looks incredibly complex, but Robinson does a lot of pre-planning and using some rudimentary tools he executed the plan to perfection.

“But it really is step by step,” said Robinson. “A lot of math involved, geometry.”

The idea came to him during COVID in 2020.

He wanted to get out of the house, clear his mind and get some fresh air.

While snowshoeing on a farmer’s field he decided to play around a bit and took some pictures with his drone.

People liked what he was doing so he started doing larger scale ones.

His work caught the attention of Town of Riverview Community Recreation Coordinator Ash Arrowsmith.

Arrowsmith was looking for different activities for the carnival that could go ahead during the pandemic.

“I saw that they made one in Nova Scotia and I gave them a call and asked if they would be willing to come to Riverview and do one here,” said Arrowsmith. “It draws people into the park. You get your usual users, but we also get folks that are just interested in art. We get a lot of folks that have never been in the park before too so it’s a great draw for Riverview and Mill Creek.”

Kruise was filling in for Sheldon Benoit, Robinson’s usual partner.

“This is my first year,” said Kruise. “I’m glad to be here. I’ve seen them do it for the last five years and I think it’s amazing.”

Firefighters from Riverview Fire and Rescue check the ice conditions first to make sure it’s safe.

It took around four hours to complete this year’s design.

Riverview resident Scott Rowan has noticed it before during past carnivals and thinks this year’s design looks fantastic.

“It’s pretty. Looks great in the sun,” said Rowan. “It’s something to get everyone out in the fresh air.”

Rowan was one of many people who stopped to have a peek from atop Mill Creek’s impressive lookout point.

Robinson said he loves coming back to the park for the carnival every year.

“Five years now I guess it’s a tradition,” said Robinson. “They ask us back every year and we’re happy to come back every year. It’s fun.”

For more New Brunswick news, visit our dedicated provincial page.