Artists and collectors across Ottawa participated in a finders-keepers scavenger hunt for mushroom-themed art on June 12.
Dubbed the Game of Shrooms, the annual event invites artists across the world to create mushroom-themed art in their chosen medium and hide it in public spaces. On the day of the game, artists post clues about each piece’s location and encourage their followers to go find them.
Street Art Miniatures (SAM) is an anonymous artist who sculpts miniature versions of food and hides them around Ottawa. They said when they learned about the game this year on Instagram they felt inspired to participate.
“I thought [the game] would be a good way to kind of get back into things, and making versions of miniature food is my specialty,” said SAM. “I thought it would be a good way to engage with people, get them outside and just have fun.”
SAM said they hid 22 miniature mushrooms across Ottawa early on June 12, and posted clues about each piece’s location at 1 p.m.
SAM’s mushrooms were not hidden for long, according to Anishinaabe beadwork artist Jayde Micah. After hiding four beadwork earrings throughout ByWard Market and Sandy Hill the morning of the game, Micah said she was lucky enough to be in the market when SAM posted their clues.
“Not even 20 minutes later, all of them had been found,” said Micah. “People are pretty hyped about the Game of Shrooms.”
Micah said she was messaged by a follower on Instagram who found one of her pairs of earrings only minutes after hiding it.
Laura Stephens-Dagg learned about the game through social media and decided to take part in the scavenger hunt. She said she found participating artists when they tagged each other on Instagram and then found clues about mushroom locations on each artist’s page.
“I woke up, follow[ed] the different artists and turned on every single post notification because that was the only way to know where exactly [the mushrooms] are,” Stephens-Dagg said.
Stephens-Dagg said she was able to find a piece by Talia Phillips, an Ottawa-based artist who made mushroom-themed stash jars from recycled materials for the game.
“A lot of them were kind of out of the way and I did have to work that day so I sent a friend of mine to hunt down one in Orleans,” Stephens-Dagg said. “It was hidden at Petrie Island: a little painting of different mushrooms on birch bark.”
Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert is a Richmond, California-based artist and co-founder of Hi-Fructose magazine. He founded the Game of Shrooms.
Attaboy said he started planting small mushroom sculptures in public spaces on business trips to Los Angeles, California in 2016.
“I would bring [mushrooms] with me to all these Hollywood meetings and I’d have this hidden agenda: to plant the mushroom and bring some joy to people,” Attaboy said.
When he started seeing other artists in Ohio, New York and Portland also planting mushrooms, Attaboy said he realized he could create an event for art communities worldwide. He said he invited 50 other artists he had met through his magazine to participate in the first official Game of Shrooms on June 15, 2019.
Now an annual event, this year’s game marked the third iteration where artists hid mushroom themed art all over the world.
“I was in the middle of a depression when I started doing it myself. I was literally looking down,” Attaboy said. “I [realized] I can plant these things, and then people who are looking down can find something to talk about that could change the narrative of their day.”
Micah said she appreciated how this year’s game created a sense of community during a time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the game allowed her to connect with other local artists and mushroom hunters online.
“I really wanted to create those random acts of kindness in my community,” Micah said. “Hopefully, that can grow and cycle through to everyone else.”
Stephens-Dagg said she thought fungi were the right symbol for the scavenger hunt.
“[Mushrooms] will pop up anywhere, and are known to be part of the lifecycle of earth,” Stephens-Dagg said. “So I think having them invade human spaces is perfectly logical.”
Jennifer Anne Kelly, a Carleton alumnus and Ottawa-based glass artist, hid four mushrooms throughout the greater Ottawa area. She said mushrooms can represent resilience.
“Personally, it’s the whole circle of life phenomenon that I love to dwell on … mushrooms grow from decay and as they decay and [life] just keeps going,” Kelly said.
She added mushrooms fit the spirit of the game perfectly.
“Mushrooms typically bring a smile to people’s faces. There’s something adorable about mushrooms that people really gravitate to,” Kelly said. “Hiding them all over the place in different cities and countries on the same day and having this scavenger hunt is such a fun way for adults to be kids again.”
An earlier version of this article said Daniel “Attaboy” Seifert founded Hi-Fructose magazine. In fact, Seifert co-founded the magazine with Annie Owens. The Charlatan regrets the error.
Featured image by Spencer Colby.
