October 2025
When the Salmon Return
Cadence Myroniuk
Celebrating the annual salmon run at Mission Creek
3D Animated Exhibition at the Kelowna Community Theatre
Inspired by the annual salmon run at Mission Creek, When the Salmon Return offers a digital reimagining of a salmon’s journey upstream. I created the work in Unity, using underwater footage I captured over the summer to model the look of the creek’s plants and tree roots.
The salmon follow the same path each year, and right now they are returning to the creek. I hope this piece encourages viewers to see the salmon in the creek. For those who can’t, it offers another way to notice the migration, bringing a small part of the creek into the city via the screens of Light Up Kelowna.
Artist Biography
Cadence Myroniuk is a fourth-year Media Studies student who creates nature-based works using the gaming engine Unity. Her work focuses on digitally recreating aquatic ecosystems native to British Columbia, offering an alternative way to engage with species and environments that are otherwise difficult to access. Motivated by the limited opportunities to encounter aquatic life in the Okanagan, she seeks to create opportunities for learning, appreciation, and connection to local ecological processes through digital media.
