I went on a tour of school gardens in the Toronto District School Board last week, and what eco-art treasures can be found these days when you start to look! We visited a number of schoolyards, starting with Runnymede PS, which is near and dear to my heart – it’s always a delight to show off this extensive and well-developed garden. The one that was the biggest surprise to me was the rooftop garden at Brock Public School, near Dufferin and Bloor, on the city’s west side.  This gem has been recently re-installed in partnership with Foodshare, an amazing non-profit here in the city that focuses on sustainability education through food. On the third floor of the school, it is a food garden that has been thoughtfully created with an eye on teaching from the outset, and a strong sense of design throughout. It includes a few lovely mosaics, wading pools used as planters, and even re-purposed food buckets as colourful planters – everything is kid-height and kid-friendly. I’m sure the art in this garden will continue to grow alongside the plants over time….
Green Arts at Evergreen Brick Works
I have been lucky over the last year to be involved in a small way in the thinking around ‘Green Arts’ at the new Evergreen Brick Works site, which has just opened in Toronto in October. Evergreen Brick Works is quickly becoming the environmental community centre of the city, with environmental education programs for schools, a plant nursery of indigenous plant species, a series of demonstration gardens, and a wonderful market featuring organic and fair trade food. It will also become the centre of environmental arts in Canada over time, acting as a much needed hub for artists, musicians, dancers and actors who share similar goals in sustainability through their practice.
The rejuvenation of the site is an art installation in its own right – the century old brick kilns and factory buildings are taking on a new life as classrooms, meeting places, exhibit spaces and performance venues. Artist-in-residence Ferruccio Sardella worked closely with the architects to ensure that the some of the patina and history of these spaces was left intact, including some of the existing street art, like the large graffiti murals that were created on the walls years ago. Ferruccio’s own works are slowly being added to the site, not only to build its own eco-art collection but also to materialize Evergreen’s ideals in aesthetic form. Other works on site include Dan Bergeron’s large-scale photo murals of the former brick workers in the kiln buildings, and art videos inside the kilns themselves!
Landscape architect Heidi Campbell is working on a creative, interactive space for children to play and create their own eco-artworks made of natural and found materials – this should be ready for the spring of 2011. Artists Shannon Crossman and Morgan Zigler have been supporting its development by sharing their innovative activities with children and families in the children’s garden over the past two summers.
Be sure to visit the Evergreen Brick Works website for more info at [http://ebw.evergreen.ca/] or better yet, visit in person!
Best eco-art site found this summer!
I’ve had a lovely few weeks of vacation, and was lucky enough to visit a wonderful eco-art spot in England as part of my travels. I’ve been wanting to visit the Yorkshire Sculpture Park for a few years, as I knew that Andy Goldsworthy had exhibited there on a number of occasions. It was well worth the pilgrimage to the north of England – acres and acres of farmland and forest, with dozens of art sculptures and installations sprinkled throughout the park. Like many museums in Britain it was free to the public, with only a small fee for parking.
What a place! I got to combine two of my favourite activities – hiking and looking at art – in one stunning location in the Yorkshire hills. I was thrilled to experience Goldsworthy’s work firsthand, walking in and around his Shadow Stonefold, Outclosure and Hanging Tree installations from 2007. His stonework is absolutely beautiful, and the siting is inspired. My teenage boys seemed to enjoy their interactive elements as much as I did. I also enjoyed seeing James Turrell’s Deer Shelter Skyspace (also from 2007). His work emphasizes our connection to the sky, and again was a wonderful integration with the open fields and animals of the park.
It was also lovely to see Henry Moore sculptures in their ‘natural setting’, surrounded by the very countryside that inspired them. See the accompanying photo one of these surrounded by English sheep and Canadian geese – a thoughtful addition for a bunch of visiting Canucks!
The highlight of the day however was a retrospective of the work of David Nash, who is a nature-based artist working mainly with trees and wood. What a stunning series of works – I was completely captivated. His work honours the beauty and majesty of trees while articulating his own relationship to them through his connections to the present and the past. If you’re not familiar with his artistry, check out the YSP website for a great series of links on his work [http://www.ysp.co.uk/view.aspx?id=691].
So if you’re heading to England, I highly recommend making the Yorkshire Sculpture Park one of your destinations – it is a wonderful place for nature-based and environmental art!
