Spring has finally sprung in Toronto after a long winter, and I feel like new ideas and approaches to eco-art education are popping up around me like tulips and daffodils! I’ve been busy finishing off a year of teaching, writing, and presenting at conferences, hence the lack of blogging. But in my travels I’ve been meeting some fascinating artists and educators, all dedicated to more sustainable ways of art-making. One of these is an artist from Vancouver named Sharon Kallis   What caught my eye was her work with natural materials, in particular invasive species; I hadn’t thought of art-making as a way to creatively re-purpose the biomatter that comes from getting rid of large amounts of plants like English Ivy (in BC), grapevine or dog strangling vine (here in Ontario.) Sharon has done some really interesting things with the ivy in particular, so check out her website to learn more  [http://sharonkallis.com/community-engaged-practice/]
Another project I learned about recently is also from Vancouver – I met jil p. weaving at the same time as Sharon. This project took its starting point from the destructive wind storm that hit Stanley Park in 2006, and used artists as one of its ways of addressing the physical and emotional damage caused by this event. In many ways, I think it presents a model for how to deal with environmental damage in sensitive and innovative ways. Check it out at [http://www.stanleyparkecology.ca/programs/public/SPEA.php].
