Sewing Stewardship - unravelling colonial histories and mending land with care and restoration is a 2-day outdoor art exhibition co-created by Lore Arts with Guelph artist Anita Cazzola, artist and educator Christina Kingsbury, and Nova Scotia based artist and ecological farmer Jenna Kessler, taking place at Eastview Community Park on August 21 - 22, 2021. These three artists will bring to the forefront the topic of soil remediation and the long-term ecological, social, and historical impacts of industrialization, while weaving together textiles, plants and text to engage the public in thinking about what it means to care for our soil and in turn for our environment and each other.
Through their land-based artworks, Kingsbury, Cazzola and Kessler are taking steps to loosen and unravel the paradoxical knots of stewardship through manual care; mending, sewing and weaving together new understandings and relationships of what it means to care for our environment and relationships within the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. Giving agency to plants and relational care, these three artists are sewing (and sowing) the seeds of repair through their works titled ReMediate, The Botanical Reclamation, and The Stewardship Quilt.
The Details:
Saturday Aug 21, 6:00-8:30pm - Opening Night
As part of our Opening Night, join artist Christina Kingsbury and nokomis Carol Tyler in the garden for "A Tending Experiment", to explore ideas about ecological and decolonial responsibility through reading, ceremony, listening, and intentional gardening. We will read out loud together, and spend time tending the garden and being in ceremony as a way to integrate ideas in the text through our bodies and through relating to land. This experiment attends to the ways that ideas can become embodied in our relationships with one another and the more-than-human world.
Bring your own water, garden tools (trowel and gloves) if you have them, and anything you require to be comfortable sitting and gardening. Contact Fan-Ling Suen at loreresidency@gmail.com to discuss any access considerations that would support you to participate in this event.
Please register for this free event as spots are limited.
Sunday Aug 22, 2:00-4:00pm - Community Art Day
On Day 2, join artist Anita Cazzola on a nature walk and create artwork using natural dye pigments. We will walk around the former landfill and observe the abundance of plants working together to reclaim this site. Anita will share insights on how these plants can be used for natural dyes. As a group we can reflect on the labour of plants and ways in which we can celebrate and advocate for these plants in our city.
Visitors will be welcomed to browse through Anita's reference library of books on wild plants and textile processes. They are also welcome to sit and create some of their own artwork using natural dye pigments (paints) that Anita has made from her leftover dyebaths. This opportunity to engage directly with the colours that these plants produce can allow us to embody their power, deepen our connections and appreciation for these plants, and help us reconsider what it means to be wild.
Bring your own paper and brushes if you are able, but materials will also be provided by the artist.
Please register for this free event as spots are limited.
Jenna Kessler is currently located in Nova Scotia. In her absence, she invites visitors to take some time to explore her quilt and the quotes that have inspired her to create this textile piece about land stewardship. An informational binder about the artist including the quotes that have inspired this project will be provided during this event at Eastview Community Park. Visitors be able to learn more about this work by viewing footage of Jenna talking about her project online here or at www.jennakessler.com.
Address and Directions to Eastview Community Park:
800 Watson Parkway North, Guelph, Ontario, N1E 6X2
Across from the soccer fields. Look for the pollinator garden.
A note on COVID-19 Public Health Measures:
In keeping with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph public health measures for Step 3 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen, we ask that visitors physically distance where possible during the event. Where not possible, we ask that visitors wear face masks. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/public-health-measures
Rain Date:
Ticket holders will be contacted with a rain date, should there be wet weather which would affect this event.
Through their land-based artworks, Kingsbury, Cazzola and Kessler are taking steps to loosen and unravel the paradoxical knots of stewardship through manual care; mending, sewing and weaving together new understandings and relationships of what it means to care for our environment and relationships within the treaty lands and territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. Giving agency to plants and relational care, these three artists are sewing (and sowing) the seeds of repair through their works titled ReMediate, The Botanical Reclamation, and The Stewardship Quilt.
The Details:
Saturday Aug 21, 6:00-8:30pm - Opening Night
As part of our Opening Night, join artist Christina Kingsbury and nokomis Carol Tyler in the garden for "A Tending Experiment", to explore ideas about ecological and decolonial responsibility through reading, ceremony, listening, and intentional gardening. We will read out loud together, and spend time tending the garden and being in ceremony as a way to integrate ideas in the text through our bodies and through relating to land. This experiment attends to the ways that ideas can become embodied in our relationships with one another and the more-than-human world.
Bring your own water, garden tools (trowel and gloves) if you have them, and anything you require to be comfortable sitting and gardening. Contact Fan-Ling Suen at loreresidency@gmail.com to discuss any access considerations that would support you to participate in this event.
Please register for this free event as spots are limited.
Sunday Aug 22, 2:00-4:00pm - Community Art Day
On Day 2, join artist Anita Cazzola on a nature walk and create artwork using natural dye pigments. We will walk around the former landfill and observe the abundance of plants working together to reclaim this site. Anita will share insights on how these plants can be used for natural dyes. As a group we can reflect on the labour of plants and ways in which we can celebrate and advocate for these plants in our city.
Visitors will be welcomed to browse through Anita's reference library of books on wild plants and textile processes. They are also welcome to sit and create some of their own artwork using natural dye pigments (paints) that Anita has made from her leftover dyebaths. This opportunity to engage directly with the colours that these plants produce can allow us to embody their power, deepen our connections and appreciation for these plants, and help us reconsider what it means to be wild.
Bring your own paper and brushes if you are able, but materials will also be provided by the artist.
Please register for this free event as spots are limited.
Jenna Kessler is currently located in Nova Scotia. In her absence, she invites visitors to take some time to explore her quilt and the quotes that have inspired her to create this textile piece about land stewardship. An informational binder about the artist including the quotes that have inspired this project will be provided during this event at Eastview Community Park. Visitors be able to learn more about this work by viewing footage of Jenna talking about her project online here or at www.jennakessler.com.
Address and Directions to Eastview Community Park:
800 Watson Parkway North, Guelph, Ontario, N1E 6X2
Across from the soccer fields. Look for the pollinator garden.
A note on COVID-19 Public Health Measures:
In keeping with Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph public health measures for Step 3 of Ontario's Roadmap to Reopen, we ask that visitors physically distance where possible during the event. Where not possible, we ask that visitors wear face masks. https://covid-19.ontario.ca/public-health-measures
Rain Date:
Ticket holders will be contacted with a rain date, should there be wet weather which would affect this event.