Taking on Water Project (2021 - 2024)
In November of 2021, Dr. Barbara Neis, the lead for Integrated Work Package 4 (IWP4), "Artistic Infrastructure for Navigating Ocean and Coastal Community Change" organized and conducted a field excursion with filmmaker Barbara Doran, videographer, Jerry McIntosh, and playwright/actor Robert Chafe. The intention of the excursion was to record conversations between playwright Robert Chafe and people familiar with diverse ocean and coastal changes impacting communities along Newfoundland's shores. Barbara Doran and Jerry McIntosh gathered landscape footage for the development of demo documentary video, Living on the Edge (2022), developed about ocean change and coastal community sustainability.
In addition, the fieldtrip interviews lead to the development of the script for Taking on Water. The much anticipated production included performances by Robert Chafe and documentary-dancer Louise Moyes, with musical score (Wonder, Taking on Water, Kraken) by composer Randolph Peters, performed violinist Nancy Dahn and pianist Timothy Steeves founders of Duo Concertante and Tuckamore Music Festival. The Taking on Water tour swept across Newfoundland and Labrador in August and September of 2023 and included 13 performances at several venues including Arts and Cultural Centres and up to 10 school performances followed by workshops.
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Melody and the Fishes Project (2022 - 2024)
Coming out of FOCI IWP4, the puppet play Melody and the Fishes, is told through the tale of a Newfoundland woman coming home to her roots. Joining Skipper as crew on his fishing boat, Melody is lost overboard. In the ocean she transforms into a cod fish and with the help of the Fishimagician and Caitlin the Caplin, tries to find her way home. Dealing with the ravages of overfishing, drilling in sensitive environments, and climate change, Melody and the Fishes takes you on a deep journey beneath the seas.
Melody and the Fishes was written by Sharon King-Campbell. Contributions were made by co-investigator Anne Graham. Creation of the puppets was a team effort by Sara Dorey, Audrey Gerow, David Lane, Jamie Skidmore, Michael Rhodri Smith, and Caitlin Whelan, with hats by Sharon Brenton. David Lane also had the role as dramaturge for the play. Puppet actors included Michael Rhodri Smith, Eunjung Cho, Nathan Day, Luna Foote and Colin Furlong. Stage management was facilitated by Sheldon Downey and Audrey Gerow.
PLACE Dialogues Videos (2022 - 2023)
Evolving out of Inclusion Work Package 7, "Building resilient Coastal Communities Through Social Enterprise"(WP7) the PLACE Dialogues bring together Memorial University researchers and community leaders, entrepreneurs, policymakers and academics from across Newfoundland and Labrador to build a supportive network and discuss challenges and opportunities for rural development. In 2022 and again in 2023, two PLACE Dialogue events were held was held in Gros Morne and St. Anthony, Newfoundland with a video produced for each event. Please see below for the two video documentaries that were created for each of these events.
Pilgrim, R. (Director), Green. K. (Editor), Wilton, G. (Sound Recording). (2022). Place-Based Solutions in a Challenged World: The Role of Social Enterprises and Communities [Film].
Cliff and Anchor Studios (filmed and produced) (2023). The PLACE Dialogues 2023: Co-creating Community Entrepreneurship [Film].
Ocean School (2024)
Ocean School is a free online environmental education resource that partnered with FOCI and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) of Canada to create a short documentary film, Life of a Fisher. Life of a Fisher provides a glimpse into some of the challenges that small-scale fisheries are faced with in Atlantic Canada.
PULP Student Art Gallery Exhibitions and Programming (2021 - 24)
Starting in the summer of 2021, PULP - the first and only student-run gallery in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador - mounted two public art exhibitions, Soft.Power and Picturing Community (details below), in the City of Corner Brook. Each installation showcases the work of Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Grenfell Campus Visual Arts students and was envisioned and prepared by Alli Johnston, Curator in Residence and Guest Programmer, as well as Emily Anderson, Curator of Engagement alongside FOCI co-investigator and PULP Director, Visual Arts Prof. Marc Losier.
Soft.Power (July-August 2021) displayed on the exterior of Swirsky’s on Broadway. The show explored the idea that the coastal areas can be both soft and powerful, depending on the weather, tides and sea state. This exhibition examines this dichotomy as it relates to the ocean and its impact on coastal areas and communities including Indigenous perspectives, shared public spaces, and transportation links.
Picturing Community (July 2021-April 2022) is a public exhibition displayed on the exterior of Corner Brook City Hall and the Corner Brook Public Library of photographic portraits depicting the residents and spaces at Western Health’s Long Term Care Home in Corner Brook. The project fostered community connections and explored the theme of community-based infrastructures. Read more about the community project here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/picturing-community-corner-brook-1.6127242
Exploring Arts’ Role in Sustainability Transition (2023)
Exploring Arts’ Role in Sustainability Transition. A series of workshop sessions held by FOCI IWP4 and Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook, Norris Point and Conche, NL engaging students, artists, researchers and community members in conversations about sustainability through the arts.
Artist Residency with Lou Sheppard (2023)
Spending time at the Bonne Bay Aquarium & Research Station (BBARS) in Norris Point, NL, Sheppard began a new body of research based on the tide, shorelines, and his own buoyancy in the water of Bonne Bay, later beginning a print media project in the studios at Grenfell Campus. They met with current students in the class, gave an artist talk/public presentation at Grenfell campus and led a seminar discussion. D'arcey Wilson contributed to a three week artist residency with Lou Sheppard hosted at BBARS and Grenfell Campus & Extended Site Participatory field course.
Extended Site, VART 3929 (2023)
Overlapping with artist-in-residence Lou Sheppard, artist D'arcy Wilson facilitated this 8-day activity, which included field trips in the region followed by guest lectures. With the theme of Shorelines, the goal of the course was to consider ways in which artists could intersect scientific research, symbolically transforming the laboratory of a marine biology research station into a studio; highlighting the contributions of visual artists in broader conversations about climate change.
The Community Art Studio Workshops (2022 - 23)
A series of participatory community art studio workshops and presentations in Corner Brook, St. Anthony and Port Saunders, NL were organized as an initiative of FOCI team IWP4. These sessions focused on themes of accessibility, community ties and the local environment and were aimed at participatory art and knowledge co-creation. These sessions engaged more than 300 participants, including youth, through collaboration with Rotary Arts Centre (RAC), NorPen Status of Women, Grenfell Interpretation Centre and Boys and Girls Club of St. Anthony.
Gros Morne Puppetry (2022)
In August 2022, artists, students and scholars gathered in Norris Point, Newfoundland and Labrador on the shores of beautiful Bonne Bay for a 10 day puppetry workshop and residency. A partnership between FOCI IWP4, David Lane co-director of the New England Puppet Arts and co-founder of the Newfoundland Puppet Collective, and the Bonne Bay Aquarium and Research Station (BBARS), the Gros Morne Puppet Workshop and Residency created an opportunity for new and established puppet artists to link art with science, culture and place. The program was facilitated by David Lane with the support of visual artist Clelia Scala, and focused on performance, design, and collective creation. Regional collaborators, Michael Burzynski, Anita Best and Tara Manuel, augmented the program with field visits and interactive sessions that included local ecology, storytelling and puppetry arts. The unique ecosystem, cultural history of the region, research, and intimate access to organisms available in and around the BBARS inspired and informed the resulting work. Integrating artistic methods and science-based concepts, a series of original puppetry vignettes was created to share stories of coastal communities and the changing ocean environment with visitors to the Station.
David Lane produced a short documentary film of Gros Morne Puppetry Workshop. The documentary captures some of the resulting artistic works and reflections of participants on how the arts, such as puppetry, can be used to engage audiences in new ways of experiencing science-based themes.
Weaving Presentation and Community Open Studio (2022)
This event included a weaving presentation and Community Open Studio facilitated by artist Megan Samms of the Codroy Valley, NL and was held at the Grenfell Interpretation Centre. The presentation included a tour of the loom and the art of weaving. The community was invited to bring their own pieces to work on during the Open Studio portion of this event.
Public Art Workshop and Lecture (2022)
Mi’Kmaw Artist Marcus Gosse shares in this guest lecture, My Spiritual Journey: Haida Gwaii to the Rock. This event was organized by FOCI team IWP4 in collaboration with Qalipu First Nation to celebrate and share local Indigenous art practices.
