Escarpment/Erasure
An Outdoor ART EXHIBITION aimed at Raising Awareness of the proposed removal of a forest on the Niagara Escarpment near Blue Mountain.
Escarpment/Erasure is a co-production and intervention art project organized by the Broken Forests Eco-Artists Group (www.brokenforests.com) and the Ontario Society of Artists. This contemporary arts project is supported by the Escarpment Corridor Alliance (www.myescarpment.ca) and by the Canada Council for the Arts.
The installation show was officially opened on May 27, 2023 at which time press and ECA members were invited to participate in discussions around the fate of the forest and of other forested areas across the Green Belt. The show closed on July 7 and was up for five weeks. It included: eight site-specific art installations, two performance art works, a “pop-up” exhibition of works created on the endangered lands nearby, a formal group exhibition of works by OSA artists at the Press Gallery in Collingwood, Ontario, and, most importantly, informal gatherings of artists and concerned citizens aimed at raising awareness of the proposed development plan and what groups like the ECA are doing to stop those plans from going ahead.
The seventeen artists involved in this wonderful exhibition have created land based contemporary art installations and “pleine aire” paintings that comment upon the erasure of wild lands and the unprecedented commercial development of communities across southern Ontario and in particular the Blue Mountain Niagara Escarpment Greenbelt area.
The works addresses not only the Blue Mountain area, but all of the threatened green and forest spaces in the region. Through various artistic practices and engagements in the natural environment, the artists are encouraging residents, hikers, passersby, developers, and all affected peoples to consider the ramifications of the loss of these green spaces and the impacts on all beings, including humans.
Artists from the BFEG and the OSA are standing up and speaking out against the “clearcutting” of forests across Ontario by real estate development corporations. The art focuses public attention upon a development plan that will destroy a section of the legendary Bruce Trail. The Bruce Trail is huge, so the two developments in question, Castle Glen & Talisman, will be destroying only a small section of the Trail.
The aim of this post is to ask all who read it to “spread the word” about the issues raised through this show. However, this will not be the “last chance” for residents and environmental activists to learn more about the Castleglen and Talisman projects, to network with the artists and other concerned citizens, and to voice their support for the efforts of the Escarpment Corridor Alliance.
Who: The Broken Forests Eco Artists Group, the Escarpment Corridor Alliance, the Ontario Society of Artists, Artists and Citizens of the Collingwood Blue Mountain village areas, Ontario environmental groups, ecologists and all those concerned about the impending eradication of Ontario’s Green Belt.
Endangered Boreal Art and the Environment Tour, August, 2022
The Endangered Boreal tour kicks off with the Old Growth installations and a show – High Park, and Propeller Gallery respectively in Toronto.
The Endangered Boreal tour will then take Broken Forests Group through many places – from Toronto, to Midland, to Wikwemikong, to Mattawa and North Bay, to Temagami, and finally Kirkland Lake.
The Finding Art, Alchemy, and Animism in the Broken Forests conference is coming up fast! August 20th – 23rd at the Canadian Ecology Centre, in Samuel de Champlain park near Mattawa Ontario. The Emerging from the Broken Forest Indigenous emerging artist conference is happening at the same time and location.