The Body is the Best - new show this Friday in New Glasgow

A one-night-only, workshop presentation of a new show by playwright, comedian and Pageant workshop instructor Mike Geither.

It may sound weird, but the pandemic arrived at the perfect time for Mike Geither. His sister had just died and he had a lot to process. In fact, his best friend had just died, too. And another friend, and his father, and his nephew. And he was newly divorced. Yup.

The Body is the Best is the darkly comedic result of Mike working through the shit-pile of these recent years. And now he’s convinced that we all come pre-programmed with a kind of wordless knowledge that helps us get through times like these. This is stand-up comedy meeting stand-up tragedy.

When: Friday, June 10 at 8pm
Where: The Loft of The Mill, New Glasgow.
Runtime: 60 minutes.
Cost: Admission by donation at the door.

Accessibility note: This performance is taking place in the Loft of The Mill, which is accessed via a flight of stairs with a handrail. The main entrance is accessed via stairs or a ramp, and bathrooms are on the main floor. If you require assistance accessing this venue, please let us know. We will do our best to assist you.

Introducing the River Clyde Pageant’s Accessibility Action Plan

MAY 19, 2022
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NEW GLASGOW | The River Clyde Pageant, P.E.I.’s community-engaged outdoor theatre production, has just released its first Accessibility Action Plan for 2022 through 2026 to ensure more people can participate in the annual riverside spectacle and the organization’s year-round programming. Starting this summer and continuing through the next four years, new measures will be phased in to reach a wider, more diverse range of collaborators, audience members and volunteers to create spaces and programming that are safer and more inclusive, and to develop structures of accountability within the organization.

Since 2016, the Pageant has prided itself in fostering community connections and bridging cultural and social gaps through participatory arts programming. However, organizers have recognized gaps in the Pageant’s accessibility in recent years, thanks to input from audiences, participants and community stakeholders. With this Accessibility Action Plan, they intend to make significant improvements to the Pageant experience for all involved. In tandem with this plan, the Pageant is hiring its first Accessibility Coordinator, to assist in designing and implementing measures from the plan for this summer’s production.

The Accessibility Action Plan specifically aims to serve: individuals with limited mobility, individuals who are blind or partially sighted, individuals who are d/Deaf or hard of hearing, individuals who are neurodivergent, individuals with allergies and sensitivities, IBPOC individuals, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, individuals with low incomes, individuals without a car, and newcomers to P.E.I. To aid in this, the Pageant is working closely with April Hubbard, a Halifax-based accessibility consultant, who has advised on the Action Plan and will provide mentorship for a new accessibility consultant.

“The principles of community-building and mutual aid at the core of The River Clyde Pageant reflect the principles of crip arts and disability justice that guide my work,” Hubbard said. “I look forward to continuing our collaboration this summer as I train an underrepresented community member and prepare them to join the small number of accessibility consultants in Atlantic Canada.”

Below are the action points that the Pageant plans to undertake for its 2022 Season, which includes the summer production of The River Clyde Pageant, its fall harvest event, Sharing the Field and the winter River Clyde Solstice Walk:

After 2022, long term action plans include researching and implementing ASL interpretation, increasing inclusion of IBPOC artists and administrators, developing an organizational Circle of Accountability and eventually, establishing a community bicycle share program.

“It is really exciting to share these ambitions with the public,” Pageant co-producer Ian McFarlane said. “Improving accessibility is an ever evolving process. For this reason, we invite anyone who would benefit from these initiatives to share ideas and feedback with us to help create a dynamic model of inclusivity.”

The River Clyde Pageant will release a survey soon inviting community members to share their feedback and ideas for accessibility improvements. The Pageant is also hiring an Accessibility Coordinator for this summer’s eight public performances, which run July 28 to 31 and August 4 to 7. To learn more about these opportunities and about the accessibility research and initiatives that are in motion, visit: riverclydepageant.com/accessibility

For more information, please contact:
Ian McFarlane | Co-producer & Head of Production riverclydeproduction@gmail.com

Pageant Intro Workshops this weekend!

Spring is the time to plant seeds - to nurture new growth and to awaken our minds and bodies to the potential of a new season. 

The River Clyde Pageant is hosting its first ever Spring Intensive - a weekend of new connections, ideas and possibilities. We’re inviting our wider community to come and see what it is we do, to learn how to be involved, to meet new people and to discover new experiences in the arts.

From May 6 - 8, our core team and collaborators will be gathering to inspire one another's creative spirits and prepare for this year's riverside spectacle. And, there are some open Pageant Intro Workshops that we’d love to have the public join us for - both of which will be held at the New Glasgow Christian Church in New Glasgow:

Newcomers Intro Session
- Saturday, May 7 @ 1pm - 3pm:
Did you recently move to P.E.I.? Are you looking for a way to meet new people and immerse yourself in an Island summer? This session is for new immigrants and refugees to learn about the Pageant and how they can get involved. (Ages 16 and up)

Youth Intro Session
- Sunday, May 8 @ 1pm - 3pm:
Over the years we've seen a number of young artists grow and thrive by being part of the Pageant, so this session is an open invitation for youth curious to learn about the Pageant experience. This two-hour session will feature games, drama and opportunities to learn about scenography, dance and all the other ways that you can join us this summer. (Ages 8 - 14)

2022 Pageant Dates Announced!

Mark your calendars - The River Clyde Pageant is returning to New Glasgow with EIGHT SHOWS this summer!

Workshops will be announced at the end of April - stay tuned! Tickets for the Pageant go on sale at the beginning of July. We can't wait to see you by the river again!

Climate Sense: Holiday Gift Guide

This is the seventh installment in a series of blog posts by ClimateSense Intern Alexis Bulman, who is sharing monthly insights into her research, creative process and artistic explorations as she works with us to develop community-engaged artworks and programming around climate change adaptation.

This month's post takes the form of a holiday gift guide- it’s a convenient structure to share 8 resources that have been influencing my artistic Climate Sense research. Before diving into my reading recommendations, I feel the need to highlight the link between global capitalism and the global Climate Crisis, and how the lavish holiday gift-giving season does not help matters. Household waste can increase by more than 25% over the holidays. The majority of nearly half-a-million tonnes of holiday waste that goes to Canadian landfills each year is made up of discarded gift-wrapping, plastic, foil wrapping paper, ribbons, gift bows and toy packaging. (Resource: Recycling Council of BC).

For the last couple of Christmases, I’ve attempted to create less waste by wrapping gifts in brown craft paper and recyclable twine, I’ve given gifts in the form of baked treats, gifts that can be shared for continuous enjoyment (like books) and gifts that have permanence (like art), or I don’t buy gifts at all — instead I’ll plan activities. My four nieces are growing rapidly and their interests change just as quickly, so instead of buying toys and clothing they’ll outgrow, I’ve taken them indoor rock climbing, or planned circus themed baby-sitting days. You can also decide to give donations or volunteer at a local organization. If you must shop avoid Amazon and spend your dollars locally. 

The holiday season is also a time of year when we have time off from work to sit around in flannel pajamas and read a book. So without further ado, here are 8 books that prove that reading and learning about the Climate crisis can be leisurely. (Some of these books are light and fun, some will make you cry, some are conceptual and each of them will at least make you reconsider your use of gift bows and scotch tape). 

1: Zines by Kristian Brevik

A green grid background with 15 colorful zines evenly spaced in three rows of five

I met Kristian Brevik while both of us were collaborating with the River Clyde Pageant last summer. Brevik’s zines combine his love of art and science, and shares some of the ideas he finds most profound about how we relate to other species. The zines draw from ecofeminism, Indigenous STS, decolonization, anthropology, SF, and more. The zines are small, quick to read, and they share the work of humans whose work is influential to Brevik as he explores kinship and how to live in relationship with the broad community of life and land. So far my personal favorite has been Art for Fish. You can purchase all 15 zines on Etsy for $55.99 or you can support his Patreon with a friend's address, so they can receive the gift of monthly zines in their mailbox!

2. Mourning Nature: Hope at the Heart of Ecological Loss & Grief, Edited by Ashlee Cunsolo & Karen Landman

A book cover deicting a cloudy sky, a horizon of distant mountains and a foreground of an errie gray body of water with drift wood. overtop font reads “Mourning Nature Hope at the Heart of ecological Loss & Grief, edited by Ashlee Cunsolo & karen Landman”

Mourning Nature is a collection of short essays, each one a recognition and expression of grief related to environmental degradation. As a disability-identified artist, I often advocate for art to be shared in inclusive ways,  such as art that employs multiple senses (touch, smell, sound, sight, taste..) with the belief that art experienced through multiple senses might evoke a stronger connection with it’s viewers, and be more interpretable by viewers with a wide spectrum of disabilities. So naturally, I was excited to read two essays in this book which explores the loss of wild landscapes through described soundscapes. Essayists Helen Whale and Fraklin Ginn wrote about the absence of sparrows in London, UK, and an essay by Bernie Krause tells an astounding story about an audio recording of a beaver whose habitat was destroyed. Until reading this book, I always thought about the climate crisis through sight and feel (melting glaciers and trying to stay cool during heat waves for example), it never occurred to me that a changing climate also equaled a changing soundscape.

3. The Optimistic Environmentalist by David R. Boyd

A blue book cover with a large whale and a scubba diver. Overtop light blue font reads “ The Optimistic Environmentalist progressing Towards a Greener Future David R. Boyd”

After reading Mourning Nature, The Optimistic Environmentalist just happened to be the next book I picked up, and I strongly recommend reading them in this order! Mourning Nature will open your eyes and fill them with tears, but The Optimistic Environmentalist will give you hope. The book lays out multiple examples of remarkable achievements and success stories, demonstrating what we are capable of when we act together in the face of environmental despair. I didn’t know a book about the climate crisis could be uplifting, but here it is!

4. Secret Life by Theo Ellsworth, an adaptation of a story by Jeff VanderMeer

A heavily illustrated book cover depicts a figure with green bumpy skin holding a piece of yellow fruit and wearing a blue coat. Around the figure in the background is a repeating drawings of faces. Over top front reads “ Secret Life Theo Ellsworth an adaptation of a story by Jeff VanderMeer”

Indulge yourself in this eerie graphic novel by Theo Ellsworth, published by Drawn and Quarterly. I lived in Montreal for a few years and during that time I got really into graphic novels, partly because the Drawn and Quarterly bookstore was located between my Mile End art studio and my apartment in Park Extension so I frequently stopped in. When I saw this new book release I picked up a copy- I’m so happy I did because the black inky drawings of this fiction explores the collision of the natural world and the human-made world, themes which I'd been tackling in my own sketchbook throughout Climate Sense.

5. The Mushroom at the End of the World, On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins by Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing

A grey book cover with an illustration of a large mushroom on the left. Overtop black and green font reads “Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing the Mushroom at the End of the World on the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins”

The best way to summarize this book is to pull a quote from the back cover, “ Matsutake is the most valuable mushroom in the world—and a weed that grows in human-disturbed forests across the Northern Hemisphere- The Mushroom at the End of the World explores the unexpected corners of matsutake commerce, where we encounter Japanese gourmets, capitalist traders, Hmong jungle fighters, and more.”  This book delves into the relationship between capitalist destruction and collaborative survival and it took me on a true adventure at the same time.

6. Shorelines, Climate Concern & Creativity

A photograph of a book atop a rocky surface. The book cover is blue and tan and painterly. Over top black and blue font reads “Shorelines Climate Concern & Creativity”

This might be my favorite book of the bunch!

Shorelines is a compilation of educational and emotional responses to climate concerns of local artists and writers, and it was made in partnership by the Environmental not-for-profit ACAP Saint John and artist-run centre Third Space gallery. The front cover starts this book off on the right foot, with a lushishly painted scene of a shoreline littered with plastic bottles painted by (one of my favorite Canadian painters) Jack Bishop. Open the book and more beautiful examples of empathy and awareness of the climate vulnerabilities facing Saint Johns continue. A short comic strip titled Flood Preparation by Patrick Allaby illustrates his experience with buying his first home in Sackville on an artist's income, in a city that’s in immediate danger of flooding. He opts for a house that’s too small, too expensive, too far from downtown but has the highest elevation. 

7. All We Can Save, truth, courage, and solutions for the Climate Crisis, Edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katherine K. Wilson

A book cover with a soft yellow background and warmer yellow sun-like illustration. Over top dark blue font reads “All We Can Save Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis edited by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katherine K. Wilkinson”

This book of essays, art and poems spans 375 pages, each one packed with insights and expertise from dozens of women scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, designers and more- each working across generations, geographies and races to radically reshape society. I’ve dog-eared and jotted down more notes from this book than any other! A comical and disheartening poem by Ailish Hopper points to the fact that humans have done so much to avoid taking ownership for the Climate Crisis problem. A few lines from her poem:

We buried the problem.
We planted a tree over the problem.
We declined to comment on the problem.
We wrote a law for the problem, but it died in committee.
We marched, leafleted, sang hymns, linked arms with the problem.
We elected an official who Finally Gets the problem.
We mutually empowered the problem.

8. Climate Diary, published by the University of Prince Edward Island

Three open books, one green, one blue and one orange are piled upon one another against a white background. To the right in a black frame is a photo of a black book with the title “Climate Diary”.

Climate Diary is like a scavenger hunt activity book for adults, centered around Phenology: the study of recurring seasonal events in plants and animals and the timing of these events in relation to weather and climate. Published by the University of Prince Edward Island, this book is laid out in such a way that it helps you, the observer, identify and record observations of naturally-occurring plant and animal life cycle events over time in PEI. For example, if you’ve spotted black berries you can turn to page 124 to learn about the common blackberry and record when it flowered, and when the berry ripened. Recording this information on an annual basis will show how climate impacts blackberry seasons over time. There is room in the book to record sightings until 2039, at which point the Climate Diary can be mailed back to UPEI so that data can be collected and compiled from all across the island. This book has made me pay closer attention to the world in my backyard.

The next books on my reading list are: The Legacy, An Elders Vision for our Sustainable Future by David Suzuki, Pollution is Colonialism by Max Liboiron and The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems by Fritjof Capra. In a future post I’ll share my thoughts on these books.

Happy holidays and happy learning!

ClimateSense Stories: Future Booths

This is the sixth installment in a series of blog posts by ClimateSense Intern Alexis Bulman, who is sharing monthly insights into her research, creative process and artistic explorations as she works with us to develop community-engaged artworks and programming around climate change adaptation.

I’ve been enthralled by PEI’s road-side produce booths for many years, and even more so since my ClimateSense position began.

Produce booths are structures at the end of farm driveways that proudly display the produce grown there. A booth may have a prominent heap of corn, bags of potatoes, an abundance of pumpkins, etc. Most iconically, these booths are never staffed; instead there’s an honor system in which a box is secured to the booth and the customer is expected to drop in their money and leave with only the quantity of produce they paid for. The trust and sharing aspect of these booths are so charming!

Two photos side by side. The left photo depicts a white container with a silver lid, on the front four black letters spell out “beans”. The container rests on two wooden beams with four black tires affixed beneath, surrounded by a grassy landscape with blue sky. Right photo shows a red building with white trim, surrounded by pumpkins and an autumn landscape. A white sign reads “Please pay here, thank you”

I’ve come to appreciate these booths for their DIY aesthetics too, as well as their functionality, rural locations and for their sense of happenstance. The booths popup around the island at different times, depending on what their crop is and when it’s harvested. If a crop has done especially well it may have a booth for the first time, and sometimes when you arrive, the booth’s stock has already been depleted for the day. All of these factors make finding a stocked produce booth feel like an event.

Two photos side by side. Left photo: a blue booth with lettering that reads “mushroom for sale u-pick”, inside are two wooden shelfs with a yellow sign and a cooler. Leading to the booth is a pallet walk-way, surrounding landscape is of grass and trees. Right photo: a black folding table with stalks of rhubarb on it, to it’s right is a wooden sign with blue painted letters “Rhubarb $3/lb or 2 lb for $5", surrounded by grass with a dirt driveway in the background

When I began my ClimateSense position almost a year ago, I read the Prince Edward Island Climate Change Adaptation Recommendations Report, published by The University of Prince Edward Island’s Climate Research Lab.

This article outlined how climate change will have a significant impact on the present and future of island agriculture. There will be more hot days, and a change in precipitation patterns leading to increased drought. PEI’s agriculture industry will have to adapt and shift away from familiar crops to crops that are better suited for warmer, drier conditions, such as winter cereals (zorza, chickpeas & lentils), sweet cherries, grapes, lavender, hascaps and more.

After reading that article my mind flashed back to the road-side produce booths I’d been fixated on, and I began to think of them as portraits of agriculture, and then I began to wonder what these portraits might look like in the near future.

Two photos side by side. Left photo depicts a red produce booth with white trim, wooden legs and a green sign that reads “Fresh Produce”. Next to the booth is a white coolers with “POTATOES” written in black marker. A farm and farmyard fill the background. Right photo: A wooden shelf lined with sacks of potatoes and a silver cash box is centered in the photo, behind it are three grey buildings, grass and a golden sunset

With the support of UPEI ClimateSense and a PEI Arts Grant, I decided to start Future Booths, a body of work that would encompass three elaborate produce booth art installations. Future Booths would embody a form following function approach, meaning the design of each will be inspired and informed by the crop, farm and location. Each booth will embody the DIY aesthetic and honor payment system iconic to traditional PEI produce booths and would feature adaptive agriculture. While working on this project, I also made an effort to stop and document produce booths around the island.

A landscape photograph depicts a field of green grass with rows of purple lavender plants, a horizon of trees, a wooden fence to the left, a green-roofed building to the right and a basket of picked lavender in the foreground

For the first Future Booth I contacted the Islander Lavender Distillery and after pitching the art project to them, they invited me to tour their lavender farm. The farm was an oasis of open fields planted with rows and rows of purple lavender, and situated around the fields were some rustic wooden buildings and red-feathered hens roaming freely. In July, the farm operates as a fresh lavender u-pick, so we decided a produce booth displaying bundles of dried lavender could extend their season by an additional two months. With that in mind, I got to work in my sketchbook.

Two pages of a sketchbook with a coiled spine down the middle. Left page shows four lavender paint chips and numerous pen sketches of a building. Right page shows a black pen drawings of a wooden lavender booth with a hen in the foreground

I drew plans for a booth that incorporated the aesthetic of the farm. I used lavender paint for the ‘Lavender’ sign, included a few hens, found some old barn boards and weathered cedar shingles to up-cycle and built a booth that would display hundreds of dried lavender bundles while keeping them shaded from the sun. The booth was installed at the end of Apple Tree Lane in Bonshaw in August, and remained installed until October 31st. 100% of the proceeds went to the farmers of Island Lavender Distillery.

A landscape photograph shows a lavender-stocked produce booth to the right-hand-side with a sign atop it that reads "lavender” and two red painted hens out front. In the left-hand-side of the photo a road spotted with sunlight vanishes behind some trees

Two photos side-by-side. left photo depicts rows of hanging bundles of lavender, each bound by a colorful elastic rubber band. Right photo depicts a red painted hen, behind it are rustic painted cedar shingles on a close-up building

For the second Future Booth, I wanted to select a crop that would ignite the curiosity of islanders, and soon enough I found it while driving past Red Island Cidery and saw their promotional signage for a Quince cider. Curious, I contacted the owner and learned that many island orchards were beginning to plant quince trees along with their apples and pears because it can yield fruit with less water and in warmer climates. So again, I got to work in my sketchbook.

Two sketchbook pages divided by a black coiled spine in the center. left page has black pen drawings of fruit signage, and two yellow marker drawings in the shape of fruit, one reads “QUINCE” in brown the other reads “10 for a toonie” in black. Right page shows a carefully rendered color pencil drawing of a big piece of yellow fruit surrounded by a basket and plants, all resting on a black circle

Quince trees bear a deciduous pome fruit, similar to a pear but smaller and lumpier, and bright golden-yellow when mature. The unusual shape and bright color of quince immediately made me want to create a large, kitschy quince sculpture, similar to a fiberglass attraction at an amusement park. Quinces are small, so I designed an art installation that would be petite so as to not overwhelm the fruit. The quince were displayed in a breathable basket so that air flow would prevent rotting and encourage continual ripening. I also wanted to repeat the round motif of the quince throughout the installation, and lean into an autumn aesthetic, so I chose a circular mulch flower bed, a rounded basket, curvy lettering with several circular bouquets of planted yellow, orange and white mums.

A photograph of a large yellow sculpture of Quince fruit surrounded by yellow, orange and white mum plants, and a two-toned woven basket containing quine fruit, tongs and brown paper bags. Situated beside the quince sculpture is a sign on a post with three yellow planks of wood, the first one reads “Quince” in light letters, the plank below it reads “Delicious in Jams, jellies and tarts!” in black letters, and below it the last plank reads “10 for $2” in light letters. The entire display rests on a circular black bed of multch and is surrounded by grass and trees

Two photographs side-by-side. Left photograph is a close up on a yellow quince sculpture and a sign on a post with three yellow planks of wood, the first one reads “Quince” in light letters, the plank below it reads “Delicious in Jams, jellies and tarts!” in black letters, and below it the last plank reads “10 for $2” in light letters. Right photo is a close up on two hands, one hand holds a brown paper bags and the other is using silver tongs to take a yellow quince out of a basket of fruit. Grass, black mulch, trees and flowers are visible in the background

I had the pleasure of installing the quince Future Booth during The River Clyde Pageant’s inaugural Sharing the Field event at The Mill in New Glasgow during the first weekend of October.

I hope to make many more Future Booth art installations because it’s been a great experience to create art that celebrates the functionality and modest absurdity of traditional road-side produce booths while sparking conversations about adaptive and sustainable farming in PEI, in the rural communities where change is already happening! The project may be called Future Booths, but climate change is a concern of the present and future - change is happening and adaptation is necessary to ensure food security on PEI and around the world.

If you have a new crop, contact me! I’m already itching to build more art installations in this series!

Two events in Charlottetown this weekend!

Euphoria - A Rainbow in the Sky

A Rainbow in the Sky.png

New date & location!

Saturday, September 18th, 7-8:30pm
Florence Simmons Performance Hall


Holland College Prince of Wales Campus
140 Weymouth Street, Charlottetown

Limited seating, only 80 tickets available.


Euphoria - A Rainbow in the Sky is a one-night only performance choreographed and led by Reequal Smith. Featuring dancers Dawn Ward, Élan Mackey, Brigitte Carol, and Charlotte Byrne, and live musical selections from special guest performers Chavez Edgecombe, Tom Gammon, Charles Ruth and a surprise vocalist who will fill the stage with powerful musical arrangements and drumming.

Click here for Facebook event link & more details

Euphoria is a co-production of The River Clyde Pageant, The Black Cultural Society of PEI, and Grace Kimpinski.

Doug POSTER SEPT (1).jpg

Final performances of Shoreline Palimpsest this weekend!


Shoreline Palimpsest is an outdoor art studio and photography performance by Doug Dumais, in which the artist documents changes along one section of PEI's coastline through photography and poetry. “Shoreline Palimpsest" is a temporary intervention that offers a reflective narrative of two days in the life of a coast. Visitors to the outdoor studio can take home a print by Dumais, created on site during the weekend.

WHEN:
Saturday September 18th & Sunday September 19
8:00am-8:00pm

WHERE:
The shoreline off Murchison Lane, near the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Charlottetown. Visitors can park in the hospital parking lot. Signage will be set up along the boardwalk to guide you to the performance.

FREE!

This project is part of our Riverworks series - three art projects inspired by newly installed living shorelines in Charlottetown and Stratford, in partnership with Creative PEI and the PEI Watershed Alliance. To learn more about Riverworks, click here.