Not Perfect and Toppling Colonialism 
Saturday, February 17, 2018, 04:10 PM - Inspiring
Rebecca Thomas has been an inspiring Poet Laureate. Perhaps one of the most touching and historical moments in Halifax was the removal of the Cornwallis statue last weekend. Click on the link below to hear her poem that moved Councillors to vote for the removal. Social norms and what we sanction can be changed slowly if we keep, as Rebecca says, "tough skin and soft hearts." Also such a powerful reminder of the role of art in our collective imagination.
  |  related link
Self-actualization through dance- conflict is vital 
Friday, December 29, 2017, 04:41 PM - Inspiring
Met an inspiring dancer/professor, Jo Blake, at a meditation/yoga retreat in Nepal. He uses dance and movement in community. He introduced me to Crystal Pite who also uses dance and theatre to work through trauma, freedoms, self-actualization. I've really come to realize, in my work, that these forms and explorations are so critical to our collective analysis and action. The spaces it opens for connection, healing. We are somatic, individually and collectively.
  |  related link
Hyang Cho  
Sunday, May 28, 2017, 04:37 PM - Inspiring
Cho's work is so provocative and inspiring. Erasure. Text. Trial. Check it out at the link below.
  |  related link
Our HRM Alliance- Greenbelting and Complete Communities 
Friday, May 1, 2015, 03:28 PM - Inspiring
WRWEO, the environmental association that I Co-chair is an active member of Our HRM Alliance. Comprised now of 54 local groups and organizations, Our HRM Alliance accompanied and lobbied the Halifax regional planning process that took place over the last few years. The Alliance has adopted a two-pronged approach to going forward:

1. Greenbelting (including an initiative for people to hike, bike, canoe the greenbelt around HRM to explore its possibility)

2. Complete communities. Suburbs are not the problem. If suburban communities are built with transit at their core, walkable design, and a mix of shops and other business, they can encourage healthier lifestyles and produce considerably less emissions.

The problem is single-use, low-density sprawl. When communities are built in a way that makes cars the only option for doing every single task of the day, they engender enormous costs.


See the related link below for more detail including our own David Patriquin's brief on the impact that green belting will have on biodiversity.
  |  related link
Inspirational community work: Sketch & Courage Lab exploring Decolonization 
Thursday, April 23, 2015, 03:36 PM - Inspiring
I've been a supporter of this organization for years. Use them as a case-study in my facilitation. Early, early days I was a volunteer in Toronto. Such an inspiring approach full of dignity and possibility - the best of what art can do.

Courage Lab, is part of a new collaborative project between Neighbourhood Arts Network, ANVU and SKETCH, aiming to gather diverse artists, educators, organizers and activists to courageously investigate, share and experiment with concepts, ideas, tools and practices for exploring equity and anti-oppression through the arts. On Wednesday, April 1, the most recent lab explored decolonization.

  |  related link

Back Next