Conversations on the Porch: An Evening of Trees in Gairloch Gardens
Co-presented by Oakville Galleries and Oakvillegreen

Wednesday 15 July 2009
7:30 pm
Cost: $5 (includes refreshments)
For reservations, call 905.844.4402, ext. 30

Join us for an evening of conversation on Gairloch estate¹s lakeside porch. Hosted by local environmentalist Blake Poland, participants will be engaged in dialogue about trees as both landmarks of memory and environmental priorities.

The evening will commence with an experiential tour of some of Gairloch Gardens' most evocative art installations including Alex Metcalf's Tree Listening Installation, Fastwürms' Giant Beaver Charm and Liz Magor's Channel. Following the tour, participants will retire to the porch for refreshments, poetry, storytelling and dialogue about our multi-faceted relationship with trees as objects of beauty, toilet paper, shade givers, bird houses, lumber, carbon sinks, childhood friends, and sources of inspiration. All participants are invited to bring personal stories and photographs to share.

This programme coincides with Oakville Galleries' current exhibition in Gairloch Gardens, Alex Metcalf: Tree Listening Installation, graciously supported by the Canadian TREE Fund and Maple Hill Tree Services.

Blake Poland is on the Board of Oakvillegreen, co-founder of Transition Oakville, lead organizer of Halton Green Screens Eco-film Series, co-director of the Environmental Health Justice in the City Research Network, and a professor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Author and researcher, his work on community resilience and environmental health brings together scientists, artists, and community members to create innovative dialogical arts-enabled approaches to transformative education and social justice. He is also passionate about trees.

Links:
Blake Poland www.blakepoland.ca
Oakvillegreen www.oakvillegreen.org , Oakvillegreen's Conversations on the Porch Gallery
Transition Oakville www.TransitionOakville.ca
Halton Green Screens Eco-film Series www.haltongreenscreens.ca
Environmental Health Justice in the City Research Network/Centre for Urban Health Initiatives www.EHJiC.ca
Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto www.sph.utoronto.ca