march 2010 village vibe

villagevibeNews and views from the heart of Fernwood

March 2010

in this issueTo get the Vibe digitally, sign up at fernwoodnrg.ca

Neighbourhood Non-Profit

Compost Education Centre page 3

Feature

My Kind of Revolution page 4

Gleanings

The Garden in Marchpage 6

›› Lee Herrin

On a rare sunny day last November, Bejay Mills and Tamara Schwartzentruber walked through the neighbourhood with staff from Fernwood NRG. They were contracted to City Hall’s Parks, Recreation & Commu-nity Development Department and were consulting with neighbourhood groups about the potential for permaculture on city-owned properties, including parks. The group toured Haegert Park (noting the guerrilla gardening on the northern edge), the common (a longstanding permaculture project), and Stevenson Park, which was empty at the time despite the fair weather.

“Permaculture” is a word coined by Australian Bill Mollison in the 1970s. “Perma culture (permanent agriculture) is the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems which have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems,” says Mollison in his book, Permaculture: A designer’s manual. Permaculture landscapes don’t look like farmer’s fields—they look like gardens or even semi-wild landscapes but with yields that match or exceed conventional pro-duction on a per square foot basis. “The philosophy behind permaculture is one of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless action; of looking at systems in all their functions, rather than asking only one yield of them; and of allowing systems to demonstrate their own evolutions.”

Last year, Mills and Schwartzentruber approached the City and urged them to consider food production on City-owned property as part of a sustainable urban land-scape. In particular, they urged the City to consider permaculture which blends the productive and the aesthetic. Surprisingly, the City responded by giving a small con-tract to the pair to do some consultation and report back on the findings.

“So far, there’s been a lot of support [inside City Hall],” said Doug Demarzo,

Senior Parks Planner, when asked why the city was considering a departure from the standard lawns and ornamental gar-dens of city parks today. “There is a lot of demand for places to garden [from rent-ers and apartment dwellers]. Also, it gives us another tool to offer landowners…the average person thinks of urban gardens as highly intense, high input…we need a site—a ‘living laboratory’—that will

change how people view what’s possible.”Mills and Schwartzentruber submitted

their report to the Parks Department last December. A second discussion paper, this one on food systems by consulting firm Masselink Environmental Design, was also submitted in December to the Com-munity Planning Department. It wasn’t focused on parks per se, but rather on what is needed by way of policy at the municipal

level to “develop an urban food system that enhances the social, ecological, economic and nutritional health of Victoria and its community.”

It remains to be seen what happens once all this research bubbles up to the political level for discussion, hopefully later this spring. But at this point, these reports are interesting and promising seeds that have been sown.

City considering food production in parksPotential for more

public garden space

A permaculture development site in progress. The cardboard is used to suppress the growth of grass and other unwanted plants and is a safe,

nontoxic alternative to herbicides.

villagevibe March 2010 News and views from the heart of Fernwood

›› Lee Herrin

It’s official. Spring is here early. The buds and blossoms are opening. The crocuses have already faded. The daffodils are bloom-ing. But there are other signs of renewal in the neighbourhood too …

Fernwood NRG is working on a project to prepare the end unit of the Cornerstone Building for lease. The demolition work is done and now the unit is being put back together (Collective Works is also in the process of laying a new floor). Once it’s complete, and a new tenant moves in later this spring, the Cornerstone Building will at last be full to its potential.

We’ve also hired a new Director of Fam-ily Programs—Denyse Koo. She started in February and will be leading program improvements in our childcare, pre-natal nutrition, family support, recreation and drop-in programs. We will profile her in the April Village Vibe.

Ron Spence has had a team working steadily through the fall and winter on the Rennie & Taylor building opposite the Belfry, restoring the woodwork, removing graffiti, and preparing to install the cor-nice at the top. One of the apartments and one of the stores are also being refitted and

readied for new tenants.The Fernwood Inn put up a new sign

on the street—“A Community Gathering Place”—and they put up a sign inside say-ing the Inn would be closed for a day in February as they renovated their kitchen.

The Belfry (see this page) is hosting the Spark Festival this month with four main shows and a host of mini-plays and other events thrown in for good measure.

The Community Association will soon be opening their doors again following their structural upgrade work.

And we hope that Aubergine, stalled

for the winter in discussions with the City, moves quickly toward completion and its grand opening, taking us one step closer to a sustainable neighbourhood.

And slightly outside of the square, the Compost Education Centre is busy preparing its spring and summer course offerings and gearing up for its plant sale (see page 3).

The neighbourhood is definitely buzzing.

What are you working on? What’s your spring

pro ject? Drop us a line at [email protected]

and let us know.

declarationof principles

& values

Editor Lee Herrin

Founding Editor Lisa Helps

Contributors

Lee Herrin Tanya WegwitzJohanna Henderson Deryk HoustonMarika Smith Margaret HantiukStacey Curtis

Art

Mike Barnard Bejay MillsSteve Carey Tamara SunSongMargaret Hantiuk Jenna SedmakDeryk Houston

Production

Ellen Rooney

Contact us

1240 Gladstone Street Victoria, BC V8T 1G6T 250.381.1552 F [email protected]

The views expressed in the Village Vibe do not necessarily reflect the views of Fernwood NRG.

villagevibePublished by Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group

›› We are committed to creating

a socially, environmentally,

and economically sustainable

neighbourhood;

›› We are committed to ensuring

neighbourhood control or

ownership of neighbourhood

institutions and assets;

›› We are committed to using

our resources prudently

and to becoming financially

self-reliant;

›› We are committed to the creation

and support of neighbourhood

employment;

›› We are committed to engaging

the dreams, resources,

and talents of our neighbours

and to fostering new links

between them;

›› We are committed to taking

action in response to

neighbourhood issues, ideas,

and initiatives;

›› We are committed to governing

our organization and serving our

neighbourhood democratically

with a maximum of openness,

inclusivity and kindness;

›› We are committed to developing

the skills, capacity, self-worth,

and excellence of our

neighbours and ourselves;

›› We are committed to focusing

on the future while preserving

our neighbourhood’s heritage

and diversity;

›› We are committed to creating

neighbourhood places that

are vibrant, beautiful, healthy,

and alive;

›› and, most of all,

We are committed to having fun!

Editorial:

Spring has sprung

›› Johanna Henderson

The Belfry Theatre is once again the cen-tre of drama in Canada this month as SPARK festival descends on Fernwood. From March 8 to 21, artists from across the country will be showcasing their talents through a variety of workshops and per-formances that include mini-plays, sound installations and even karaoke.

Now in its 17th year, SPARK is a celebration of new plays and new ideas. This years' festival includes performances from artists from Halifax, Edmonton and Vancouver, as well as local groups Atomic

Vaudeville and Suddenly Dance Theatre. The festival will also feature Fernwood's own Collective Works Art Gallery, who will be lending their talents to the festival with Image as Story, an art show inspired by the plays in the SPARK festival, run-ning from March 12-25 at Collective Works (1307 Gladstone Avenue). The festival will include a run of the play Agnes B, a product of the Belfry's Incubator Pro-gram, a 2-year process which provides resources and knowledge to help local, independent theatre companies develop new and exciting theatrical possibilities. SPARK will also showcase the Belfry's

Belfry 101 program through Belfry 101 Live, a collective creation of the program's membership, which is comprised of local high-school students. The festival itself offers a variety of workshops for the bud-ding artist, including lighting, writing and acting. Those new to theatre can test the waters at the Midway Party, a mid-festival celebration that includes a mini-play by local favourites Atomic Vaudeville as well as Karaoke by local performers Morgan Cranny and Brad L'Ecuyer.

For more information, including schedules, visit the Belfry's website at www.belfry.bc.ca

SPARK festival lights up Fernwood

positive fear & guiltparticipatory Rules of Orderself-organizing central controltelling sellingresilience unpreparedness

Separating the fertile from the flammable in 10 words or less —

Fernwood Dead Wood

Cherise Clark plays a hyper-organized office worker in Tiny Apocalypse, a dark take on office life. Photo: Mike Barnard.

www.fernwoodnrg.ca March 2010 villagevibe page 3

›› Marika Smith

The Compost Education Centre is a fun, friendly place to learn all about home composting, organic gardening and sus-tainable living. Our environmentally-focused and interactive programs delight children and youth in elementary, middle and high schools, preschools, clubs and summer groups in the CRD. Located at 1216 North Park in Fernwood, we are also your regional “one stop compost shop”, selling composting supplies and offering free Composting Basics workshops. Knowledgeable staff and volun-teers can be reached on the compost hotline at 386-WORM (9676) or come by and see us Wednesday to Saturday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Our website (www.compost.bc.ca) has our full line-up of community workshops offered on Saturdays 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

We are also running an exciting new program for youths at our centre called SLUGS, which stands for ‘Sustainable Liv-ing and Urban Gardening Skills for Youth’. The program is for youth 15-18 and will

run from February to August 2010, cover-ing all the basics of organic backyard farm-ing, as well as touching on topics such as:

beekeeping, urban chickens, canning and preserving, permaculture, and mushroom cultivation. Cost for the whole session is

$175 (with bursaries and payment plans available). No one will be turned away! For busy teens we also offer a drop-in option for $5 per Thursday workshop 4:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Call (250)386-9676 for more information or visit slugsyouth.blogspot .com and www.compost.bc.ca.

Along the lines of local food security initiatives, we are thrilled to partner with Lifecycles Project Society and the Fern-wood NRG to launch ‘Plant a Row, Grow a Row’, a project that is designed to encour-age gardeners to plant an extra row of food in their gardens which can then be donated to food banks or other venues designed to help those that are less fortunate. In our first year we will be launching the project in the Fernwood neighbourhood and donate the food to Our Place, a local shelter, and to the Best Babies program which encour-ages better nutrition for at-risk mothers. Our goal in the first year is to get 100 gar-deners to sign-up and donate a total of 1 tonne of food! Stay tuned for more exciting news about this great project!

›› Stacey Curtis

On a warm week in the middle of Febru-ary, I sat down with Fernwood peers and members of Victoria-based ho-tonk band Ball Gag ‘n’ Chain Gang. The band, still riding the energy wave of opening last summer’s Edge of the World Festival on Haidii Gwaii, was beginning day two of a three-day recording session, laying down tracks for their 4-song EP, to be released this March.

“Living in Fernwood means we can afford our rent,” says one of two lead vocal-ists, Adam Zonnis.

“And we have super understanding neigh-bours,” adds bassist Avert Pater, one of three members sharing a Fernwood home that doubles as the band’s practice space.

When asked what the central message their band wants to spread is, all five mem-bers agreed: “have fun.”

“We take our work seriously, but we don’t take ourselves seriously,” says Pater, patter-ing in halfway through the interview.

“We have a strict no whining policy,” lead guitarist Tony Garossino says.

Steve Craik, vocalist number two, describes the group of five as more of a tribe than a band. “Anywhere we go, there’s at least three or four people minimum that come along.”

After significant success at home and on the road, this untamed band of multi-instrument playing bandits feels ready to open Victoria’s Save on Centre, but expresses much interest in continuing the festival circuit and touring as far south as Portland, come September. Garossino, imported from Texas, welcomes the move-ment toward southern gigs.

“[Expanding the tour circuit] is like dropping a rock in water,” says Craik. “Concentric circles. The bigger the rock,

the bigger the circle.” Craik smacks a fitting metaphor for a band that never fails to rock hard live, shamelessly ordering its crowd to scream outs its love for bacon. Zonnis declares the fantastically overpowering and unapologetic “Didgeree Death” his current favourite to sing live.

With a stage setup that equally high-lights Zonnis and Craik, and a guitarist, bassist and drummer who back them up like family, Ball Gag charms its audience with unabashed, confident stage presence and music you can’t resist partying to.

“Each member of that band is a charac-ter,” says new Fernwood resident Moham-med Amine Said of Coco Jafro. “And they have a great drummer [Brendan Pye]. Their drummer knows where the one is. He’s got the beat.”

While the title of album number two (in the works) is under debate, Bang is a strong contender. This comic-book inspired head-ing is certainly fitting for a band that uses tongue and cheek humour to get a few serious beliefs across.

“We’re all working on our stage banter,” explains Zonnis between jokes. “Some-times it’s good and sometimes not so good. Sometimes we get the crickets. The tumble-weeds. Sometimes I intentionally tell jokes that are bad just to kill time. Sometimes I ask a joke and instead of telling the punch line just play the song.”

“It’s a musical joke,” Craik explains, highlighting Zonnis’ statement.

When asked about their favourite shows, Zonnis named the Purple Witch Party, a gathering full of socialites at a mansion in Vernon. “They reacted by tak-ing off their clothes and throwing their panties at us,” Zonnis says, adding, “don’t ask me why all the guys there were wear-ing panties.”

“That’s how I reacted, too,” I banter back. Ball Gag’s upcoming Victoria shows include the Fort Street Café (March 6); the Events Centre (March 26); and Centennial Square on the May long weekend. Grab your tickets and join in the party: all are welcome.

Fernwood Band Ball Gag ‘n’ Chain Gang

Neighborhood Non-Profit:

Compost Education Centre supports local food security initiatives

A tribe that welcomes

and wants to rock

your universe

:970 Blanshard StreetVictoria, BC V8W 2H3

telephone: 363-3600e-mail: [email protected] the web: www.denisesavoie.ca

Denise SavoieMember of Parliament for Victoria

Your voice in OttawaYour voice in Ottawa

The women of the Compost Education Centre pose outside their North Park Street office.

From left: Marika Smith, Nadine Brodeur, Nashira Birch and Kim Watt. Photo: Steve Carey.


feature:

My Kind of Revolution: Transition Setting the Scene

My initial encounter with the Transition Movement was through a book.

Now, the thing that drives me nuts about many books dealing with climate change, fossil fuel depletion, or other global human-made catastrophes is that they often have a very predictable “90% problem/10% solution” format. They spend 90% of their pages wallowing in environmental doomsday only to sum up with a chirpy last chapter full of “don’t worry, just screw in compact fluorescent light bulbs” advice.

Therefore, when I first discovered a book by Rob Hopkins called The Transi-tion Handbook: From Oil Dependency to Local Resilience (Green Books Ltd., 2008) in a bookstore far from home, I was already a little jaded.

Sure enough, it started like the others. It provided a detailed description of what Hopkins calls “the two great oversights of our time:” climate change and our society’s terminal addiction to a rapidly exhausting supply of fossil fuels. Indeed, The Hand-book outlined a very clear argument why we need to care about both these issues.

And then the book’s first chapter ended.And the remaining 90% of the book

began and it presented a very practical, completely replicable blueprint for how to shift our communities to become less energy dependent and more locally con-nected. It offered solutions and a citizen-led path to a more resilient future.

And that is when I became a fan of the Transition movement.

A Blueprint for Change

The Transition Movement focuses on mak-ing change specific to local places. These “Transition Towns” or “Transition Initia-tives” can be neighbourhoods, towns, cit-ies, or larger regions. The essence of these initiatives is to mobilize everyday people into taking actions that wean our commu-nities from the current addiction to fossil fuels and far flung resources. By changing the mindset of our communities, the Tran-sition model helps lead the way to a more resilient lifestyle.

Described as the process of “energy descent,” these actions aren’t framed as responses to fear to guilt. Instead they are driven by the creation of a positive vision of what our lives could look like if they were more locally-based and less energy-inten-sive. In this respect, Transition’s “stop wait-ing and just do it” approach and focus on building local connections mirrors many of the activities that have already been taking place in Fernwood and other areas of the Victoria region.

Its path of action also differs in some ways.

Before developing a collective vision, one of Transition’s first key objectives is to undertake activities that raise awareness in a community about climate change, energy depletion, and related issues like economic

instability and inequity. These activities aim to reach out broadly

and seek to integrate and include. To do so, Transition Initiatives use everything from participatory workshop techniques to citizen-led working groups as ways of empowering people from across a com-munity to lead change.

The goal of working groups is to take concrete, local action on many aspects of our society. Some of these aspects include building our community food networks, relocalizing our neighbourhood and regional economies, and making our energy, land use, and transportation sys-tems more resilient.

Some working groups also form around ideas unique to the Transition movement. “Heart & Soul” groups focus on the inner work of helping people adapt to a changing world. “Re-skilling” groups create oppor-tunities for people to teach each other the self-reliant “make, mend, and make do” skills we may have forgotten.

The ultimate expression of a Transition Town Initiative is the creation of an Energy Descent Action Plan (EDAP). Seeking con-tributions from all working groups and sec-tors, this action plan sets out the practical actions that need to be taken to move a par-ticular community to a more localized and “powered down” future. The Action Plan

becomes a local blueprint for change.Along the way, one of Transition’s key

steps is laying the foundations for change by building connections with businesses, local governments, and other community organizations. Another step focuses on honouring and involving a community’s elders. We have become lazy and forgetful since the time of cheap oil and to have a healthy society we vitally need their skills and knowledge.

Other steps involve developing visible practical manifestations of the project so that people can see that change is happen-ing, letting the project go where it needs to, and making sure that events are fun. As Richard Heinberg (Author of The Party’s Over and Powerdown) says in his introduc-tion to The Transition Handbook, a success-ful response to peak oil and climate change is going to end up “looking more like a party than a protest march.”

The Blueprint Goes Global

Transition’s party versus protest approach is clearly an attractive one.

From its initial UK start in September 2006, the Transition Movement has spread rapidly. There are now 278 “official” Transi-tion Initiatives registered on the Transition Towns Wiki site (www.transitiontowns.org), with several thousand others in the

“mulling it over” stages. These initiatives encompass communi-

ties ranging in size from market towns of several thousand people, to places like Los Angeles, Berlin, and Sydney, Australia.

In Canada, there are now 13 officially recognized Transition Initiatives. In and around our own corner of the planet, these include the Victoria Region, Vancouver, Salt Spring Island, and Powell River. Other groups in Sooke, the Cowichan Valley, and elsewhere on Vancouver Island are in the formative stages.

Billed as “a Regional Initiative,” our very own Transition Victoria (www.transition-victoria.ca, www.transitionvictoria.ning.com) seeks to be a catalyst for citizen action throughout the larger Capital Regional District area. The group’s Initiating Com-mittee is made up of individuals from across Greater Victoria and was formed in January 2009.

Transition Victoria’s two core beliefs are:We used immense amounts of creativ-

ity, ingenuity and adaptability on the way up the energy upslope, and there’s no reason for us not to do the same on the downslope;

If we collectively plan and act early enough there’s every likelihood that we can create a way of living that’s significantly more connected, more vibrant and more in touch with our environment than the oil-addicted treadmill that we find ourselves on today.

Since its first public information session in August 2009, Transition Victoria has rapidly gained members. On January 30, 2010 the Victoria Initiative zinged to the next level when over 120 people attended its Cultivating Action workshop. Through this participatory “open space” style work-shop, a number of working groups formed that will lead community action in a num-ber of different sectors. (See inset).

“So What Do You Guys Actually DO Anyway?”

A dinner guest involved in anti-Olympics activism asked me that question one eve-ning and it made me consider Transition’s main characteristics and what might make it different from other global movements or organizations working at the commu-nity level.

The following describes some of Transi-tion’s key elements. This definitely isn’t to say that Transition’s way is the best way or the only way. My goal in presenting these is to share different approaches and describe the ideas that I’ve found most notable or useful in the path that Transition describes. Just like any healthy ecosystem we need a diversity of approaches and an acknowl-edgement from all of kinds of organiza-tions that we’re in this together.

Here, then, is my take on Transition’s main principles, some of which is drawn from Transition Victoria’s orientation materials (with thanks to Michelle Colussi and Tamara SunSong):


A Transition Initiative is grounded in a positive vision. Fear, guilt, and informa-tion leaflets will only take us so far when it comes to actually motivating people to change their behaviour. In order to facili-tate change, people need to know what the alternative is, be able to visualize it, and actually want to go there.

Rather than campaigning against things, Transition Initiatives primarily focus on creating a tangible, practical vision of what life in a community would be like if it was more locally-focused and less dependent on fossil fuels. Part of this means creating new stories, myths, and social norms.

It is participatory and inclusive. Rob-ert’s Rules of Order and town hall style meetings might technically be tools of democracy but they are pretty ineffective—and often toxic—ways of involving people in community decision-making. To get where we need to go, we have to engage, empower, and listen to as many people as possible and that includes those who might be shy, averse to conflict, and less confident or able to speak in English.

Rather than lectures or rigid speaker’s lists, Transition Initiatives favour more participatory workshop methods that let people teach each other, make connections, and build to decisions through discussions and activities. These activities take place on a variety of scales, including one-on-one and small group conversations.

Involving everybody in energy descent also means moving beyond “us and them.” A core value of Transition is to meet people where they are at and to stretch beyond what may be our regular cultural, social, political, or lifestyle niches.

It operates on a self-organizing model. A central idea to Transition is to not centralize or control decision making. Working groups come and go as needs and projects change. They may be split into finer distinctions or combined together. Representatives from working groups come to a common table—often called a Core Group—to steer the path of the overall Initiative.

The main advantage to this distributed form or subsidiarity is that it models the ability of natural systems to evolve and adapt. It also means that since power is diffuse, there is less motivation for people to get entrenched and nasty. When difficult people or difficult situations do arise, there

is a greater chance that their impacts can be isolated and not affect the whole.

It focuses on telling rather than sell-ing. A core objective of Transition is to raise awareness of peak oil and climate change and related issues such as economic ineq-uity and instability. In doing so, Initia-tives recognize the responsibility to present this information in ways that are truth-ful, engaging, and accessible and which enable people to feel empowered rather than powerless. This rather proselytizing article aside, Transition’s messages aim to be non-directive, respecting each person’s ability to make a response that is appropri-ate to their situation. It trusts that if you give people good information, they will make good decisions.

It aims to build resilience. It isn’t enough to move forward toward a positive vision. At the same time we also need to build the capacity of our neighbourhood and community systems to prepare for and

adapt to abrupt and unforeseen changes. Through their various activities, Transi-

tion Initiatives and their working groups try to encourage the conditions that make systems resilient. This means that they help create back ups or redundancies for com-munity systems (such as food and energy) and ensure that those systems can be scaled up or down as needs change. It also means building a network of relationships between people and organizations so that informa-tion flows freely and enables us to adapt rapidly to changing situations.

It acknowledges the need for inner transition. Transition Initiatives recognize that much of what’s got us into this plan-etary mess—and which inhibits us from addressing it — is in our heads. It is not just combustion engines and industrializa-tion at the heart of climate change but our world view and belief systems. A key part of changing the external manifestations of our lifestyle requires shifting the internal

thoughts and values that drive it. At the same time, recognizing the inner

components to transition also enables us to acknowledge the fear, denial, grief and other feelings that arise when considering our future and take steps to address them.

Final Thoughts and The Way Forward

In the months ahead Transition Victoria’s Regional Initiative will be continuing to support and grow its new working groups. The work here is just beginning and Tran-sition Victoria is definitely encouraging people from all walks of life and from all areas of our region to join in and make action happen.

My own personal experience with the Transition Victoria movement so far has been one that is extremely welcoming, energizing, and positive.

And that, friends and neighbours, is my kind of revolution.

Celebrate the sunshine with us!

Join us daily from 11:30

1302 Gladstone 412-2001

Want to take some Initiative of your own? There are a number of ways to find out more about the Transi-tion movement and join with other likeminded positive people working to reshape our communities for a more local and less energy depen-dent future.

Attend an Information Session: An “Introduction to the Transition Town Movement” interactive slide show and discussion will next take place Thursday, March 18 from 6:30pm to 9:00pm at the Community of Christ Church Hall, 495 East Burnside (at Finlayson).

Get Connected: Check out and become a member of Transition Vic-toria’s interactive website at www .transitionvictoria.ning.com or head to the Initiative’s blog at www.transi-tionvictoria.ca.

Join a Working Group: The goal of Transition’s Working Groups is to develop and lead concrete action. In some cases, the actions will be at the

personal or household level. In other cases, part of working group activities may be liaising with other neighbour-hood and community organizations or area local governments.

Working Groups have been newly formed around a number of key top-ics. New members and ideas are encouraged and very welcome. For details and to sign up to become a member, head to www.transitionvic-toria.ning.com and click on “Groups.” Some of the Working Groups formed include:

• Food

• Green Energy

• Sustainable Mobility

• Heart & Soul

(The inner work

of transition)

• Reskilling

• Education and Childhood

Development

• Land Use

• Shelter and Housing

• Water

• Waste Reduction and Reuse

• New Governance and

Communication Models

• Ministry of Fun (Community

Building Through Arts and

Events)

• Building Neighbourhood

Connections

• Building Regional Connections

• Transition Foundations

(Communication, fundraising,

etc.)

Invite us to Present: If you have a group or organization that might want to hear more about Transition Victoria, contact us. Emails can be directed to [email protected].

›› Tania Wegwitz

Get Involved with Transition Victoria: a Regional Initiative

Victoria’s Regional Initiative


›› Deryk Houston

How many times have you looked at a work of art and been a little surprised at how much it cost? Prices vary so much and sometimes it is hard to pinpoint what makes one piece worth more than another.

A life-size bronze sculpture of a man by artist Alberto Giacometti, just sold at auc-tion recently for $104.3 million dollars. Apparently the bidding took eight minutes to complete. This sale occurred in our time but it certainly was in a world outside of most of our experience.

So how does a professional artist in our community price their work? Every art-ist struggles with this question and most undervalue their own work. It would be easy if we could simply add up the cost of the materials and our time and come up with a number. But it is much more com-

plicated than that. The amount of hours involved in the creation might be irrelevant if the work has no inherent meaning. Some of my best works are the ones that burst onto the canvas with little effort and time.

The number one question I get asked all the time is “How long did it take you to create this work?” The best answer I’ve heard to that question is when the artist gives his age. So I tell people that it took me 55 years to create their painting.

Unless an artist is independently wealthy, they have to sell their work at a realistic price if they wish to continue creating new works and survive as an artist. This means pricing their work in a range one might expect to find in galleries with works of similar quality and size.

There are sound reasons why art “shakes out” at a certain price level. Galleries have to pay their rent, advertising, overhead, etc. and they can’t do that if they handle works that are priced too low. Artists often get rejected by galleries because their prices are too low, not because of the quality of their

work (most artists never find out why they have been rejected).

It costs a successful gallery several thou-sand dollars to mount a professional exhi-bition for an artist and it has to make some kind of business sense at the end of it all, even when galleries are run as a labour of love, as most are.

In the past, select artists used to be sup-ported by wealthy patrons. But that meant that the art was locked away in castles and mansions and was not in the community as much as it is today. There are certainly patrons of the arts that still support the art community today and artists are very grateful for that. At the same time artists have much more freedom and diversity to show their work than in the past. The inter-net has also been a game changer for art-ists, allowing them the ability to have their

work discovered, but galleries still play an important role in the process by lending assurance and confidence to the buyer that the work is significant and has merit.

If the price range for an artist’s work is out of reach for the average buyer, then one might wish to look at auctions and fundraisers as a source for acquiring a work of art. This benefits both the buyer and the artist. Sometimes there are terrific values at those events and many people are able to start their first collection of art through these types of events.

When an artist receives a fair price for their work they are free to continue experi-menting and creating, using the best mate-rials for their work and everyone, including the advertisers, the framing shops, the art supply shops and the galleries, all benefit when the artist succeeds.

Artist’s Aside:

The Art of Pricing

›› Margaret Hantiuk

While it is still too early to plant tender varieties (zone 8 and 9), it is fine to plant hardy plants, shrubs and seeds now. For veggies, this can be peas, lettuce and greens, broad (not green or pole) beans, spinach, chard, parsley and onion sets. The veggie patch should be cleaned up and readied for planting: dig in fall cover crops, apply compost, and remove straw mulch. Tender veggies and flowers can be started indoors or in a greenhouse, but sweet peas can be planted directly outdoors. They like com-post and sun.

This is a good time to prune roses and late blooming (July and August) shrubs, which bloom on current or new wood. Remember to check how for each plant or type of rose. Generally, cut back to out-ward facing buds, and remove all dead, dis-eased and damaged wood. Hedges may be trimmed. March is also an excellent time to separate perennials that have become con-gested and are not blooming well any lon-ger, by digging them up and either tearing or cutting them apart. Throw some com-post into the hole and discard the oldest roots. If you have extras, why not give some to a neighbour? This is also a good time to transplant shrubs and perennials that you may have noticed are not been doing well;

perhaps they need more space, light, shade or aesthetically they would look much bet-ter in a different spot. Dig a big enough hole when removing, and then again when re-planting, and add compost. During dry spells water well until re-established.

Now is a good time to add your com-post to your beds and to sprinkle dolomitic lime on your lawn and veggie beds. There are many other plants that like lime (roses, lilacs, mock orange, deutzia, viburnum, ara-lia, bamboo, berberis, quince, hydrangea, hebe, spirea, cotoneaster, daphne, eleagnus, euonymous, fatsia, fuchsia, kerria, laurel, lavender, privet, honeysuckle, mahonia, osmanthus, potentilla, plum, pyracan-tha, ribes, sambucus, sarcococca, skim-mia) and some that really don’t (rhodos, azaleas, camellias, pieris, maples, clethra, dogwoods, fothergilla, enkianthus, win-tergreen, witch hazel, kalmia, leucothoe, magnolia, and heathers). Lightly scratch it into the soil for those that do.

When the winter has been mild like this one, weeds are getting a head start. It pays to start pulling them when it’s easier (they’re young, the soil is damp) and before they seed or spread. Lawns may need to be mowed. The first cut should be not too short, and remember to leave the clippings on as mulch. Fine compost can be sprin-kled over the lawn as a fertilizer.

Garden Gleanings:

The Garden in March

Stars in the Garden for March

Small Ornamental Trees: Magnolias (M. stellata, M. Kobus, M. x loebneri); flow-ering plums (Prunus cerasifera, P. x blireana); flowering cherries (Prunus pendula, P. sargentii, P. X subhirtella, P. x yedoensis)

Ornamental Shrubs: camellias, quince (Chaenomeles), winter hazel (Corylopsis), Forsythia, Mahonia, Pieris, flowering currant (Ribes), Bridlewreath Spirea, Vibur-num burkwoodii, early rhodos

Perennials: rock cress (Aubretia), wall cress (Arabis), wallflower (Erysimum), Corsican hellebore, Primulas, lungwort (Pulmonaria), Bergenia, spring Gentian (G. verna)

Bulbs: chiondoxia, crocus, daffodils, pushkinia, scilla, early tulips

Vines: evergreen clematis (C. armandii) and Akebia quinata (chocolate vine)

“Next Generation” by Deryk Houston.

So how does a

professional artist

in our community

price their work?


Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

7Sunday Storytime

9:30am

Drop-In Karate 1:00-2:30pm

Drop-In Hatha Yoga 3:00-4:30pm

Drop-In Soccer 5:00-6:30pm

Victoria Folk Music Society Open Stage7:00pm @ Norway House

8Kundalini Yoga

5:45-7:00pm

LifeRing Secular Recovery

7:30-8:45pm

Nuu-Chah-Nuth Drum Group

8:30-10:30pm

9Parent & Tot Playgroup

9:30-11:30am

Hatha Yoga 3:30-5:00pm

Legal Information Clinic 6:00-7:00pm at 1923 Fernwood Rd.

Drop-In Co-Ed Hockey 7:00-9:30pm

Victoria Bluegrass Association Jam 7:30-10:00pm @ Orange Hall

10Parent & Babe Playgroup

9:30-11:30am

Community Acupuncture 4:00-8:00pm

Bluegrass Jams 7:30-10:00pm


9:30-11:30am



Open Mic 8:30-11:30pm@ the Fernwood Inn.

12Seniors’ Exercise, Lunch and Activities

11:00am-2:00pm

Fernwood Youth Fridays 7:00-9:30pm

All’s Well 7:00-9:00pm

13Work party 3:00pm @ Springridge Commons.

14Sunday Storytime

9:30am





15Kundalini Yoga

5:45-7:00pm


7:30-8:45pm


8:30-10:30pm


9:30-11:30am



Food Security Collective Meeting

7:00-9:00pm




9:30-11:30am




9:30-11:30am





11:00am-2:00pm


Music 7:00-11:00pm

20Walking Group10:00am start @ Fernwood Square

Work party 3:00pm @ Springridge Commons.

21Sunday Storytime

9:30am





22Laughter Yoga10:00-11:00am @ Orange Hall

Kundalini Yoga 5:45-7:00pm


7:30-8:45pm


8:30-10:30pm


9:30-11:30am






9:30-11:30am




Parent & Tot Playgroup 9:30-11:30am





11:00am-2:00pm


Music 7:00-11:00pm

27Work party 3:00pm @ Springridge Commons.

28Sunday Storytime

9:30am






Kundalini Yoga 5:45-7:00pm


7:30-8:45pm


8:30-10:30pm


9:30-11:30am






9:30-11:30am




9:30-11:30am





11:00am-2:00pm


Music 7:00-11:00pm

3 AprilWork party 3:00pm @ Springridge Commons.

what’s on in Fernwood: March

Like the work of Fernwood NRG? Go to CanadaHelps.org and make a donation.

Where’s that event?

Fernwood NRG1240 Gladstone Ave.

Cornerstone Cafe 1301 Gladstone Ave.

Belfry Theatre1291 Gladstone Ave.

Fernwood Inn1302 Gladstone Ave.

Orange Hall1620 Fernwood Rd.

Norway House1110 Hillside Ave.

Scene in Fernwood : Street Art

march 2010 village vibe

Documents

city parks

city halls parks

parks department

cityowned property

cityowned properties

permaculture landscapes

food systems

senior parks planner