projects
The Vintage Iconic Archives Project encourages the preservation of over 150 years of history and culture, in the form of original vintage photographs.
The Vintage Iconic Archives (VIA) Project aims to acquire and preserve a diverse set of educational, cultural and fine art resources in Canada, in the form of vintage photographs. A vintage photograph can be viewed as a principal documentary record of civilization; an invaluable glimpse into a collective memory and history. The VIA Project allows individual Canadians to play a vital role as both collectors and donors of these monumental pieces of culture, which are virtually assured to increase in rarity and value over time.
Ecotecture's collaboration with the VIA Project has resulted in the magnificent gifting of SOVFOTO/EASTFOTO Archive of Photographs (view select images within the virtual gallery in the Arts section of this website). The Archive represent a visual history of the rise, influence and decline of the Soviet Union and the Eastern Block around the world throughout the 20th century.
Ecotecture endeavours to properly preserve the extensive collection to ensure its longevity and organize special viewings until the collection can be properly displayed in a safe environment for all Canadians to appreciate.
Click here for a more detailed description of the archive
The Sustainability Forum exploits the power of the image and a range of communication technologies to explore a variety of sustainability issues.
ArtCity challenges the division of traditional private galleries and public parks and streets to support local creativity and the pursuit of the arts.
ArtCity, a joint initiative between the City of Barrie and the MacLaren Art Centre, aims to integrate artwork into the public realm. To support ArtCity, in 1999, the City of Barrie approved the designation of several parks and public spaces for the construction of an international art and sculpture park. Some of these traditionally "public" places include Barrie's forty parks and 2,000 acres of green space. These works of art are crafted by Canadian and international artists to promote an artistic and cultural identity for the city. The primary goals of ArtCity are to assure open public accessibility to all the artwork and to challenge the division of traditional private spaces, such as galleries, and of public spaces, such as parks, boulevards and streets. This project has not only increased cultural tourism in the region of Barrie, but also supported local creativity and the pursuit of the arts.
As a part of the ArtCity initiative, the Shore/Lines exhibition will assist in developing new audiences for art and artists. Founded in the summer of 2003, Shore/Lines is an environmental sculpture exhibition based in the City of Barrie. Environmental sculptures use the natural world as subject matter and as a source of materials. The principal objectives of this exhibition are to explore the spiritual, ecological and social meanings of the environments in which we live in and to serve as a mode of reflection upon the changing nature of the land that occurs across generations. More specifically, the Shore/Lines exhibition aims to question the boundaries that exist by the separation of land and water in the context of the region's geography. This geography includes the change in the high regions of the 11,000 year old shoreline of Lake Algonquin among others.
http://ccca.finearts.yorku.ca/c/writing/h/heath/hea059t.html
The Stratford Workshop explores the robust relationship between art, environment, history and culture.
The Stratford Workshop aims to promote artwork inspired by Shakespeare and the environment. One Touch of Nature, an environmental artwork exhibition sponsored by the Stratford Workshop, was rooted in Shakespeare's quote: "One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." This work explored the possible relationships between people, nature and art. The purpose of this work is to associate value and importance in natural world entities, such as water and air. It is important to assign value to entities responsible for the existence of the human population. The artwork in this exhibition demonstrates that there is an important and real connection between art, environment, history and culture.
