The Centre and its Circles

Greetings from Hallowell Gardens! I’m Renia Tyminski, and this teaching/training/networking centre came from my vision for the creation of a place where guests and clients could experience the exchange of ideas in a relaxed and stimulating atmosphere. I was lucky to find the Drew House, as it has been locally known, in late 2000,  when I first succumbed to the charms of Prince Edward County. It had never been on the market before: the seller was the granddaughter of the family that, in 1901, had built the main part of the house on a large expanse of acreage that overlooked the Bay of Picton. The field stone used for the external walls, and the oak used for the interior trim and floors, was all collected and harvested on the land. The “bones” of the house therefore have been for connected to this piece of land for centuries.

A South view of the one of two peaks that reach into the sky

Although by 2000 the size of the property had shrunk to 1.8 acres, there were 40 mature trees on it, and quite enough lawn when it came to mowing! In the first few years I busied myself with planting more trees and flowering shrubs, while establishing my vacation/study English immersion programme. Through it, students from South America, Africa, Europe and Asia have been introduced to the attractions of Eastern Ontario. Some have returned several times.

A meal to remember!

Other than language and crosscultural programmes, over the last 10 years I’ve hosted musical evenings; sound, dream, and massage workshops; a memory course; community group meetings; and more than a few kitchen parties and vegetarian potlucks. All of them have been excellent occasions for sharing on many levels, among participants from far and near.

When Guy Doucette and I started discussing the possibility of a collaboration, I could immediately see that his artistic trajectory, love of working with and in natural surroundings — all in addition to his background in theatre, music, and facilitating groups — presented a potential synergy between us that would widen our individual creative scope. That has indeed occurred, and the process has initiated a momentum for similar exponential sparking with the networks we both enjoy.

Guy Doucette plays his 12 string 'Garden'

Since my interest in all things to do with language stems from my very early attraction to literature, the arts have always been firmly present in all of my educational endeavours. They also have influenced my work in the field of religious ideas, with symbolic interpretations of the sacred being high on my list of important themes.

The sacred Toono of a Yurt

The launch of our first public collaboration at Hallowell Gardens will take place on the upcoming Victoria Day long weekend. On Sunday May 22 we will be celebrating the set-up of an authentic Mongolian yurt as an addition to our diverse  performance and networking spaces. Guy and I see the launch as being very much like an open air entertainment/information sharing event, allowing visitors the opportunity to come and go and catch different facets. The first will be a hands-on setting up of the yurt, under the instruction of Yves Ballenegger of Groovy Yurts (www.groovyyurts.com), which people are invited to watch or help with. Later in the day Yves will be doing a presentation on some fascinating aspects of Mongolian culture, showing samples of handicrafts and artifacts that he has brought back with him (for some general background information see  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia).

Yves loves to share his enthusiasm for that distant and ancient country, and is very connected to the people, especially the family that has been making the yurts for generations http://64.34.153.136/~groovy/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/mongolianyurtshomestretch.mp3.

A Mongolian Yurt!

From a practical, resilience-building point of view, the buddhist and nomadic features of their daily lives can give us some valuable insights into how we might conceive of living in this part of the hemisphere in the post fossil fuel driven, less energy intensive future.

Last but not least, some of the many talented local musicians will be here to add to the festivities. May the weather gods favour us!

All’s Well That’s Hallowell

Hallowell Gardens front porch

Greetings!

My name is Guy Doucette. I was born in 1983 in Peterborough, Ontario, and grew up on a four-acre farm in Ennismore. I went to high school in Peterborough, then to York University. Six years of living ‘real world’ in Toronto followed; then I came to a crossroads. While the time leading up to this crossroads is both rich in life lessons and full of beautiful and sometimes tragic stories, I’ll forgo them in order to jump into the purpose of this Blog. (Though I’m sure I shall tell you some of them along the way to give you context, my friends!)

My crossroads was this:

1. I could stay in Toronto and  take on a soul-sucking job just to pay the bills. This choice would limit (if not grind to a halt) my work as an artist and producer who wants to provide opportunities for other artists, whether emerging or mature. Ending this work would also close many doors on a community that was growing all the time.

2. I could move back to my hometown. A viable option, and while I do love my parents, family and friends both close and extended… it just felt like a step in a perhaps too familiar direction.

3. I could return to an area I could see myself living in, both familiar and new in some ways. There I could continue to provide opportunities for the artists in my existing communities, while forging and strengthening the connections I had made in Prince Edward County.

It was the third path I chose to follow,  for while it was a trail that would not be easy, there was great freedom, adventure and hope down this course.

During the summer of 2010 I was given the amazing opportunity to work on the inaugural season of a new arts company known as Small Pond Arts. The company was opened by Krista Dalby and Mile Murtanovski. I knew and had worked with Krista for a few years in Toronto. where we had originally met at Clay & Paper Theatre. Over the course of the summer, as I worked on creating art gardens and trails, performed at the local Transition Town meetings, community festivals and at Small Pond itself, I grew to love the people and the area. If you have been to Prince Edward County in Ontario you will know exactly of what I speak.

Having grown up on a small farm myself and, from experience, knowing a great deal  about gardening, the outdoors and country living; and furthermore having been schooled in the fine arts, here I was suddenly using both realms of knowledge, in direct collaboration with each other, in a way I had not envisioned as possible.

Perhaps this discovery was not all that surprising. After all, my university had taken great pride in being an interdisciplinary school, but it struck me as no less beautiful. My love of the arts and belief in their ability to positively transform and shape our world had proven true for myself.

After my stay at Small Pond, I returned to Toronto, but even before I did so things were changing fast.

A controlled burn in Ontario

Without going into the nitty-gritty of things, it was as if a fire had ravished almost every area of my life. Were it not for the great kindness of my friends and family, I’m afraid I would have fared badly. As it stands, the great burning of my fields gave me the gifts of being able to grow anew.

When I was younger, we would perform a controlled burn in order to allow older pastures to grow again fresh. The flames broke down the dead and dry organic material, and released nutrients into the soil. New plants could then easily get the light and water they needed to grow healthy and strong, relying on the nutrients of the past. There was much of my past to learn from, and to be fed inspiration from. Now it was a choice of where to grow.

As aforementioned, I found myself at a crossroads, and thinking of my third option also planted the seed of an idea. During the summer I had the great pleasure of meeting Renia Tyminski and visiting her historic, turn-of-the-century homestead. In a conversation with Krista, the idea of calling her came up. And so, finding myself thinking that moving to Prince Edward County might be a very wise choice, I did just that.

We talked about all kinds of things — about life changes and sustainable living; about peak oil, economic collapse, and Transition Towns; about education and the arts; about family and community; about life and dreams, and how we could both help ourselves and others achieve them.

Hyacinth and Daffodils blooming brightly like our ideas!

I’m the artistic director of an arts company called Back Burner Productions, and Renia started her own English language training school known as Hallowell Gardens shortly after she first came to the County herself, in 2000. My company has always worked towards training emerging and mature artists, and creating opportunities for them and communities. As Renia’s intention had always been about providing a fully integrated education centre, we were both overjoyed at the possibilities for collaboration.

Hallowell Gardens Education, Arts and Wellness Centre will provide the opportunity to bring communities together from here and abroad, sharing knowledge and experiences from all walks of life and creating a cultural mosaic as rich and diverse as the plants which grow here in the gardens!

A Magnolia Tree in full blossom here at Hallowell Gardens

This Blog will tell the story of the work that Renia and I are endeavouring to do here at Hallowell Gardens, connect you to other amazing individuals and groups within the County, and share with you the journeys of our guests from far and wide too.

I hope that you will join us, and I look forward to all the adventures we shall have!

All’s well that’s Hallowell!

~ Guy Doucette
Co-Artistic Director of Hallowell Gardens