NEWS ARCHIVES Green drive making difference with arts group An art exhibit about the Arctic is powerful because much of its natural beauty from the 1920s and ‘30s no longer exists, John Ryerson says. "Many of the things you see - the glaciers and ice coverage - have declined," said Mr. Ryerson, who is acting director of culture for Markham and oversees The Markham Theatre for the Performing Arts, Markham Museum and Unionville’s Varley Art Gallery. The exhibit, which ran from May to Oct. 2006 at the gallery, focused on painter Fred Varley’s trip to the Arctic by ship in 1938, as well as artists from the 1980s, 12 modern-day Inuit artists and contemporary Canadian painters. "They (the painters) capture the rapid and drastic change in the Arctic and the impact global warming has already had on the Arctic flora and fauna and the local inhabitants," an excerpt from the gallery newsletter said. The gallery is obviously not the only arts institution with environmental aspirations. Alex Karolyi of Newmarket’s Resurgence Theatre has made being environmentally conscious a part of her work. She is the founder of the Shadowpath Theatre Company and interim manager of the Resurgence Theatre. Ms Karolyi tries to e-mail scripts to actors rather than handing out paper versions. "I have always tried not to be a waster of paper. It clutters up your mindspace as much as physical space. To deal with things electronically is my first choice," she said. At both organizations, she e-mails invoices and does what she calls "e-mail blasts" instead of mailing newsletters. Resurgence’s York Shakespeare Festival tried integrating nature with the theatre experience last summer by creating a garden theatre. The perimeter of the theatre space was a garden, rather than the tent Resurgence usually uses. "This year, as part of the festival, we will be partnering with Canada Blooms, which puts on a huge garden show every spring at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Gardening Life magazine to create Canada’s first open air garden theatre," Resurgence co-founder Anthony Leo said in July. "They are trying to blend the idea of nature and theatre into one experience," Ms Karolyi said. Resurgence donates leftover wood from sets to Habitat for Humanity for re-use. Resurgence also asks Habitat for leftover materials to create sets so it do not have to buy them, she said. The Markham Theatre redid its marquee sign with low-energy lighting this year and is retrofitting lobby lighting next year. "Art facilities are high consumers of energy; anything we can do to mitigate that is better," Mr. Ryerson said. © 2007 York Region Media Group. All rights reserved. | ||
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