“Let not the world’s deceitful cares the rising plant destroy; But let it yield a hundredfold the fruits of peace and joy.” – Rev.John Cawood, 1815 This summer, Emily Comeau (a fibre artist from Quebec) and Emily Cook (a book and paper artist from Ontario) will be collaborating to create an immense and interactive tunnel book made from local plant materials to install in a barren patch of city. The “book” will be 10 feet high and 12 feet long and contain 6 “pages” featuring a cut paper story of urbanism in archway shapes that people can walk through and interact with. The structure will be made of live willow branches and the paper pages made of flax paper infused with seeds. As the elements erode the paper, the sculpture will disintegrate and the seeded paper will sprout. This way the sculpture will have a changing life and meaning as the urban world we create with the cut paper will be eroded and changed by the living materials. Emily Comeau is a recent graduate of Concordia University, majoring in Fibre Arts and was awarded the Prix Diagonale for her artistic achievements. Her art practice is largely fibre based. She has… read more →

The Ottawa chapter of The Awesome Foundation is proud to announce that today we will be awarding our first grant of $1000 to Alicia Dobson of Project Y. Project Y is a group of young and passionate change-makers who aspire to make positive change and change the face of their community. There are all different types of individuals: students, social entrepreneurs, musicians, artists, scientists, and others. Many are Millennium Laureates, some are TD Scholars, and others are individuals with an unbelievable commitment and determination to make positive change. For their kick-off event, Alicia and her team are organizing an Art Flash Mob to show people the beauty that exists here in our city. In Alicia’s own words, “The music, art, and culture in this city is astonishing – we want people to see it.” This exciting first event will take place in downtown Ottawa on the afternoon of May 12th. Look for them and join in the fun! See their video proposal here: Project Y: Art Flash Mob The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences was founded in Boston in June 2009 and has now spread to six cities. The Ottawa Chapter (Awesome Ottawa), founded in April 2010, awards… read more →