February 27, 2022, 1-3pm
Walking the Mycelial Web Book Release, Self-guided Audio Walks & Final Celebration – Renfrew Ravine Park (Colour Me Local Dye Garden, West side of Renfrew Ravine, Renfrew St. and East 24th Ave)
Join us for our final celebration of Walking the Mycelial Web! To conclude our residency, we will be releasing a wonderful BOOK featuring a collection of maps, art, poetry, movement scores, photography and writings created by the lead artists and participants during this project, as well as sharing project documentation over mushroom snacks and tea. In addition, you will be invited to go on a self-guided mushroom walk of Renfrew Ravine, following handmade watercolour maps. Please bring a phone and a pair of headphones to download and/or listen to the audio walk.
Register Here
January-February 2022
Call for mushroom stories!
We are currently collecting mushroom stories from community members – It could be an anecdote, a recipe, a childhood memory or anything else you would like to share with us. Please get in touch by either writing your story and sending it to us via email or sending us an email to set up an interview to be recorded online or in person. Please make sure to put ´Mushroom stories’ in the subject line of the e-mail. To share your stories, please email Isabelle at isabellekirouac@gmail.com
Fri Dec 3, 12:30-2:30pm
Fungi Watercolour painting with some natural pigments – CNH Annex (Art room)
We will paint portraits of local fungi, observing live specimens and reference images, and using watercolours, fungal and plant pigments.
Register Here
Sun Nov 21, 2-4pm
Sound Walk: Listening to Fungi – Renfrew Ravine Park
We will tune in and listen to our environment, responding to deep listening exercises. We will use a biosonification unit to tune in to mushrooms in the ravine, which will stimulate our imaginations for explorations in creative writing and drawing.
Register Here
Wed Nov 10, 9-12pm
Art & Fungi for the little ones – Renfrew Ravine Park
Francophone Kindergarden students from École Norval Morrisseau, which is located on Renfrew street, will join us to learn about the fungi of Renfrew Park and how they interact with other members of their ecosystems, including humans. We will incorporate artistic activities, including movement, stories and sound.
Fri Oct 15, 4-6pm
Fungi Sensing : Making sense of each other – Cariboo Park
Together we will dive into our 5+ senses as we encounter fungi, sensing them and allowing them to sense us. We will learn mushroom features by touch, listen to them through biosonification, experience, discuss and classify their aromas using an original aromatic wheel, gaze up close through hand lenses, and sample delicious mushroom snacks and tea.
Register Here
Fri Oct 1, 4-6pm
Mushroom Story Foray – Renfrew Ravine Park
Join us for a walk and talk session where we observe mushrooms and
share mushroom stories from folktales, literature, human history and our own experiences.
Register Here
Fri Sept 24, 10-12pm
Forest Movement Practice – Renfrew Ravine Park
Participants will engage in meditative movement-based, embodied activities, score making and creative writings inspired by fungi and the mycelial web. No experience required.
Register Here
Sat Sept 11, 2-5pm
Myco-Bike-o: Mushroom Foray Bike Tour – meet in Gaston Park
Come join us to engage with the ecology and fungal life of three parks of the Renfrew-Collingwood neighborhood, each representing a different ecosystem: Renfrew Ravine Park, a wild but disturbed ravine; Gaston Park, a grassy field surrounded by street trees; and Cariboo Park, a small park with a pond and lively tree and fungal diversity. We will travel together by bicycles, from one park to the next.
Register Here
Sun August 29, 10-12pm
Summer Plant Walk with Lori Snyder – Renfrew Ravine Park
Indigenous peoples have used wild plants for centuries as food and medicine. Come discover how these plants support us physically, emotionally and spiritually with Lori Snyder, a Métis herbalist and educator. You’ll learn how to identify medicinal and edible plants, native and non-native, in our urban landscape, and how their properties can improve wellness.
Register Here
Fri July 30, 10-12pm
Mushroom Block Printing – Gaston Park
We will create hand-carved stamps for block printing, inspired by local fungi. All supplies are provided.
Register Here
Fri July 16, 10:30-12pm
Shaggy Mane Ink Drawing and Lettering – Gaston Park
We will learn how to make ink from shaggy mane mushrooms and use ink made from specimens collected around the neighborhood to create drawings and calligraphy.
Register Here
Sun June 6, 3-5pm
Forest Movement Practice – Renfrew Ravine Park
Participants will engage in meditative movement-based and embodied activities inspired by fungi and the mycelial web. No experience required.
Register Here
Sun May 30, 10-12pm
Forest Movement Practice – Cariboo Park
Participants will engage in meditative movement-based and embodied activities inspired by fungi and the mycelial web. No experience required.
Register Here
Sun May 16, 1-4pm
Myco-Bike-o: Mushroom Foray Bike Tour – meet in Gaston Park
Come join us to engage with the ecology and fungal life of three parks of the Renfrew-Collingwood neighborhood, each representing a different ecosystem: Renfrew Ravine Park, a wild but disturbed ravine; Gaston Park, a grassy field surrounded by street trees; and Cariboo Park, a small park with a pond and lively tree and fungal diversity. We will travel together by bicycles, from one park to the next.
Register Here
Sat April 17, 10-12pm
Stenciling with mushroom spore prints – Gaston Park
Experience a guided meditation on the mushroom life cycle, then follow that thread of inspiration to craft your own spore print stencil(s). You can print stencil images with mushroom spores on clothing, paper, glass, outdoor surfaces, etc.
All supplies will be provided.
Register Here
Sat April 3, 10-12pm
Spring Mushroom and Art Walk – Renfrew Ravine Park
Engage your senses as we encounter fungi in the forest, learn about their life ways and how they interact with other members of their ecosystems, including humans in both contemporary and old times. The walk will incorporate artistic activities, wakening all of our senses as we move through the forest, draw and write about fungi.
Register Here
Sun March 28, 10-12pm
Sound Walk: Listening to Fungi – Renfrew Ravine Park
We will tune in and listen to our environment, responding to deep listening exercises. We will use a biosonification unit to tune in to mushrooms in the ravine, which will stimulate our imaginations for explorations in creative writing and drawing.
Register Here
Sunday March 7, 1-3pm
Winter Plant Walk with Lori Snyder – Renfrew Ravine Park
Indigenous peoples have used wild plants for centuries as food and medicine. Come discover how these plants support us physically, emotionally and spiritually with Lori Snyder, a Métis herbalist and educator. You’ll learn how to identify medicinal and edible plants, native and non-native, in our urban landscape, and how their properties can improve wellness.
Register Here
Sat Feb 27, 1-2:30pm – online via Zoom
Walking the Mycelial Web Community Art & Ecology Project Introduction
Meet the artists Isabelle Kirouac and Willoughby Arevalo to hear about the year-long community project Walking the Mycelial Web and to learn how you can get involved. Then stick around for an introductory presentation to the fungal world beneath our feet.
Register Here
Walking the Mycelial Web 