The Gathering Place

+ + + THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2010

Day 1, here we go ...

In the middle of the Barr'd Islands Anglican Church on Fogo Island we have created a cocoon ... Sure it would be fun to think of giant moths or butterflies bursting free and terrorizing the Northeast coast of Newfoundland, but this is not THAT type of cocoon. Practicality and not experimental biology is of course the reason: it is February and the capacity for the very large church to retain cold winter air seems almost limitless. Therefore the industrious men of Fogo Island have built a tarpaulin cocoon to trap the heat and shelter everyone from the bitter sting of the salty winter air.

On the afternoon of February 11 I am waiting inside this cocoon with a fear I'm sure all people who have had a hand in organizing large events often feel ... will anyone show up?? Of course there are the participants and lecturers, we just had a delicious lunch of beans and toutons together at the local cafe, but what about the community? During the course of our preparations for the Outport interiors workshop we have invited many local artists, woodworkers and craftspeople to explore the aesthetics of such interiors and help integrate them into the Fogo Island Inn and the Arts Corporation Studio projects. We also encouraged the general public to come and investigate what sorts of things we will be up to at the church for the next 16 days. But once again the thought creeps into my mind ... will they come out?

With the cocoon slowly heating up (now with the added help of what can only be described as a 'fire canon') the stage has been set and the actors, or in this case the participants/lecturers, are ready for the curtain to rise. All is quiet, I pour myself a cup of coffee and as I chat with one of my colleagues about the A/V setup the door opens ... the first person has arrived and they are a member of the community. The doors open again ... and again ... and again. Soon our little cocoon is overflowing with people from Fogo Island who are curious about the workshop and many of them already want to get involved. In the next few minutes we run out of chairs and the event becomes standing room only. This is very exciting stuff.

Everyone is welcomed. Everyone mingles. Introductions are made around the snack table, people slowly open up and things are going well. The little room heats up quite fast now and the 'fire canon' is no match for the heat of 50 or more people packed into our little sheltered dome. Things get started and continue in the following order:

+ Welcome

+ Words from the Shorefast Foundation - Zita Cobb and Tony Cobb

+ Introduction to the Outport interiors Workshop - Elisabet Gunnarsdottir (Director of the Fogo Island Arts Corporation)

+ Words from Walter Peddle - Expert on Outport Furniture

+ Story and Song about Fogo Island Sealers - Pete Decker and Greg White

+ A Look at the Fogo Island Inn Plans - Nick Herder (Staff Architect for the Shorefast Foundation)

+ Excursion to the Inn Build Site

The day is a success. The gathering place that has stood for so long in this location has once again proven to be the ideal location for bringing minds together for a common purpose. Cocoon no longer feels like the right word for our little heated room sanctioned off from the rest of the cold church. It now feels much more like and incubator ... a warm place for the ideas of the artists, crafters and the community to grow and blossom into something that will benefit and inspire us all.



(Photo: Nick Herder)



+ + + Greg White