Greenbelt Collective

This Land is Our Land

THE GREENBELT DICHOTOMY

Artists concerned, informed and moved by the Greenbelt Legislation in Southern Ontario

The Greenbelt Legislation protects almost two million acres, making it the largest policy of it's kind in the world. In our research we predicted opposition to the legislation by developers, but we were not prepared for the resistance of farmers and growers to the law's imposed constraints on their land. In effect, telling them what they could and could not do with it.

It was in this journey that we were compelled to investigate further. We conducted research by visiting and interviewing landowners, farmers and those in the public sector. In addition, we gathered information and corresponded with many individuals and organizations; including Friends of the Greenbelt, Grape Growers of Ontario, Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and Environmental Defense. We also investigated whether the Greenbelt legislation provided protection for old growth trees, flora, migratory birds and wildlife threatened by urban sprawl.

At once hailed as the saviour by all those working to conserve and protect our natural lands, the Greenbelt legislation has become a source of frustration and anger for others. Our combined body of work challenges preconceptions and presents a diverse and compelling exploration of Ontario's Greenbelt.

Jan Yates, Michelle Teitsma, Gordon Leverton, Jefferson Campbell Cooper

Greenbelt Collective

Saturday, October 17, 2009

'On behalf of the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance we would like to thank all those who supported Ontario farmers by joining the "Put the 'O' back in LCBO" campaign. Your support has made a huge difference.

Yesterday the Ontario government released a new plan for Ontario's wine industry that will give more support to

VQA wines which are made from 100% Ontario grapes. The new plan sets a direction that would more clearly identify and market VQA wines and create a larger market for Ontario's beleaguered grape growers, many of whom are in the Greenbelt.

This is a great victory for the long term security of this important and iconic Ontario crop! Thank you for making this possible. For more on this issue visit www.ontariogreenbeltalliance.ca.

There are many ways you can continue to support a healthy Greenbelt:

* Buy VQA wines (wine made of 100% Ontario grown grapes).
* Buy and ask for produce that is grown locally. See a list of farmers markets that sell Greenbelt produce here.
* Get to know the Greenbelt by hiking in Canada's largest network of hiking trails.
* Make a donation to the Ontario Greenbelt Alliance and support our ongoing efforts to secure a healthy Greenbelt. Click here to make a donation.

With thanks for your on-going support,'

Rick Smith, Ph.D.

Executive Director

Environmental Defence

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Thank you for stopping by.

We are currently looking for exhibition venues.

Although we will continue to expand and investigate on an on-going basis, the Greenbelt Collective is now ready to exhibit a strong body of work.

We are looking for exhibition venues and our mandate is to exhibit work in public art galleries throughout Greenbelt communities.

As well, we we would like to to reach more urban gallery locations outside of the protected Greenbelt region.

We are also open to opportunities to present an exhibition in alternative venues and welcome invitations.

Please contact us!

greenbeltgirls@gmail.com

Michelle Teitsma

BIO

Michelle Teitsma holds a degree from Sheridan College for visual art and also earned a degree in advanced airbrush from Mohawk College. For the past few years she has sat on the advisory board with the Grimsby Public Art Gallery's collections and acquisitions committee.

Teitsma's figurative oil paintings evoke a certain mood, harnessing light and shadow, and capture moment in time and place.

Many of her paintings are done in the classical grisaille technique, painting first in a monotone and then glazing colours over top to produce a harmony of tones and a glow that seems to resonate from within.

“I like to paint people and the reason being is that I am continually trying to understand myself and my place in the world. Only by human interaction and comparing our similarities and understanding our differences can we find harmony. I have traveled quite a bit while growing up, and by living in other countries was able to meet people from diverse walks of life. I find that no matter what language we speak, customs we obey, lives we have lad, we all have that common thread. We all have similar needs: understanding, compassion, love...

In a painting that may not portray a figure there is still a feeling of a presence: a home, an unmade bed, momentos on a mantel. Even in the natural world, we know and feel a connection.

Jan Yates, SCA

BIO

Jan Yates, SCA, spent her childhood in the agricultural region of Niagara, Ontario, Canada. As an artist and young adult she lived and practiced in the city of Toronto but did not pursue art professionally until she moved to Southern California in her late twenties. Yates studied independently and worked under master artists Urania Christy Tarbet, Michael Jaques, Steven Doherty and Manuael de Leon.

Since moving back to Canada in 1995, Jan Yates has been elected as a member of the Society of Canadian Artists and Landscape Artists International. Her work is held in collections throughout North America, Southern Ireland, France, England and Australia and she has been awarded numerous grants from the Ontario Arts Council. As well, Yates has garnered recognition and awards from selected juried exhibitions in Canada and the United States.

For the past decade Jan Yates has recorded the seasons of rural land on the Niagara Escarpment (a UNESCO world biosphere reserve). Inspired by Canada’s Emily Carr, Yates paints almost entirely plein air, enabling her to engage in an intimate dialogue with our natural and agricultural world. She examines the correlation between her own practice and the seasons and cycle of harvest- each the having faith in what the land will give. Protection and the importance of maintaining ecological integrity concerning protected land also informs her work.

Jan Yates has been an influential figure in the Niagara art scene, contributing her time and ideas to many community endeavours. Currently the artist is recording the impact of Greenbelt legislation on agricultural land in Southern Ontario. Yates is also expanding her agri-cultural investigations to include rural communities outside of Canada. Past ventures encompass the Niagara Wine Region Painters' Alliance travelling exhibition series and mentoring at-risk youth for community mural projects. She continues to teach painting and her work is represented by the Jordan Art Gallery, of which she is a partner.