Artwork Details

Mycelial Connections

Artist

Still Moon Arts Society

Year

2017

Neighbourhood

Renfrew-Collingwood

Location

Renfrew Park

Description

Still Moon Arts Society lead a series of workshops and mushrooms walks, including invasive species
removal, native species restoration, Still Creek history, uses and types of mushrooms,
cross-cultural mushroom dialogues, importance of mushrooms in ecology, and natural
dye workshops. The project culminated in the creation and installation of a
community-created fungi sculpture in Renfrew Park. The sculpture was designed by
community using a charette process on the theme of mycelial and community
connections. It was made from a variety of natural materials sourced from Renfew
Ravine, including invasive plant species such as Himalayan Blackberry, English Ivy, and
Yellow Flag Iris which were thoroughly dried before use as a sculptural medium and
substrate for mushroom spawn. The sculpture was inoculated with the mycelium of
an oyster mushroom strain which was cloned from a wild specimen collected in Renfrew
Ravine. The process was led by local artists Carmen Rosen and Willoughby Arevalo.
Over the course of months to years, the mycelium will slowly decompose the sculpture,
transforming it into rich soil, while producing numerous flushes of the edible
mushrooms which will feed human and non-human members of the community.

Medium/discipline of Project

Sculpture

Park Board Funding Program

Neighbourhood Matching Fund

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