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Event Calendar
NIAGARA PALIMPSEST
Niagara Palimpsest is an alternate portrait of Niagara Falls, a place that is difficult to “see” because its myriad iconic images cloud our imagination. Growing up just a short distance from the Falls I often wondered about the natural world of this ‘natural wonder’. Recently, while researching for a shoot in the area, I stumbled upon two anonymous school notebooks from 1891 containing pressed plants from the areas that now comprise the City of Niagara Falls. Taken in by the aesthetic quality of the pressings, I felt compelled to track down each of the 178 plants to uncover their fate – what survives, and what has been lost?
As I investigated each plant in this way, I began imagining the amateur botanist who had inhabited, tracked and named this same natural world, and I began drawing parallels between us. In her time the areas around the Falls and its riverbanks had only recently been stripped of trees. It is impossible to know whether she wondered about what had already been lost, or if she sensed the trajectory of things to come. Following in her footsteps, and impelled by the same compulsion to research, name and preserve, in the end I came to question these same impulses. What ends do they ultimately serve? Ultimately perhaps, our work can only attest to the “natural” history of the Falls, giving evidence of how significantly we have shaped this land.
BIO
Dianne Davis is a photo-based artist who lives and works in Toronto. She explores the complex relationships between humans and the natural world. Davis uses images to puncture the sense of inevitability that often informs the landscape and make it difficult to read and deconstruct its artifice. She has exhibited widely and her work is in the permanent collection of the Center for Fine Art Photography in Colorado and Union Investment Real Estate based in Hamburg, Germany. Davis holds a MEng and a BSc from the University of Toronto, an MA from Concordia University and a BFA in Photography from OCAD University. She is the recipient of Emerging Visual Artist Grants from the Toronto and Ontario Arts Councils. Davis was born and raised in Chippawa (Niagara Falls, Ontario).
I would like to acknowledge that the land from which these plants were gathered is the traditional territory of Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishinaabeg and Haudenosaunee peoples.
– Dianne Davis
Stop by to participate in the TD Summer Reading Club 2018 with The Niagara Falls Public Library. Outreach drop-in locations at one of the Niagara Falls Parks and Pools.
For children of all ages and their adult caregivers. Come join us at the Niagara Falls History Museum for stories, songs, games and rhymes, Please register all participating children - babes in arms do not require registration. 45 minutes. Program offered at the Niagara Falls History Museum, 5810 Ferry Street. Fee for parking.
For babies who are walking and talking and their adult caregivers. Join us for songs, stories, music and activities just right for tots. 30 minutes.
For toddlers and preschoolers ready for a longer, more active program and their adult caregivers. Develop pre-literacy skills with books, songs, games, rhymes, movies, crafts and creative play. 45 minutes
Join us at the Community Centre Library to participate in a StoryWalk. Walk the grounds at your own pace while enjoying the panels of a deconstructed picture book. Please dress for the weather. StoryWalks were created by Anne Gerguson of Montpelier, Vermont. No registration required. All ages.
Join other crafters, knitters, crocheters and more for an afternoon of sharing and learning. Bring your tools and supplies and spend the afternoon sharing patterns, ideas and more.
Makers are people who build, design, invent and create. Join us for a week of Maker fun while we explore all sorts of materials, techniques and projects. Ages: 6 years and up. Registration is required.
There is more to summer reading than books and beads. Kids of all ages can drop in to the library and explore a variety of hands-on games and activities! Come on in and check it out. No registration required.
Stop by to participate in the TD Summer Reading Club 2018 with The Niagara Falls Public Library. Outreach drop-in locations at one of the Niagara Falls Parks and Pools.
Stop by to participate in the TD Summer Reading Club 2018 with The Niagara Falls Public Library. Outreach drop-in locations at one of the Niagara Falls Parks and Pools.
For those with little or no web experience, but a basic understanding of computers and Windows. You will be introduced to the World Wide Web, its structure, and how to navigate it through the use of common web browsers and their tools and features, security practices and how to avoid malware and pop-ups, information searches using Google, and other basic online tools. 2 hours.
PC1 through PC4 are a series of beginner courses which are meant to be taken in order, although this is not mandatory. Consult with a staff member if you are unsure about your needs.
