Four years ago we rented MacDonald House – a beautiful heritage home in Thornhill, which we affectionately refer to as MacHouse. We booked it to host a free popup event to thank the community for supporting us through our first year of business. We didn’t know then just how much this little house would wind its way into our hearts and minds. Indeed it has guided and informed each exhibit we have created ever since. At the time, we were simply delighted to discover MacHouse was once owned by JEH MacDonald, a member of the Group of Seven artists. He painted the famous Tangled Garden, right there on the breathtaking grounds of his home in Thornhill. We were charmed by the magic of the story, the house, and the history. So we built Open House, a memorable exhibit that looked closely at Canada through the lens of the Group of Seven. And we saw what they saw – the unique texture and colours of Canada, the vastness of the land, the power of reflection.
Every year since the Tangled Garden first sparked our curiosity, we’ve returned to MacHouse to create our popup exhibits. Why do we keep coming back to the same place? Why haven’t we booked a new space, in a new location – changed things up a bit? That’s human nature, right? We continuously seek out different places to explore – new places to eat, new places to ski, new beaches, campsites and cities to visit. Our need to explore plays a huge role in the way we inhabit our world – for better or worse. But one of the most important concepts we’ve learned on our Thinkin journey is that there is also value in returning to place. We’ve learned this from returning, not only to MacHouse, but to the same materials, the same forest, the same people. When we visit the same places year after year, we give ourselves the gift of witnessing slow and deliberate changes in nature and landscape. When we visit the same restaurant every year for a family milestone, we give ourselves the gift of familiarity and tradition. When we read the same books to our children again and again, walk the same trails, revisit the same ideas, we give ourselves the gift of story over time.
With Canada celebrating 150 years since confederation this year, all eyes are on our country – and we can feel the story of Canada changing. We feel conflicted about the painfully slow pace of change and yet we are witnessing the resilience of Indigenous cultures and languages. We struggle to define Canadian identity while we welcome new immigrants into the fold; we absentmindedly destroy nature while so many of us are working fiercly to protect it; we try to separate our political views from our southern neighbours and yet we seek to build a global community. Us, them, me, you. Who are we, anyway? What values do we hold close to our hearts? What do we want for our future? What will we accept for now? How can we know where to begin to help or heal without becoming completely overwhelmed by the task?
Four years after our first creative encounters with the Group of Seven at MacHouse, we find ourselves wondering about Canada again. We know more now. And we cannot unknown what we know. This time around, how will our new knowledge and perspectives change what we see when we look closely at Canada? When we look more deeply inside ourselves?
These questions have played a huge role in our lives this summer. We have been ‘on the road’ with the City of Vaughan’s Dream Weaver Project, collecting dreams for Canada’s future from community members of all ages and cultural backgrounds. We’ve also responded to requests to take our Reflections of Canada program on tour – popping up in libraries and community spaces across Ontario. All of the new workshops we had planned for this summer got pushed back to fall – so we could revisit the question of Canada again and again. All roads seem to be pointing us towards a deeper exploration of what Canada means to us and what it means to be Canadian. We don’t have any definitive answers for you but we do have lots of questions. And we suspect you do, too.
With Canada celebrating 150 years since confederation this year, all eyes are on our country – and we can feel the story of Canada changing. We feel conflicted about the painfully slow pace of change and yet we are witnessing the resilience of Indigenous cultures and languages. We struggle to define Canadian identity while we welcome new immigrants into the fold; we absentmindedly destroy nature while so many of us are working fiercly to protect it; we try to separate our political views from our southern neighbours and yet we seek to build a global community. Us, them, me, you. Who are we, anyway? What values do we hold close to our hearts? What do we want for our future? What will we accept for now? How can we know where to begin to help or heal without becoming completely overwhelmed by the task?
Four years after our first creative encounters with the Group of Seven at MacHouse, we find ourselves wondering about Canada again. We know more now. And we cannot unknown what we know. This time around, how will our new knowledge and perspectives change what we see when we look closely at Canada? When we look more deeply inside ourselves?
These questions have played a huge role in our lives this summer. We have been ‘on the road’ with the City of Vaughan’s Dream Weaver Project, collecting dreams for Canada’s future from community members of all ages and cultural backgrounds. We’ve also responded to requests to take our Reflections of Canada program on tour – popping up in libraries and community spaces across Ontario. All of the new workshops we had planned for this summer got pushed back to fall – so we could revisit the question of Canada again and again. All roads seem to be pointing us towards a deeper exploration of what Canada means to us and what it means to be Canadian. We don’t have any definitive answers for you but we do have lots of questions. And we suspect you do, too.
So let’s return to MacHouse together. Let’s poke around the rooms, playing with intriguing materials and noticing the sunlight filtering in through the windows. Let’s skip down the winding path and notice the tiny worlds of snails and dragonflies. This one little historic home is alive with story. And it's just one of many. We honour those stories by returning again and again. Canada too is alive with story. And we honour a painful past and a hopeful future by returning to the idea of Canada again and again. Canada awaits our insight and intuition; our stories and our experiences. Let’s cultivate a sense of wonder together, and share the questions and memories and stories that are on our minds. Spending the day at one of our MacHouse exhibits is like a recalibration – aligning and reconnecting us with our core beliefs. We invite you to join us for Oh! Canada? on Labour Day weekend. We cannot know who we really are – what we truly value – until we bump up against the hidden truths and embrace the magnificent gifts of this natural landscape we call home.
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