Back in June of 2016 we sent a grant proposal to the Canada Council detailing a unique land installation in Fenelon Falls on an island in the Trent-Severn Waterway. The project was initiated by a handful of enthusiastic townspeople who were actively involved in finding a solution, that would not just deal with the deteriorating cliff face on the south side of the island, but also be an aesthetic stone wall structure that the public could enjoy seeing, rather than having it continue to be a fenced off ‘area.
A rock face repair involving only ‘shored up’ the steep hill with huge ugly chunks of stacked armour stone was possible but some of the individuals involved in town planning looked to find a better solution. The dry stone design that I proposed , along with several renderings of what it would look like, was accepted by everyone involved, including a representative of the Trent Canal authority and so began plans to finance the project
A formal request for a Canada Council grant was drafted and submitted, specifying a budget that was not excessive, and presented a thorough description of the work involved in not only structurally rebuilding the crumbling section of the island but also implementing an artistic ‘waterfall’ stone installation into the design.
I had a lot of help with the wording of the grant document, for which I was very thankful. It included the bios of several skilled dry stone wallers who would be working on the project with me, and a detailing of the proposed two-month schedule for completion of the project .
Unfortunately we did not get the grant.
I include here some of the first renderings of what is essentially a conceptual art project, which also included the structural remediating of a low terraced outcropping. The idea was to use natural stone to look like a naturally occurring terraces of exposed rock face, through which, or over which, a small dry river creek, or ‘geological vein’ of different material would, by having stones fitted at right angles to the rest of the terraced stonework, give the suggestion of cascading water. To give a further appearance of water going over the terraces , boulders woulf be tastefully placed to look as natural as possible.
