Skip to content

Art Borups Corners

Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario

The project is grounded in a dynamic process of collaborative engagement and capacity building, utilizing arts-based research methodologies to ensure the work is both relevant and empowering. A key focus is Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR), which positions young people as leaders in investigating their own economic realities and co-designing their futures. Through a series of co-design workshops, digital storytelling projects, and community forums, ECO-STAR North facilitates intergenerational knowledge transfer, connecting youth with Elders and established creators. This hands-on, community-led approach ensures the resulting toolkit is not an academic exercise, but a living, practical resource built by and for Northern innovators, strengthening a resilient and interconnected creative ecosystem.
Primary Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • About Art Borups Corners
    • Framework for Recreation in Canada
    • Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario
      • Local Services Board of Melgund
      • Borups Corners, Northwestern Ontario
      • Dyment, Northwestern Ontario
      • Neighbouring Communities
    • Recreation
      • Music and Entertainment
      • Recreation for an Aging Population
      • Youth Engagement
      • Arts and Recreation Facilities
        • Dyment Cookshack
        • Dyment Recreation Hall
        • Melgund Lake Boat Launch
        • Dyment Ice Shack
        • Melgund Lake Conservation Reserve
        • The Pavilion
    • Reports
      • 2023-2024 Report
      • 2021-2022 Report
      • Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Tracker
  • News
    • Melgund Township News
    • Events and Activities
      • 2025-2026 Melgund Township Music Series
    • Local Services Board of Melgund Meeting Minutes
    • News Archive
    • Photos and Short Stories
  • Arts and Culture
    • ECO-STAR North
    • Library
      • Northwestern Ontario Stories
        • Borups Corners Adventures
      • France
        • Fnac
        • Furet du nord
      • Germany and Austria
        • eBook.de
        • Hugendubel
        • Lehmanns Media
        • Morawa
        • Osiander
        • Thalia Books
      • Italy
        • LaFeltrinelli Internet Bookshop
      • Japan
        • 楽天グループ
      • Netherlands
        • Standaard Boekhandel
        • Boekholt Boekhandels
      • Switzerland
        • Ex Libris
        • Orell Füssli
      • USA
        • Barnes and Noble
        • Palace Marketplace
        • Overdrive
    • Melgund Township Spring and Summer Arts Incubator Program
    • Art Borups Corners
    • Artists, Researchers and Collaborators
    • Creative Arts & Community Recreation Programs
    • Living Land Lab
    • Storytelling Club
    • The Arts Incubator
  • Resources
    • Adaptive Phased Management
    • Melgund Township Oral History Project
    • Funding Programs and Sources
    • Guide for Local Services Boards
    • Northern Services Boards Act
    • Workshops
  • Contact
  • Arts Incubator
  • Home
  • Photos and Short Stories
  • New Growth, Old Wisdom
  • Photos and Short Stories

New Growth, Old Wisdom

New pine growth in the northern forest—a quiet reminder of regeneration, seasonal cycles, and the resilience of nature.
The Arts Incubator May 31, 2025
New pine growth in the northern forest—a quiet reminder of regeneration, seasonal cycles, and the resilience of nature. In a time of climate change, these soft green tips speak to our responsibility to harvest wisely, replant with care, and root our work in reciprocity.

New pine growth in the northern forest—a quiet reminder of regeneration, seasonal cycles, and the resilience of nature. In a time of climate change, these soft green tips speak to our responsibility to harvest wisely, replant with care, and root our work in reciprocity.

Honouring seasonal growth, reforestation, and climate resilience

In the northern forests, life reveals itself in quiet, determined ways. This close-up captures the tender new growth of a pine tree—soft, bright, and full of potential. Each spring, these vibrant green tips emerge from the darker, sturdier branches that weathered the long winter. It’s more than just a natural cycle—it’s a lesson in regeneration, resilience, and reciprocity.

The arts have become an unexpected but powerful part of our connection to the land. What started as a few snapshots of the trees we planted or the animals passing through has grown into a full creative practice—photography, journaling, sketching, even short videos that tell stories about the seasons. We’ve come to love documenting the quiet beauty of new pine growth, the return of birds in spring, or the traditional plants we harvest with care. These artistic expressions aren’t just hobbies—they help us slow down, observe closely, and share knowledge in ways that connect generations and deepen our relationship to place.

For those of us working in land-based learning, environmental stewardship, and arts-based climate education, this image carries layered meaning. In regenerative agriculture and Indigenous food systems, trees like this aren’t just resources—they’re part of our knowledge systems. This fresh growth reflects our responsibility to the land: we harvest mindfully, we replant intentionally, and we observe the shifting climate with humility and care.

As the impacts of climate change grow more visible in the North—through shifting seasons, drought-stressed trees, and unpredictable weather—small moments like this offer grounding. They remind us that renewal is still possible. Whether we’re collecting pine tips for tea, replacing the firewood we used last winter, or building youth-led forest education programs, new growth like this signals hope rooted in action.

It’s slow work. Seasonal work. But it’s the kind that builds futures.

About the Author

The Arts Incubator

The Arts Incubator

Administrator

The Arts Incubator is a participatory arts collective and living lab, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. It's a space where innovation and creativity thrive. It's latest iteration was launched in 2021 with funding and support from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse. Today, working with students and faculty from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, we fuse traditional and participatory media arts with artificial intelligence, music, storytelling and community-driven, land-based artist residencies to cultivate new voices and bold ideas. Whether through collaborative projects or immersive experiences, our small but vibrant community supports creators to explore, experiment, and connect. Join us at the intersection of artistry, technology, culture and community—where every moment is a new opportunity to create.

Author's website Author's posts
Tags: Manitoba SDG 13 SDG 15

Continue Reading

Previous: Tasty Chives!
Next: Rhubarb Rhapsody

Related News

A thin layer of ice forms across a quiet pond caught between autumn and winter. Its shifting surface reflects the slow, patient rhythm of the northern landscape.
  • Photos and Short Stories

On Almost Frozen Pond

Art Borups Corners November 14, 2025
An old, rusted truck rests deep in the woods of Borups Corners as the forest grows through its frame. Time, weather, and young trees have turned it into part of the landscape it once traveled.
  • Photos and Short Stories

The Forest Takes Back

Art Borups Corners November 13, 2025
An abandoned boat rests beneath the remains of a fallen garage in Borups Corners. Once a vessel of open water, it now holds the stillness of forgotten years.
  • Photos and Short Stories

The Boat Beneath the Broken Roof

Art Borups Corners November 13, 2025

Recent Posts

  • On Almost Frozen Pond
  • The Forest Takes Back
  • The Boat Beneath the Broken Roof
  • Automating Community Administration
  • What is ECO-STAR North?
Ontario projects and programming for The Arts Incubator have been made possible with funding and support from the Ontario Arts Council.

You may have missed

A thin layer of ice forms across a quiet pond caught between autumn and winter. Its shifting surface reflects the slow, patient rhythm of the northern landscape.
  • Photos and Short Stories

On Almost Frozen Pond

Art Borups Corners November 14, 2025
An old, rusted truck rests deep in the woods of Borups Corners as the forest grows through its frame. Time, weather, and young trees have turned it into part of the landscape it once traveled.
  • Photos and Short Stories

The Forest Takes Back

Art Borups Corners November 13, 2025
An abandoned boat rests beneath the remains of a fallen garage in Borups Corners. Once a vessel of open water, it now holds the stillness of forgotten years.
  • Photos and Short Stories

The Boat Beneath the Broken Roof

Art Borups Corners November 13, 2025
Look familiar? Yes, it's the lower level of the Dyment Recreation Hall. This is a concept for a new creative recreation space designed using AI tools.
  • ECO-STAR-North
  • Photos and Short Stories

Automating Community Administration

Art Borups Corners November 10, 2025

NORTHWESTERN ONTARIO ARTS PROGRAMS

This platform, our Northwestern Ontario hub and programs have been made possible with support from the Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program. We gratefully acknowledge their funding and support in making the work we do possible.

Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The Arts Incubator and Art Borups Corners Collective was seeded with strategic arts innovation funding from the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse and the Local Services Board of Melgund. We thank them for their investment, support and bringing the arts to life.

Canada Council for the Arts Digital Greenhouse Logo

SUPPORTING ARTS AND RECREATION

Borups Corners Arts and Recreation supports arts and recreation in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario as volunteer-driven Arts Collective.

Ontario Arts Council Multi and Inter-Arts Projects Program
Copyright © Art Borups Corners in partnership with The Arts Incubator. All rights reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.