Photos and Short Stories

The Arts Incubator is a space for experimentation, collaboration, and creative production grounded in real community experience. Through story and photo, we document the moments that shape our work—late-night editing sessions, first-time gallery installations, youth-led workshops, quiet breakthroughs, and collective challenges. These snapshots offer more than a behind-the-scenes look; they reflect the rhythms, relationships, and realities of building something meaningful together. Whether it’s an emerging artist discovering their voice or a group reimagining their surroundings through art, each moment tells a part of the story we’re living and shaping as a creative community.

Yellow Wings and Happy Ecosystems The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail is more than just a beautiful butterfly; it's a vital part of the healthy ecosystems we champion.

The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail is more than just a beautiful butterfly; it's a vital part of the healthy ecosystems we champion.

Yellow Wings and Happy Ecosystems

Jamie Bell June 5, 2025

The striking presence of the Canadian Tiger Swallowtail underscores our commitment to ecological health.

June is Recreation and Parks Month The tent's pitched, welcoming us back to the land as spring rolls towards summer. It's the perfect time to gather, share our old stories, and let the kids just be – soaking up the freedom and the quiet beauty of the tundra before the mosquitoes claim their season.

The tent's pitched, welcoming us back to the land as spring rolls towards summer. It's the perfect time to gather, share our old stories, and let the kids just be – soaking up the freedom and the quiet beauty of the tundra before the mosquitoes claim their season.

June is Recreation and Parks Month

The Arts Incubator June 4, 2025

Recreation and Parks Month in June isn’t about slogans — it’s about the everyday work of gathering,...

Light for the Sleeping by Tony Eetak A reflection from the virtual exhibition “Shifting Horizons: Edges of Ice and Snow” by Tony Eetak

Light for the Sleeping by Tony Eetak

Digital Salvage June 3, 2025

In Light for the Sleeping, Tony Eetak offers not just a photograph, but a moment of presence....

Provencher: A Bridge Between Memory and Sky $Provencher Bridge floats between breath and concrete, a tethered gesture over water’s slow murmur. Light fractures across its spine like memory refracted—half civic promise, half spectral hush. It does not span space, but thought—an architecture of pause, where crossings blur into echoes and the river forgets which way is forward. Photo: Tony Eetak$

Provencher: A Bridge Between Memory and Sky

Tony Eetak June 2, 2025

Provencher is part of Bridges: Waiting at the Water’s Edge, an immersive online exhibition exploring the spaces...

Unveiling the Hidden World A typical bracket fungus (polypore) growing on the side of a tree. Note the tough, shelf-like appearance.

Unveiling the Hidden World

Jamie Bell June 1, 2025

We've all seen them: those strange, often unappealing growths protruding from the trunks of older trees. You...

Bridges: Waiting at the Water’s Edge by Tony Eetak “Mud pulls at your feet, the river hums under closed bridges, and the air thickens with thawed-out memory.”

“Mud pulls at your feet, the river hums under closed bridges, and the air thickens with thawed-out memory.”

Bridges: Waiting at the Water’s Edge by Tony Eetak

Digital Salvage June 1, 2025

Beneath still bridges and softened trails, the landscape invites us into a season of return—a ritual written...

New Growth, Old Wisdom 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.

New Growth, Old Wisdom

The Arts Incubator May 31, 2025

New pine growth in the northern forest—a quiet reminder of regeneration, seasonal cycles, and the resilience of...

The Pine Cone That Wasn’t What looks like a tiny pine cone on a willow branch is actually a fascinating natural phenomenon: a willow pine cone gall, formed by a tiny insect! Nature truly has endless surprises.

What looks like a tiny pine cone on a willow branch is actually a fascinating natural phenomenon: a willow pine cone gall, formed by a tiny insect! Nature truly has endless surprises.

The Pine Cone That Wasn’t

Tony Eetak May 31, 2025

The Weird and Wonderful Willow Pine Cone Gall: An Artistic Discovery.

Split, Stack, and Settle In Getting a head start on winter—cutting and stacking wood before the mosquitoes and ticks take over. We only use older trees and always plant new ones, replacing every log we burned last year. It’s part of our seasonal rhythm and our arts-based approach to sustainable living.

Getting a head start on winter—cutting and stacking wood before the mosquitoes and ticks take over. We only use older trees and always plant new ones, replacing every log we burned last year. It’s part of our seasonal rhythm and our arts-based approach to sustainable living.

Split, Stack, and Settle In

Tony Eetak May 31, 2025

There’s something deeply satisfying about the thunk of a wood splitter cutting clean through a log.

Northern Bog Violet: A Bloom in the Wetlands Delicate and vibrant, the Northern Bog Violet brings early spring color to wet meadows and bogs, supporting pollinators and signaling the health of northern wetland ecosystems.