Mary Weiler Painting Silent Auction

To Cortes Islanders and friends


The Whaletown Commons Project is pleased to be holding a silent auction for a beautiful and historic painting by Cortes Islander, Mary Weiler (1915 - 1999). The painting, entitled "Entrance to the Gorge Harbour," was generously donated by the Cortes Land Conservancy to support the purchase of the Whaletown Creek property as park land for the Cortes Island community.

Mary Weiler was a well-known artist in British Columbia, a meticulous observer, and passionate painter of Cortes Island life. "Entrance to the Gorge Harbour," with its precipitous cliffs dotted with fir, is one of her later paintings. It is the work of a mature and confident artist and is reminiscent of Chinese landscape painting. It measures 24” x 29”, and is being offered in a handmade wooden frame by Cortes craftsman, Howie Roman.

Mary Weiler moved to Cortes Island in 1947 with her husband Otto. In spite of the isolation of the island in the days before the ferry, Mary continued to paint and to exhibit her work widely. She and Ottie raised a family of four, ran the Whaletown store for some years and the post office for many more. Mary was also a nurse and often served as the only emergency medical resource on the island. Both were were very active in the community, and are remembered here with great fondness. Mary left Cortes in 1974 after the death of Otto, continuing to paint for another 25 years. She also took up photography and was a pioneer in creative darkroom techniques. She passed away in 1999, leaving a large body of work, which is represented in collections around the world.

"The Entrance to the Gorge Harbour" will be on display at the Manson’s Hall until East Monday. The auction will close at 5:00 PM on March 24, 2008, and the winning bidder will take home this beautiful painting, a unique piece of our island history.

Bids by email will be accepted! If you cannot be here on the island to participate in the bidding, please send your bid in an email to:

whaletowncommons@gmail.com

Bids will be checked once a day, and you will be notified if you are winning or if you have been outbid. Date stamps on email will determine bidding order.

Wild and extravagant bidding is encouraged! All proceeds of this auction go toward the purchase of the Whaletown Commons and the acquisition of community-owned lands for Cortes Island!

For more information about the Whaletown Commons Project, please go to:
http://www.cortesisland.com/whaletowncommons

Many thanks for your participation and support.

Fall 2007 Update

Whaletown Commons Project
Community Land in Community Hands


Vision - To create a community park,
public assembly area for the future needs of the community and
to protect the salmon-bearing creek in perpetuity.


Hello everyone and a big thank you for the supportive thoughts, words, and actions on behalf of the Whaletown Commons Project.

The fundraising effort continues to make steady progress.

The community has raised more than $53,000 in donations and pledges so far and the Regional District of Comox Strathacona (RDCS) continues to support the Project. As you may recall, the RDCS Board passed the following motion in June 2006:

WHEREAS Manson’s Landing having the greatest population in Area I (Cortes) has 3 provincial and 3 regional district parks; and

WHEREAS Whaletown having the second greatest population in Area I (Cortes) has no provincial or region
al district parks;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Area I (Cortes) Park Acquisition Reserve Fund be designated for the purchase of a park in the Whaletown area;
AND FURTHER THAT a significant portion from the 2006 and each year thereafter be set aside from Area I's (Cortes) Park Budget and accumulated for the purchase of a park in the Whaletown area.

Fundraising continues with a silent auction through the Christmas season. Bidding will start for Mary Weiler’s painting “The Entrance to the Gorge Harbour” at the Gorge Craft Fair on December 8th. The Whaletown Commons Project will also be at the Manson’s Hall for the Christmas Friday Markets December 7, 14, and 21. The auction will finish on Valentine’s Day when the successful bidder takes this original watercolor home. A special thank you to Sabina Leader-Mense of the Cortes Land Conservancy for donating Mary’s painting to the Project.

Speaking of names, the Society has been aware for some time that the name “Whaletown Commons” does not accurately reflect the island-wide nature of the project – the acquisition of parkland for the entire Cortes Island community to use and enjoy.

The property we are focusing on has been known historically by several names, including Robertson Creek, Burnside Creek and Whaletown Creek. The name “Whaletown Commons” was chosen back in 2005 to describe the location of the property, in Whaletown, as well as the common good it would serve.

Since the inception of the Whaletown Commons Society, 260 members have signed up, and the distribution of our membership truly represents island-wide support. We have thought about changing the name to reflect this support, but to do so would be both complicated and expensive, requiring the disbanding of the current Society and re-registering under a new name. In addition, changing the name at this point risks creating confusion among the current stakeholders.

The Whaletown Commons Society is temporary, and will disband as soon as its objective of acquiring this land for all Cortes Islanders is achieved. At that time, the community can decide what to name its new park, and will decide how best to facilitate the formulation and implementation of a land use plan. So, for now, let’s get it together and work toward the purchase of this beautiful property, which will enrich our community in many ways.

And speaking of beautiful, the trails are in top form thanks to the loving attention of some community angels. So Cortes Islanders go and enjoy a walk, breath the clean air, listen to the murmur of the creek, and thank the beautiful trees. Let’s persevere in our dream to bring this land into community hands.

New Website

The Whaletown Commons Project has a new virtual home. Check us out at:

www.cortesisland.com/whaletowncommons

Meanwhile, this site will be kept as an archive, until we figure out a new use for it...maybe as a gallery of images and stories about the Commons? We'll post information and updates on the new site. Thanks for stopping by.

Progress Report - Spring 2007

In our on-going search for ideas, enthusiasm, and both financial and moral support, the Whaletown Commons Society is hosting a public meeting at the Gorge Hall on Saturday, March 24th, at 3:00 pm.

We urge everyone who cares about the future of Whaletown and public space on Cortes Island to come and lend us your voice and support at this crucial meeting.

This past fall, the Whaletown Commons Project launched a community outreach campaign. Our goal was threefold: to increase public awareness of the proposed Whaletown Commons land and the need to secure it for the future use of Cortes Islanders; to increase the membership in the Whaletown Commons Society; and to raise funds toward the purchase of the land.

We’re pleased to announce that we were successful in all these areas.

The community awareness campaign centered around a series of thematic walks through the proposed Whaletown Commons site. The series, “Imagine the Commons,” grew from the idea that the creation of the Whaletown Commons will depend on the collective imagination of the Cortes Island community. Novelist Ruth Ozeki led a Haiku Walk in October, photographer Richard Trueman led a Photo Walk in November, and painter Dianne Bersea led an Art walk in December.

Participants have contributed their work to an on-line gallery, currently under development, and to the Whaletown Commons Project’s on-going fundraising, outreach and archiving efforts. The walks have been lots of fun and due to popular demand, they will be repeated periodically throughout the next year.

We launched a special Whaletown Commons section on the Tideline website at:
www.cortesisland.com/whaletowncommons

The website has information about our fundraising events, as well as other news and developments regarding the status of the Commons.

As a result of these outreach and awareness building efforts, our membership has increased to 220.

Our fundraising, which included raffles, personal appeals, and a weekly presence at the Friday markets, resulted in raising over $30,000 in cash, cheques and pledges. Clearly we have a long ways to go, but we are continuing in our efforts to find backers with significant financial resources as well as other sources of funding.

These numbers aptly demonstrate the strong public support for the creation of the Whaletown Commons, and we will take this mandate to our representatives at the Regional District and strongly request their active involvement in securing this land for our use.

In the past few months, the need for public land in Whaletown has become increasingly evident. With the closing of the Whaletown General Store, we are reminded again of the vulnerability of our town centre, and in particular of the post office and library, which are located on the same piece of private land. The Old Schoolhouse is another precious island asset whose present location is precarious, and other community projects and programs need secure homes. It seems more urgent now than ever to secure a publicly held piece of property to meet both present and future needs, before Whaletown becomes just a name on a map.

BOOK-READING & BROCHURE-FOLDING SHINDIG - with Ruth Ozeki

I’d like to invite all Cortes Island booklovers to join me this Friday night at Trude’s Cafe for an informal book-reading-and-brochure-folding party to help support the Whaletown Commons Project.

The idea for the evening came from a documentary film I saw about a Cuban cigar factory, which hired a reader to entertain the workers while they rolled cigars. The reader, a darkly handsome and dramatic young man, read from what appeared to be a very racy and exciting pulp fiction novel. The workers, mostly female, seemed transfixed.

Now, I’m not making any promises, but I love reading aloud, my novel “All Over Creation” does have some racy and exciting bits (and not just about pollinating potatoes and promiscuous squashes), and the Whaletown Commons Project has 500 brochures that need folding. So if you have a couple of hours free on Friday night, please come lend your ears and your hands!

“All Over Creation” is the story of a small town farmer, defending his seeds and staking his claim against the encroaching interests of a large multi-national biotech corporation. He gets some unexpected help from the Seeds of Resistance, a roving band of environmental activists, who are traveling across America in a biodiesel powered Winnebago, called the Spudnik.

The party starts at 7:00, on Friday, December 1, at Trude’s Café. Come be entertained and help support the Whaletown Commons Project and the Cortes Self-Sufficiency Coop.

ART WALK

The third event in the “Imagine the Commons” series will be an art walk, led by Dianne Bersea through the proposed site of the Whaletown Commons. The walk will start at 1:00 on Sunday, November 26. (In the event that the weather is windy and raining, the art walk will be rescheduled in the new year.) These walks are completely free of charge, and everyone is invited. No art experience needed!

Dianne will take us on a slow, alert walk through the Commons and teach us simple exercises designed to enhance seeing, hearing, sensing, and creative awareness. Dianne is a wonderfully accomplished artist and teacher who works in a number of media and is best known for her watercolor paintings of Cortes Island, which have sold throughout North America and Europe. She is an elected member of the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Color (cspwc). Feel free to browse Dianne’s website for information about her work, upcoming workshops, and online shopping for prints, greeting cards and original artwork: www.islemuse.com.

“Imagine the Commons” is a community outreach effort, centering around a series of thematic walks, sponsored by the Whaletown Commons Project. Novelist and writer Ruth Ozeki led a Haiku Walk in October, and photographer Richard Trueman led Photo Walk in November, capturing in images and words the beauty of the Whaletown Creek autumn. The walks have been loads of fun and very successful, and will be repeated once a season throughout the next twelve months, so that by this time next year, we will have a gallery of images depicting the four seasons in the Commons.

Other planned events include a silent walking meditation and a bird walk.

The walks are an invitation to appreciate this unique piece of land and to make an imaginative investment in its future. Every person will experience the Commons differently, and from this diversity we hope to build a common vision of our community’s future. Please come join us!

MEET: at the entrance to the proposed Whaletown Commons site, on Whaletown Road, next to the Firehall.

WHEN: on Sunday, November 26 from 1-3 pm

BRING: A pencil and a small notebook. Warm clothing recommended.

QUESTIONS: Please email Dianne at Dianne@islemuse.com,
or call 935-6791.

Photo Walk

The second event in the “Imagine the Commons” series will be a photo walk, led by Richard Trueman through the proposed site of the Whaletown Commons. The walk will start at 1:00 on Saturday, November 4 (Rain date: Sunday, November 5). This is a great opportunity to hone your photography skills with a master teacher, while becoming acquainted with a truly beautiful piece of land in Whaletown.

Richard Trueman is the co-creator of cortesisland.com, and he has long been documenting the beauty of our island and sharing his vision with others. He has studied, practiced and taught graphic arts and photography since the 1970’s and the predigital days of film, darkrooms and chemical processing. He was an early adopter of digital image technology in the 1990’s, when he and Irene Blueth started experimenting with first generation digital cameras. Since that time, Richard has been on the cutting edge of the field, specializing in photography for the web.

The Whaletown Creek (historically known as Burnside Creek) and the adjacent ravine is a spectacular landscape of towering big leaf maples, colorful mushrooms, and verdant mosses. It is unique on Cortes Island and guaranteed to inspire your shutter lust.

This walk is part of a series, “Imagine the Commons,” sponsored by the Whaletown Commons Project. The project is a volunteer-driven community effort, dedicated to purchasing this 71-acre of land in Whaletown for the Cortes Island community.

Each walk has a focus: on an image-making medium (like photography, poetry, drawing and mapping); or on data collection (bird counts, ecological surveys). Participants are invited to contribute to an on-line Virtual Commons gallery and to the Whaletown Commons Project’s on-going fundraising, outreach and archiving efforts.

The successful creation of the Whaletown Commons will rely on the collective imagination of the Cortes Island community. The walks are an invitation to appreciate this unique piece of land and to make an imaginative investment in its future. Every person will experience the Commons differently, and from this diversity we hope to build a common vision of our community’s future.

MEET: at the entrance to the proposed Whaletown Commons site, on Whaletown Road, next to the Firehall.

WHEN: on Saturday, November 4 (Rain date: Sunday, November 5) at 1:00

BRING: A camera if you have one (if not, there will be one or two extras available to borrow). Digital or film cameras are fine.

QUESTIONS: Please email Richard at rctrue@telus.net, or call 935-0120