NEWS RELEASE
ARTS ORILLIA
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What the future will bring and just what it will look like have never been bigger questions than they are in 2024.
Humanity is faced with the threat of a changing climate, the challenge of artificial intelligence, and the potential promise and dangers of biotechnology. Are we facing a world of catastrophe? A world of humans being unnecessary to the world of production and the economy? A world of enhanced human capabilities through the merging of machine and human? Or even a world where the most common diseases — cancer, Alzheimer’s, strokes and heart attacks — are preventable?
While daily life is mostly about dealing with everyday tasks — looking after a family, doing your job, cleaning the house, doing the shopping — there is evidence that concern about the future is at the centre of a great deal of anxiety among people today, particularly in the young as they look forward in time and ask themselves, “What kind of future will I face?”
Arts Orillia, conscious of these concerns about the future, particularly among our community’s youth, is pleased to announce Future Fest — A Week of Eco-Art, coming to Orillia during the week of Sept. 23 to 28. Future Fest consists of many different ways of looking at the future: writing, a series of short talks, the world of art, a theatrical experience — even augmented reality. The whole event’s activities will take place on four different days and in different Orillia venues.
Future Fest will kick off on Monday, Sept. 23 with a book signing and lecture by Bob McDonald, the genial host of CBC’s Quirks and Quarks. McDonald has just written The Future is Now: Solving the Climate Crisis with Today’s Technologies. As one reviewer notes:
“This is not another ‘wake-up call,’ and not another plea to heed the climate science. This is an exploration of the incredible technologies that our species can use to get out of the mess we’ve made for ourselves. It is a work of immense optimism to counteract the sense of doom that hangs over most discussions of the environment.”
McDonald’s work as host of the CBC science show has brought him into contact with a wide variety of the world’s scientists. He has taken the opportunity of these contacts to examine what today’s technologies can mean for the future of us all. McDonald will be speaking at St. Paul’s Centre on Monday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. with a book signing opportunity beginning at 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices are meant to encourage the whole family to attend: adult, $30; senior, $27; young adult (18 to 20), $15; under 17, $6.75. (You may want to consider purchasing Future Fest passes as an alternative. See below.)
The second act of Future Fest will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 25, again at St. Paul’s Centre, but this time at 10 in the morning. Through a collaboration with Lakehead University’s Third Age Learning Lakehead (TALL), a program designed to provide thought-provoking educational opportunities to adult learners, Arts Orillia presents TALL Talks — four 15-minute exciting talks on creativity and sustainability by four exciting young people.
Kate Hilliard, artistic director for Arts Orillia, will speak on the topic of art as an agent of change. Jacob Kearey-Moreland, a PhD student at Lakehead University, will address food literacy. Sean Rees, artist and educator and design manager for Arts Orillia, will speak about artificial intelligence as a creative tool. Finally, Heidi Strauss, artistic director of Toronto-based adelheid, will describe and explain the augmented reality exhibit, You Are Swimming Here, that will be featured at the Orillia Recreation Centre on Saturday, Sept. 28, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (See below).
Community members signed up for Lakehead’s TALL fall series (of which this will be the first session) will be admitted free to this event, while non-members will be asked to pay at the door ($15) or show their Future Fest pass. (More on this below.) Those who arrive at the usual TALL time of 9:30 a.m. will find coffee and tea ready along with an eco-art exhibit.
On Thursday, Sept. 26, your exploration of the future will resume at the Orillia Opera House, where, starting at 6 p.m., a collection of eco-art (film, drawing and painting) will be on display in the Green Room featuring works by Emma Lee Fleury, Derek Owens, Gail Root, and Sean Rees.
The display will also include artwork from 18 students whose pieces were chosen by Sustainable Orillia for inclusion in the 2025 calendar, Ontario Species Need Your Help. Sustainable Orillia’s 2024 student art contest asked students attending area schools to learn about the 180 endangered species (www.ontario.ca/page/species-risk-ontario) on the province of Ontario’s species at risk list and to then choose one or more to draw or paint and submit along with a personal comment to the contest. You will be impressed by the quality of both the artwork and the comments.
At 7 p.m. attendees will be invited into the Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium for Hard Wire, a performance that follows two scientists as their archeological dig leads to a deeper reflection on life in the face of a climate in crisis. This will be a thought-provoking experience for audience members. Ticket prices for the eco-exhibit and performance: adults, $30; seniors, $27; young adults (18 to 20), $15; under 17, $6.75.
On Saturday, Sept. 28, plan to visit the Orillia Recreation Centre, where you will be invited to participate in two free experiences. Postcards to the Future is a community art collaboration with the City of Orillia as part of Culture Days. Join us to reflect, share, write and draw. We’re building a colossal tree and each leaf is a postcard that carries an idea or image created by you. Share your vision for the future. What do you dream about? What do you hope for? What do you want for yourself? What do you want for future generations?
Participate as well in You Are Swimming Here, an augmented reality experience created by Heidi Strauss and Luke Garwood that guides audiences on an independent and interactive wayfinding mission through a designated public space. It considers climate change and the human impact on the natural world, inviting audiences to privately reflect. Real and virtual worlds intersect in a playful and tender provocation to slow down. A unique experience awaits those who attend.
Participation is free for these events at the rec centre. Both opportunities to participate will take place from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the rec centre on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Want to attend all of the events? Your best ticket is a Future Fest pass. Passes are available for four different age groups: seniors, $49; adults, $59; students (18 to 20), $29; youth (17 and younger), $14.75. Get tickets for the whole family and plan to attend all events during the week. After all, chances are good that your children and young people have more of the future to look forward to than you do.
The future. We all wonder what it will look like and what it will bring us. Plan to attend Arts Orillia’s Future Fest (Sept. 23 to 28) for an exciting glimpse of what’s coming our way.
For more information, go to www.artsorillia.ca.
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