Interwoven: Art and Ecology of the Island 

Program Dates: February 9-17, 2026 

Application Deadline: September 30, 2025 

Applicants can expect to hear back by October 15, 2025. 

Application Form: https://forms.gle/eXhk2ohPutoycHKP6 

Program Cost: $625 + HST 

Covers the cost of a shared studio, private bedroom, shared kitchen, and a shuttlebus to and from the venue and little extra for shared materials and to pay facilitators. Note: participants are responsible for buying and preparing their own food, and for travel to/from Toronto Island. 

Program Description: 

Interwoven invites artists working with natural materials and processes to come together in an immersive setting, engaging with the landscape and stories of the island. The residency will focus on sustainable craft traditions such as spoon carving, loom weaving, willow and dogwood basketry, natural pigment making, painting, fabric dyeing, broom making, and natural sculpture. 

This residency will bring together up to 18 artists to explore how craft, ecology, and place intersect. Participants will work with natural materials sourced ethically from the landscape, engage in skill-sharing, and create works that reflect the rhythms, resilience, and interconnectivity of the island’s ecosystems. 

Thematic focal points will include: 

• Willow & Dogwood: Abundant along the island’s shorelines, these materials have long been used in basketry and ecological restoration. 
• Beavers & Waterways: Toronto Island’s beavers are ecosystem engineers, shaping the landscape and creating habitats that sustain biodiversity. 
• Bird Migration: The island is an important stopover for migratory birds, symbolizing movement, adaptation, and change. 
• Shorelines & Erosion: The ongoing transformation of the island through water and wind highlights themes of impermanence and resilience. 
• Weaving with Marram Grass: Exploring the unique plant species that inhabit the island’s dunes (and have been planted to restore them!) through hands-on weaving and material-based exploration. 

This residency is ideal for artists whose practice is rooted in nature, sustainability, or material culture. It encourages collaboration and the exchange of knowledge while allowing time for personal reflection and artistic creation. Optional group discussions and outdoor excursions will deepen our connection to the land and each other. 

What a day might look like:  

• The first evening of the residency will begin with a presentation/short walk about to visit Dogwood- and share about how they weave together the island and how they were the spark that inspired this art-residency
• Waking up to welcome the sunrise with Sammy 
• Breakfast in the big bright shared kitchen
• Optional - Dune Ecology Walk
• Studio Time 
• Optional - Evening Group sculpture work 

Interwoven is not an instructional workshop or beginner program. Artists are expected to come with their own established or developing practices rooted in working with natural materials, sustainable craft, or place-based processes. While the residency encourages skill-sharing and informal exchange, it is primarily a space for self-directed exploration, peer learning, and connection with land, materials, and fellow makers. 

 

About the facilitators:  

Deborah Dewbury is a willow basket weaver and artist whose practice is grounded in sustainability, ancestral craft, and a reciprocal relationship with the land. Working with cultivated and foraged willow, she creates sculptural and functional pieces that honor natural cycles—growing, harvesting, making, and returning—and invite deeper connection with the natural world. 

As a facilitator, Deborah brings warmth, groundedness, and a collaborative spirit. With a background in community arts and therapeutic settings, she nurtures inclusive spaces where creativity, reflection, and shared learning can unfold. Her teaching blends technical guidance with intuitive engagement, rooted in slow practices and ecological stewardship. 

At Interwoven, Deborah will help shape the residency through grounding practices, group sessions, and informal connection, offering her deep knowledge of traditional craft and belief in the generative power of presence. 

Sammy Tangir is a passionate plant nerd, a willow farmer, and lover of any craft that weaves together ecology and art. She works in ecological restoration focused on seeds and leads workshops on plant identification and natural pigments/ink. She runs Peterborough’s Spoon Carving Guild and brings both a love for and ease in leading diverse groups of people through ecological and art-based programming. 

Her art practice revolves around making natural pigment paints/inks, using plant fibers for small-scale weaving, wood carving and trying to find crafts that weave it all together 

Sammy is excited to spend a week on the island, a place dear to her heart and one full of exciting ecology-even in the depths of winter! She will share her love of the island, dune ecology, grass/shrub/tree identification support and can be a resource for any plant-related curiosities.