We are proud to support Canada Barn Quilt Trails community and barnquilttrails.ca, the website.
The Glencoe & District Historical Society recognises the desire of travelers to connect with the communities they explore. We aim to make history fashionable again! We want to put out a digital welcome mat by sharing our art, stories, and culture through story telling. But we need to strengthen the story keeping tradition by linking our elders with our youth. Southwest Ontario has what the world wants: an authentic rural culture, friendly people, with lots of stories and experiences to share.
We want to preserve and interpret the rich history of Southwestern Ontario by sharing our art, stories, and culture through storytelling.
Creative-Communities.ca
Looking ahead: Feb 21, 2024.
In 2024, the Glencoe & Distric Historical Socieety formed a partnership and applied for a project to develop an app to link story telling with the barn quilt collections across Canada. The application was not successful but we are doing the work. The partnership aims to transform the artworks into an interactive self-guided tour of the countryside. The barn quilt movement has reached nearly 1200 artworks across rural Canada. We are building a scalable, cost-effective and easy-to-use storytelling portal for communities to create their own tours and story maps.
- Chippewa of the Thames First Nation. ‘Save the Barn’ project and youth/elder engagement project.
- Creative Communities – volunteers who have kept the barn quilt trail website and support system going without funding since 2012. Over ten years ago, they imagined an on-line tool that could link the backstory to the barn quilt art. This eye-catching folk art attracts visitors and helps our rural communities put themselves on the map. Barnquilttrails.ca inspires rural communities across Canada to appreciate and market their assets via barn quilts.
- Barnquilttrails.ca – Barn quilts are eight-foot square (and larger) painted replicas of fabric quilt blocks installed on barns. Barn quilts draw attention to Canada’s disappearing rural landscapes and timber frame architecture. Barn Quilts tell a story. Barn Quilts draw attention to unmarked historical places. They are a tool for placemaking. Barn Quilts lead visitors from one site to the next.
- EXAR Studio
- Potential Funder: Canada Tourism Growth Project. Denied June 2024.
So what? We will continue to leverage asset-based community development to tap into local skills and encourage the participation of the next generation. A dynamic shift in volunteer management, engaging with busy individuals in today’s fast-paced world.
Building a network of local organizations to get involved in this project. Learning more about Tourism Canada’s vision and strategy and how rural communities can offer creative programming that appeals to the target traveller market.
Learning the history of the Mount Elgin Residential School and listening to the stories of the people who attended the school. Getting local people to reminisce about their memories of Mount Elgin.
Helping barnquilttrails.ca find a succession plan for the website and other assets in the creative commons.
Drawing attention to the social history of Middlesex County. Educate municipal representatives on the significance of safeguarding local history in modern archives.
Encouraging the development of Road Scholar type traveler experiences. Linking our local programs to the larger world. E.g. https://glencoehistoricalsociety.ca/events/
Learning more about placemaking and digging up the stories that go with the landscape.
The Barn Quilt codes represent some of the most vibrant (and mysterious) art in rural parts of Canada, forming a mosaic of history and community expression that is spreading across Canada. The barn quilts celebrating history and community in rural Canada for all to enjoy.
The Barn Quilt codes represent some of the most vibrant (and mysterious) art in rural parts of Canada, forming a mosaic of history and community expression that is spreading across Canada. The barn quilts celebrate history and community in rural Canada for all to enjoy.
EXAR Studio
