escarpment | editor’s note
View of the Escarpment I
Cara Williams Editor-In-Chief cara@escarpmentmagazine.ca
G E O R G I A N B AY L I V I N G
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spring 2021 escarpmentmagazine.ca 1 escarpmentmagazine.ca
Spring 21 Cover Options.indd 1
2021-04-07 3:09 PM
On the cover, ‘Holding onto Summer’ by Darlene Watson, detail, 11" x 15" diptych originals acrylic on paper. 16escarpmentmagazine.ca
have always felt that our note from the Editor is the foundational block of any given issue – an encapsulation of the stories, creativity and effort that go into these pages. As you’ll soon discover, the past and present blend in this issue. Like those who came before us, we too have faced adversity and uncertainty over the past year. My hope is that as you dive into our newest content that you do so with renewed appreciation for our community’s resilience. Carolynn and Sylvia Wilson, whose ancestors were some of the first to settle here in the late 1700s, are co-owners, curators, and caretakers of Sheffield Park Black History & Cultural Museum. On page 39 you’ll discover how these two forwardthinking sisters are preserving Black history while educating us on how early Black settlers helped shape our industry and shorelines. Just down the street from Sheffield Park, our Clarksburg home feature recounts the history of an enduring Victorian Manor built in 1862. This long-standing homestead, which was quite literally born from the bedrock of this community, has undergone a restoration in line with the values of its first owners, over 150 years ago.
I garnered so much respect and admiration for our founding mothers and fathers in researching the aforementioned editorials. So, too did Zak Erb in his feature on The Barn Studio in Collingwood. A functioning blacksmith shop, The Barn is, in Zak’s words, “a museum grade testament to the value of history, hard work and creativity.” As I write this, I find myself reflecting on the emotional ebb and flow of this calamitous year. But the sunlight grows stronger each day and the loamy smell of budding leaves is in the air—hopeful symbols for what we wanted to capture with this, our spring issue; life endures. With these warming days there definitely seems to be more energy in our step now as we —like those before us—embrace the light.
