In the spirit of John Cage and Fluxus artists searching for fungi in the forest, artist Diane Borsato and Amish Morrell of Outdoor School with Alan Gan invite visitors to a community mycological foray—an informal, family-friendly event that offers participants the opportunity to collect fungi and learn about the culture of mushrooming.
Rain or shine, we will meet promptly at 10 am in the parking lot directly below Old Mill Subway Station. To get there from the subway, take the stairs into the ravine from the Northside of Bloor street. Look for a mural on the underside of the bridge by Anishinaabe artist, Philip Cote. From there we will walk together along the Humber River and gather for a mushroom ID session and informal picnic under the Oculus Pavilion in Humber River Park.
What to wear and bring: Dress for the weather and the woods with layers, closed-toe shoes, and long pants. Please bring a basket in which to collect the mushrooms, and a folding pocket knife. Additional recommendations can be found on the website of the Mycological Society of Toronto. Please note that the path is unpaved, with uneven terrain. Note it is a 30-minute walk back to the subway from our endpoint.
This program is part of Outdoor School, an ongoing series of artistic and educational activities by Diane Borsato, Amish Morrell and various community collaborators.
Accessibility: Mushroom Foray involves active walking through various paths in a public park with a few stops to rest over the course of the three-hour program.
The Toronto Biennial of Art Co-Relations Program is made possible with the generous support of the TD Bank Group through its corporate citizenship platform, The Ready Commitment.
Image Credit: Outdoor School: Mushroom Foray, 2019. Photo: Sue Holland.
Bios
Alan Gan (born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) has contributed to the Ministry of Environment and Department of Parks and Recreation in archiving the collection of fungi around the Greater Toronto Area. He has presented talks and seminars on mushroom identification, and is currently leading a group of Asian mushroom enthusiasts for Spring and Falls forays. Over the years, he has contributed to the Outdoor School: Mushroom Foray with Diane Borsato and Amish Morrell.
Outdoor School: Diane Borsato (born and lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) and Amish Morrell (born in Cape Breton, NS, Canada; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada), is an ongoing series of activities that link contemporary art with outdoor education by Borsato and Morrell in collaboration with various other practitioners. Projects include university courses, gallery exhibitions, mushroom forays, outdoor performances, forest teas, plant walks, outdoor lectures on radical camping, museum interventions, and more.