ANNUAL REPORT · • Internship at UNESCO World Heritage ... This Annual Report summarizes these and other ... from carpentry and stone masonry, to architecture

ANNUAL REPORT

2014-2015

OUR GROWING REACHWILLOWBANK’S NETWORK OF STUDENTS, GRADUATES, FACULTY & AUDIENCES IN 2014-15

HIGHLIGHTS

• Diploma courses in regenerating an industrial site, Hamilton, Ontario

• Graduate millwork on historic structures in Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom

• Internship at UNESCO World Heritage Institute, Shanghai, China

• Graduate-owned wood preservation business in Philadelphia, USA

• Internship at UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Paris, France

• Presentation at ICOMOS Triennial General Assembly, Florence, Italy

A MESSAGE FROM THE BOARD PRESIDENT& THE DEAN OF FACULTY

2014-2015 WILLOWBANK ANNUAL REPORT 3

Students developed imaginative plans for making campus more accessible to the community. And we had the privilege of welcoming the 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario to the campus, who brought her own extraordinary insights to students, graduates and staff.

On the eve of our 10th anniversary in 2016, Willowbank is truly coming of age. We’re finding support for our integrated and ecological approach, reinforced by our ability unlike universities and colleges to cross boundaries and provide timely leadership.

At the same time, Willowbank remains dependent on the generosity of its donors, faculty, staff and volunteers. We are grateful for their continuing support of our institution.

This Annual Report summarizes these and other activities, and provides an account of Willowbank’s organizational assets. For more information, or to arrange a visit to our magnificent 15-acre campus, please get in touch with us at [email protected].

Christina Cameron, CM, PhD, FRSCPresident, Board of Directors

Julian SmithDean of Faculty

COMING OF AGE

Perhaps the most important milestone of 2014-15 was the granting of Royal Patronage to Willowbank by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, a world leader in the imaginative regeneration of historic places, within a larger vision of sustainable development.

Our School continues to grow, welcoming the largest and most diverse new class to date. A major student project focused on an abandoned industrial property in Hamilton’s diverse Beasley neighbourhood, exploring a community-based approach to regeneration. Third-year students carried out internships in London, Paris, Shanghai and New York, and at various culturally-significant sites in Canada. We also welcomed promi-nent new faculty associates.

Our graduates are being recognized as emerging leaders. Their expanding network reaches all domains, from carpentry and stone masonry, to architecture and urban planning, to development and project management. This year their projects ranged from Kew Gardens in the United Kingdom to Parliament Hill and Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, to neighbourhoods in Toronto, Hamilton and Philadelphia. Collectively, they are furthering the Willowbank spirit of breaking down barriers between new and old, design and build, theory and practice.

Our Centre for Cultural Landscape received one of its most important commissions, a North American report on Culture, Heritage and Sustainable Urbanism to inform the UN Habitat III Conference in 2016. As a result, Willowbank has become an affiliated partner of UNESCO.

Our campus saw further development, including the completion of the stone elements of a new forge building by dry-stone wallers from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

HIGHLIGHTS IN 2014-15 5

THE SCHOOL OF RESTORATION ARTS 7

THE CENTRE FOR CULTURAL LANDSCAPE 17

THE CAMPUS 23

ROYAL PATRONAGE 31

STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE 35

FINANCIAL POSITION 39

Ontario’s 29th Lieutenant Governor visits Willowbank.


HIGHLIGHTS IN 2014-15

• His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales becomes Patron of Willowbank, a unique opportunity to align our activities with The Prince’s pioneering work and global leadership. We are the newest among Royal Patronages across Canada.

• Enrolment continues to grow in our three-year Diploma which combines theory and hands-on skills, graduating its largest class and welcoming ever more diverse ones. And at just $5,500 a year, we’re accessible to the broadest range of applicants in Canada.

• Our Diploma graduates continue to find immediate success across a range of careers, from skilled trades to design firms to community development, with extraordinary 96% employment in 2014-15 despite Willowbank graduating its first class in only 2009.

• Our reach in the world is growing, with student and graduate place-ments in North America, Europe and Asia, and an increasingly diverse faculty, welcoming mentors from the northern United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Hong Kong.

• The Centre for Cultural Landscape is awarded a North American com-mission to inform the 2016 UN Habitat III Conference in areas of culture, heritage and urban sustainability, and we join an international working group leading a dialogue about nature and culture.

• Willowbank accepts an invitation to be a partner of UNESCO, a United Nations agency working to create conditions for dialogue among civilizations, cultures and peoples, based upon shared values and on a vision that includes sustainable development.

• In September, the Willowbank Stone Festival brings together dry-stone wallers and carvers from Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the residents of our local village, and helps to create an impressive new campus workshop building.

• New projects in our campus landscape have grown into a cooperative enterprise with local First Nations, and Willowbank receives the Con-servation Achievement Award from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority for student-led habitat restoration.

• In June, Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, The Queen’s representative in Ontario, pays an extensive visit to Willowbank, the first of its kind to our campus.

• The Willowbank library’s unique collection of over 1,800 books, manuals and periodicals is expanded and made available in an online catalogue for students, faculty and staff.

• We continue to benefit from the generosity of our donors in 2014-15, in particular from a successful campaign among the Board of Directors, and from the Bright-Urban family, descendants of the former owners of our estate and National Historic Site.

The Class of 2015 carving stone on campus.

THE SCHOOL OF RESTORATION ARTS


The Willowbank School is best known for its three-year Diploma Program in Heritage Conservation. As the centrepiece of Willowbank’s offerings, the Diploma combines apprenticeship and academic learning to give students a first-hand experience of conservation theory and practice. Faculty Associates who are practising professionals bring exceptional levels of expertise and experience to the students.

The thrust of the Diploma Program is to combine heritage conservation with environmental awareness, and creative design and development. These three fields, which have tended to exist separately, are brought together at Willowbank in order to create a holistic approach to the creation of healthy communities and sustainable practices.

The School balances working with the hands and with the mind. Operating outside of the normal structures of universities and colleges, it is positioned to break down barriers between designers and builders, and between traditional knowledge and contemporary practice.

STUDENTS

The students who enrol in the Diploma Program come from wide-ranging backgrounds but share a common passion for place. Most have already earned degrees or diplomas, and arrive committed to a Willowbank education. The typical age is 28 on graduating, but among them are also graduates in their 30s to their 60s.

THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 2015 had an impressive and diverse array of third-year projects and internships, including:

• Masonry conservation projects at landmark sites in Halifax, Ottawa and Regina

• Metal conservation practice in Guelph

• Kew Gardens Victorian glasshouse restoration in London, United Kingdom

• Community-based industrial site regeneration in Hamilton

• UNESCO World Heritage Centre internship, Paris, France

• World Heritage Institute internship in Shanghai, China

• Heritage planning office in Kingston

• Design-build enterprises in Grimsby and Niagara-on-the-Lake

• Cultural landscape study for McMichael Canadian Art Gallery in Kleinburg

• Design guidelines for Centre Block redevelopment on Parliament Hill

• Historic estate evaluations in Hamilton and Northern Ontario

• Heritage real estate and development on the Niagara peninsula

This class had the opportunity of having worked on community-based development plans as well as investigating emerging conservation practices in Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh. It is the largest class of Willowbank graduates, and they are already beginning careers in the field.

THE CLASS OF 2016 is notable for its international composition, with students from Canada, the United States, Finland and Cambodia.

These students undertook imaginative documentary and community-based research for both the Cannon Knitting Mills in Hamilton and for Willowbank’s lower campus in Queenston. They developed statements of significance and produced values-based recommendations for development. These projects, although part of the academic curriculum, have an impact well beyond the School, engaging communities in real-life discussions about shared futures.

This year brought the students to Ottawa to observe the conservation of the Parliament Buildings and the re-purposed Bank of Montreal, and to visit the workshops of the craftspeople involved in the projects. Three students also presented at a University of Montreal roundtable about the need for bridging disciplines in heritage conservation education, while two others delivered a Willowbank perspective to the New York Statewide Preservation Conference in Geneva, New York.

THE CLASS OF 2017 brings together a range of students with backgrounds in environmental studies, art history, archaeology, building trades and inter-national studies. These students have been active in making the Willowbank estate more sustainable, and applying the hands-on training in their first-year studies to the rehabilitation of campus and area sites.

Over the course of 2014-15, Willowbank students were supported with nearly $25,000 in scholarships, bur-saries, fellowships and grants, which in turn support the School, in student affairs, archival research, the library collection, cultural landscape study, garden and landscape maintenance, hands-on campus projects, regional architecture studies, and in generating new conversations on social media platforms.

FACULTY

Willowbank achieves its unusual mix of hands-on and academic courses because its classes take place all day, every day of the week. The students are mentored by more than 50 Faculty Associates, who are not full-time Willowbank employees but well-known practitioners and theorists in the field. They come for sessions in their subject areas, and are able to transmit current patterns of professional activity.

This faculty, like the students, is increasingly diverse. In 2014-15, these practitioners came from across Canada, the northern United States, as well as from from the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and Hong Kong. They include:

• Carpenters, joiners, timber-framers

• Masons, stone carvers, masonry conservators

• Sheet metal workers and roofers

• Stained glass window conservators

• Archaeologists

• Landscape conservators and designers

• Architects, architectural conservators

• Architectural and cultural historians

• First Nations cultural heritage specialists

• Heritage planners, community developers

• Property and project managers

• Developers and real estate professionals

• Heritage lawyers

• Cultural landscape theorists and practitioners

New Faculty Associates in 2014-15 included:

• Elizabeth Duval, paint analysis expert, Hamilton

• Nicholas Fairplay, master stone carver, Oberlin, Ohio

• Dale Jarvis, intangible cultural heritage officer, Newfoundland & Labrador

• Andrew MacAdam, heritage carpentry instructor, Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

• Jay Pooley, architect, art director and journeyman carpenter, Toronto

• Tom Woolley, architect and sustainable building expert, Northern Ireland

Dean of FacultyJulian Smith is a noted architect, scholar, conservator and educator. His career has included serving as Chief Architect for Canada’s National Historic Sites program and a private architectural practice working on cultur-ally-significant places in both Canada and around the world. His contributions have been recognized in the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond and Golden Jubilee Medals, Lifetime Achievement Awards from both Heritage Canada and the Architectural Conservancy of Ontario, and Honourary Membership in the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects. Before Willowbank, Julian established the graduate program in heritage conservation at Carleton University.

Director of Academic ProgramsElaine O’Sullivan brings a strong background in both architecture and heritage conservation, plus a graduate degree in ecological design from the world’s leading centre in environmental and energy studies, the Centre for Alternative Technology in Wales. She has had a rich experience in the not-for-profit sector, with community-led building projects in Portugal, Spain and Germany using sustainable building

Field School students in the Italian Alps.


techniques and creative approaches to adaptive reuse. She was drawn to Willowbank’s focus on the interplay between theory and practice in education, and in pro-moting the role of heritage conservation in building a sustainable future.

FIELD SCHOOL

Willowbank conducted its annual Italy Field School in June and July, in conjunction with the Canova Associa-tion based in the Ossola Valley in the lower Italian Alps. This year it welcomed a new partner, the heritage

carpentry program of the Nova Scotia Community College in Lunenburg. Participants applied cultural land-scape theory and practice to the documentation, design and rebuilding of abandoned stone medieval villages.

The hands-on project this summer consisted of rebuilding a traditional stone floor in the village of Ghesc, adding to the layers of past Field School participants. The program also featured lectures from contemporary architect Carol Wilson (Maine), materials conservator Peter Cox (Ireland) and permaculture designers John Button and Francesca Simonetti (Italy).

Salvaged parts for the campus greenhouse.


Skilled heritage tradesPHILADELPHIA, USA – Alex (‘10) is a heritage carpenter and owner of a woodworking preservation and fabrication firm known for its ecological approach to design

HAMILTON – Walter (‘12) is the owner of a woodworking conservation firm and a consultant in the development of historic places and neighbourhoods

HENLEY-ON-THAMES, UK – Sasha (‘14) is a junior millwright on period and historic structures with Owlsworth IJP

NIAGARA / OTTAWA – Jordan (‘09) is an independent heritage mason

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Mike (‘15) is a heritage join-er and co-owns a furniture and accessories fabricator which uses reclaimed materials

TORONTO – Niklas (‘14) is an independent heritage carpenter and framer

GODERICH – Byron (‘15) is a blacksmith’s apprentice at Sharp’s Creek Forge

MONTREAL – Doug (‘13) is an independent woodworker who designs and builds furniture and conserves wood fabric at heritage sites

Materials conservationOTTAWA / REGINA – Alexandra (‘15) is a masonry conservator at RJW Gem Campbell Stonemasons, one of only a handful of women who are conservators on Parliament Hill

LONDON, UK – Sahra (‘15) is a materials conservator and joiner, working as a documentation specialist for the restoration of the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world

OTTAWA – Emma (‘14) is an assistant site represen-tative at Architecture 49 for the rehabilitation of Parliament Hill

LIBRARY

Willowbank expanded both the scale and accessibility of its library in 2014-15. Students, faculty and board members continue to build this unique collection of books, technical manuals and periodicals at the Willowbank campus.

A substantial donation of publications was received from the estate of the late Laura Dodson, Willow-bank’s founder, and the entire collection of over 1,800 publications was made accessible to students made accessible to students, faculty and staff to search in an online catalogue for the first time.

Partnerships with local libraries are being explored in order to make its resources more readily available to readers, and a fundraising and acquisitions strategy developed to enhance the collection and its lending technology.

GRADUATES

One of the greatest achievements of the Willowbank Diploma program is the immediate success of its graduates. Despite the program being less than ten years old, they are already having an impact across a range of activities in the field, both in Canada and abroad. They have a confidence built on their unique appreciation for the interconnectedness of the field and their ability to work across traditional divides.

Among Willowbank’s 45 graduates, 96% were employed in 2014-15, including 26% who were self-employed. Among their varied occupations, an impressive 91% were in related fields.

Throughout this year, just as in previous years, the graduates continue to be involved in the life of Willowbank, returning home to the campus that holds a treasured place in their hearts. The following is a sampling of their success.


PERTH – Emily (‘10) is a heritage consultant working as a heritage project manager, researcher and designer for private clients

ANCASTER – Scott (‘12) is a heritage consultant and owns a heritage consulting practice

Design/buildHAMILTON – Geordie (‘13) is a heritage and design-build specialist with his own business

GRIMSBY – Brandon (‘15) is a heritage and design-build specialist at Dave VanAm Inc.

Heritage interpretation and educationNIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Danielle (‘13) is a heritage interpreter working for the Niagara Parks Commission

NIAGARA FALLS / QUEENSTON – Shelley (‘14) is a com-munity advocate who works for Willowbank as the supporting coordinator to the Director of Academic Programs

Heritage planning and community developmentTORONTO – Rosi (‘09) is a heritage consultant, project manager, and carpenter, working as a heritage plan-ner with the Ministry of Culture

MISSISSAUGA – Elaine (‘10) is a heritage consultant working as a heritage coordinator for the City of Mississauga

NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE – Denise (‘15) is a heritage consultant working as a heritage specialist for the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake

HAMILTON – Ashleigh (‘13) is a historic interiors spe-cialist working as a heritage coordinator at the City of Hamilton

OAKVILLE – Megan (‘11) is an art historian and heritage consultant, working as a heritage planner for the City of Oakville

LONDON – Michael (‘14) is an historian and heritage consultant working as a heritage planner for Golder Associates

HAMILTON / TORONTO – Angela (‘15) is an urban specialist working for ERA Architects as a heritage planner, and for UNESCO on a study of culture, heritage and urban sustainability

Architectural conservationTORONTO – Sydney (‘11) is a heritage consultant working as a conservation specialist for ERA Architects

TORONTO – Kristina (‘13) is a stained glass conservator, working as a heritage planner and conservator for Taylor Hazell Architects

OTTAWA – Nigel (‘15) is a specialist in places of worship and modernist architecture, working as a conservation consultant for Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects

Program and project managementHAMILTON – Carolyn (‘09) is an architectural con-servator, appointed by the City of Hamilton to head capital projects for historic properties

WILLOWBANK DISCOVERED THE CANNON KNITTING MILLS IN 2014-15, A DYNAMICSITE IN THE RE-EMERGING CITY OF HAMILTON

FEATURE

Willowbank was introduced to this intriguing site in the dynamic core of Hamilton’s rapidly regenerating lower city.

As Hamilton continues to see people and businesses return to its city centre, the former Cannon Knitting Mills industrial complex is facing an uncertain future. It is challenged by diverse community interests, contamination concerns, and the development pres-sures which come with the resurgence of urban centres.

A local landmark, the Knitting Mills complex is an exemplary 19th-century structure whose 150-year history of manufacturing makes it a vital part of Hamilton’s industrial heritage. Willowbank seized the opportunity to have students explore regeneration schemes that capitalize on the creative energies invigorating Hamilton. While the com-plex is unique, its challenges and opportunities are simi-lar to those facing rustbelt towns across the northeast.

Students and faculty converged on the complex at many points in their diploma curriculum, including architectural photography, drafting, assessment of building conditions, window rehabilitation, and con-temporary design.

But it was a team of second-year students who immersed themselves in the Mills, working to create a conservation management plan. The project saw them engage in detailed historical research, investigation of the structure, hands-on rehabilita-tion, community engagement and analysis of the Mills’ role in the city.

Their process began by developing an understanding of the site, its history and community, which guided the creation of a statement of heritage value. This foundation gave integrity to the students’ development proposals, rooted in people and observation.

The students proposed diverse, incremental development to circumvent conventional barriers to adaptive re-use. Blurring boundaries between indoor and outdoor spaces allowed for the integration of neighbouring parkland, and offered creative solutions to contamination.

The project culminated in a presentation to multiple and overlapping communities with a stake in the future of the Mills, including residents, local organizations and city staff.

Willowbank’s research and ideas are shifting public attitudes toward the Knitting Mills. The study’s creative and values-based approach has been shared at local planning and development events, and by local and even national media.

There has been renewed interest in the fate of this culturally-significant site in Hamilton’s core, and Willowbank continues to contribute to proposals for its future development. Students and faculty are encouraging new uses that are holistic and hopeful, and that bring beauty and inspiration to potential tenants and the local community. The Mills have the potential to contribute both to community-building, and to the growing recognition of the worthy materials embodied in our historic urban fabric.

Those involved hope the next phase in the life of the Knitting Mills will transform its immediate surroundings and inspire the city of Hamilton, and become an example for complex historic sites of this nature in post-industrial cities.

Whatever its future, the case of the Knitting Mills has already served to enrich and expand the Willowbank experience in 2014-15.

Students inside the Cannon Knitting Mills.


THE CANNON

KNITTING MILLS

Student internship in Shanghai, China.

“WE ARE NOT ALONE IN WANTING TO ACHIEVE A MORE ECOLOGICAL FUTURE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. WHAT’S EXCITING IS THE INCREASED RECOGNITION THAT A CULTURAL LANDSCAPE APPROACH OFFERS A COMMON GROUND FOR INTEGRATING OTHERWISE DISPARATE INTERESTS.”

LISA PROSPER, DIRECTOR

THE CENTRE FOR CULTURAL LANDSCAPE


ACTIVITIES

In 2014-15, the Centre furthered the dissemination of its ideas, formalized its involvement in provincial, national and international initiatives, and expanded its capacity by building a network of Centre Associates. It also led a visioning exercise which articulates the cultural landscape perspective as key to Willowbank’s mission and practice.

The Centre also contributed to the new dialogue with The Prince of Wales. The Prince’s dynamic interests in the sustainability of communities, which under-stands the ecology of our built, natural and human environments, as well as traditional skills and building practices, are shared by the Centre in its endeavours.

Leading a nature/culture dialogueIn the 2013-14 year, the Centre put on a public lecture series entitled Nature Culture / Culture Nature, setting the scene for a dialogue about connecting these disciplines which continues.

The lectures took inspiration from the historic World Heritage Site nomination of Pimachiowin Aki, an aboriginal cultural landscape on the border of Ontario and Manitoba, and brought to Willowbank a speaker from its Poplar River First Nation, a geographer and naturalist from Ottawa, global preservation landscape architects from Vancouver, the director of a major art collection from Kleinburg, and an architect and scholar from Montreal and Newfoundland.

Coinciding with the series at Willowbank, the Centre’s Director was one of 30 guests from Canada and abroad presenting at a University of Montreal roundtable on Exploring the Cultural Value of Nature. Willowbank Diploma students also participated as panellists and rapporteurs.

In November, 40 Canadians attended the Triennial General Assembly of ICOMOS in Florence, Italy.

The Willowbank Centre is a hub of research, dialogue, public education and consulting. It takes an ecological approach to places, looking beyond their physical char-acteristics to the way in which people embed meaning in places over time. This is the dynamic perspective of cultural landscapes that underpins Willowbank.

Cultural landscapes are a central topic of discussion in the heritage conservation field, both in Canada and around the world, and the world is looking to the Willowbank Centre for its leadership in develop-ing their theory and practice. The Centre amplifies Willowbank’s voice to a broad audience, both local and global, and these conversations become woven into the Diploma Program, a vehicle for introducing students to the issues of our generation.

The Centre’s activities in 2014-15 continued to receive major support through a multi-year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Director, Willowbank CentreAs the Centre’s Director, Lisa Prosper is articulating an approach to cultural landscapes that integrates the debate between nature and culture and provides a framework for moving towards more sustainable conservation models.

She brings a significant international and intercul-tural perspective to her work. A member of Canada’s Mi’kmaq First Nation community, a scholar and a gifted public speaker, she has been an ambassador for Willowbank and contributes to the curriculum of the Diploma Program. She holds degrees in Art History and Heritage Conservation and has worked for the National Capital Commission, Parks Canada, Heritage Canada and First Nations communities. Lisa is also a graduate of the National Ballet School, with an earlier career in cultural programming at Canada’s National Arts Centre. In 2015, she was elected by her peers to the Board of the Canadian Committee of ICOMOS (the International Council on Monuments and Sites).

Nations Habitat III Conference. As a result, Willowbank has become an institutional affiliate of UNESCO, building on its experience with urban regeneration projects such as the Cannon Knitting Mills in Hamilton, the Byward Market in Ottawa, and Kensington Market in Toronto. It reflects the importance being given to new understandings of urban development as seen through the cultural heritage lens.

Between October and December, through an existing partnership between the Centre and the World Heritage Institute, student Matthieu Boisvert undertook an internship in China to help develop the implementation of UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape Recommendation.

In October, Centre Associate Julian Smith was invited to participate in the international symposium on Overcoming Isolation and Developing Social Connectedness, hosted by the Samuel Family Foundation and Synergos.

Earlier in the year, Willowbank graduate Ashleigh Bell prepared a course in partnership with the Ontario Association of Architects on Heritage and the Authentic City: Conservation and Craftsmanship in Sustainable City Building. Aimed at architects in the Toronto-Hamilton corridor, the course applied a Willowbank approach to urbanism through a number of its staff, faculty and graduates, and a second series is already being planned for later in 2015.

Presentations and publicationsThe Director was invited this year to publish a chapter on Canadian cultural landscapes in an upcoming publication by Routledge, and contributions by Julian Smith appeared in its

Focusing on Heritage and Landscape as Human Values, the conference gathered over 1,650 participants from 94 countries. The Director was joined by third-year student and Centre Associ-ate Angela Garvey, who presented a Willowbank perspective.

On the heels of Florence, the Centre worked with other Canadian delegates to formalize a national conversation on landscape. This initiative is exploring and articulating a uniquely Canadian perspective on cultural landscapes, to inform the next General Assembly, as well as the 2016 United Nations Habitat III Conference.

Building on these activities, the Director was one of 27 experts from around the world invited to participate in a joint initiative of ICOMOS and IUCN (the International Union for Conservation of Nature) entitled Connecting Practice. This project is investigating the natural and cultural values of landscape in the context of the UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

As another key step towards replacing the nature/culture dichotomy with a more ecological and integrative approach, the Centre’s Director was invited to join the steering committee for incorporating this discussion into the proceedings of the upcoming 2016 IUCN World Conservation Congress in the United States.

Culture, heritage and urban sustainability Through the work of the Centre and its Associates, Willowbank was approached by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to lead a North American team researching culture, heritage and urban sustainability, to inform the United

Pimachiowin Aki on the Manitoba-Ontario border.


engagements included a roundtable onsustainable urbanism convened by The Prince of Wales in Winnipeg, the Canadian Intangible Cultural Heritage Network in Ottawa, the Mu-nicipal Heritage Council of Niagara-on-the-Lake and a cultural landscape and heritage values onference at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Invitations have been accepted to deliver a key-note address at the Australia ICOMOS conference in Adelaide, Australia, and to present at the Srishti Centre conference on living urban heritage in Bangalore, India, both in 2015.

publications on Historic Urban Landscapes and on Cultural Landscape Theory and Practice.

The Director and Centre associates have also been invited to speak at a range of other local, national and international events. In October, Julian Smith and Dr. Christina Cameron, Pres-ident of the Board of Directors, were invited to Nara, Japan, to participate in a conference mark-ing the 20th anniversary of the Nara Document on Authenticity, a seminal document in broaden-ing our understanding of cultural heritage, and an important discussion of ways to make the conservation field more inclusive. Other speaking


IN MEMORIAM

Two great friends of the Centre passed away in 2015, Susan Buggey and Dr. Ronald Van Oers.

Susan’s gift in 2013 created the Cultural Landscape Fellowship that carries her name, creating a new link between the work of Diploma students and the Centre. During her career as a civil servant, a university teacher and a participant in international policy-making, Susan made significant contributions to the development of cultural landscapes.

Ron helped to forge a new relationship for Willowbank in 2013 when he came from Shang-hai to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the UNESCO-affiliated World Heritage Institute. The agreement linked the Willowbank Centre’s work with the Institute’s expertise in historic urban landscapes, in which Ron was a vital part.

Willowbank was also represented by Julian Smith in meeting His Highness the Aga Khan IV, a leader in social and urban development, and a working visit paid to campus by Sophie Kiwala, Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Tour-ism, Culture and Sport in Ontario.

These events and meetings are opportunities to discuss and enrich Willowbank’s efforts to build new coalitions and partnerships, as the heritage field goes through some significant shifts.

Susan Buggey Fellowship The Susan Buggey Fellowship, funded through a generous multi-year gift from the late land-scape historian and cultural landscape expert, supports a second-year student who is pursu-ing cultural landscape theory and practice at Willowbank.

Juliana Glassco was the recipient in 2014-15, and used it by convening a series of student discussions on cultural landscape, attending the U.S. National Trust conference in Savannah, participating in the Milwaukee Building-Landscapes-Cultures Field School.

She was also asked to participate in the World Rural Landscapes initiative, and was published in the quarterly journal of the Timber Framers Guild, an organization with members in the United States, Canada and around the world.

Niagara’s canal landscape in wintertime.

Lower campus in Queenston village.

THE CAMPUS


Willowbank has expanded its lands over time, and made pilot interventions in both horticul-ture and agriculture in the landscape. With this growth, a new level of strategic planning was initiated for the landscape as a whole in 2014-15. The intent is to respect and learn from all peri-ods in the history of the site, and to enhance the learning environment.

In the summer, Willowbank received funding from the Government of Canada to engage students to develop the first phase of this plan. The intention is to articulate the role of native species in the natural ecosystem, to further measures towards productive agriculture, and to conserve water and energy. The long-term goal is to return Willowbank to a more self-sufficient estate, while protecting the picturesque land-scape and raising awareness about the benefits of native species and natural resources.

Willowbank formed a partnership this year with the habitat restoration initiative of the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, which works to improve local water quality, habitat structure, functionality and diversity. The Authority is assisting Willowbank to implement its landscape projects, and recognized its efforts with the Conservation Achievement Award in November.

Community and Native Plant GardensTHE COMMUNITY GARDEN is a thriving 1,900-square foot plot on the upper campus, and the result of a recent partnership with local First Nations begun in 2014. The concept draws on the long history of aboriginal habitation and productive agriculture on these lands, and the partnership hopes to reinstil traditional knowledge of food production, promote sus-tainability and community collaboration. In its second growing season, physical improvements

The Willowbank campus combines its original home, a magnificent 13-acre estate and National Historic Site in the upper village of Queenston, Ontario, with an adjacent two-acre historic elementary school in the lower village centre. To-gether they serve as laboratories for its academic and apprenticeship programs, and as centres for events and discussions.

The campus is a lesser-known jewel of the Niagara Peninsula, concealed from the scenic thoroughfare which runs along Canada’s river border with the United States, where Willow-bank draws a vibrant base of students and supporters. But for those who enter, it is a special world, and a place where the many layers of its 8,000-year habitation are still present.

In June of this year, each of the four major layers in the evolution of the historic estate – First Nations, the Hamilton Family, the Bright Family, and Willowbank students – planted a willow tree for the namesake which endures.

Willowbank was also further engaged with its surrounding village during 2014-15, as students chose to live there in greater numbers, explored ways to share the campus with the community, and participated in its annual remembrance ceremonies. The campus estate continues to be open for public tours in spring and summer.

LANDSCAPE & GARDENS

The upper campus is a layering of an aboriginal landscape, overlaid with an early 19th century picturesque landscape, and more formal gardens and drives introduced in the early 20th century. Today, it is seeing the insertion of sensitive contem-porary buildings, based on traditional knowledge and practice, which reflect its life as a functioning school in the 21st century.


They explored its history, its past and current connections to the community, and its physical features and conditions. It became clear that the original two-room schoolhouse continues to form the cultural heart of the complex, and should be the starting point for redevelopment of the site. Its original Laura Secord Hall, funded by the Women's Institute in 1914, has the poten-tial to be recreated as an active community gath-ering place. The building is in good condition, and although much detail has been obscured by renovations, these could be restored to bring back some of the quality of the place. Sensitive new additions can be created to house the grow-ing library and potential food services.

These findings, and a proposed development plan based on the cultural values of the property, were presented to the Queenston community and to the Willowbank Board. They will form the basis of future plans as funds become available.

The new Forge Building, a wonderful combina-tion of timber frame, dry stone walls, and slate roof, was further developed during the Willow-bank Stone Festival. The frame and stone walling are now complete, and students will continue to work on the slate roof and on the fabrication of wood windows and doors. This new campus building was recognized in the Peter J. Stokes Heritage Commendation from the Town of Niaga-ra-on-the-Lake in April.

In September, third-year students took the first steps towards rebuilding a 1919 greenhouse which originates from the Rand Estate in Niagara-on-the-Lake. They assessed which of some 892 parts could be reused, began the process of hands-on repairs, and considered uses and locations on the campus. Made by noted Lord and Burnham, this donated building features operating winch windows and steel-framed curved glass.

were made to the garden, which is designed in the shape of a medicine wheel, and community engagement has increased in the initiative, with fall workshops planned about sacred medicine, harvesting and seed saving.

THE NATIVE PLANT GARDEN on the lower campus was established in 2013 together with the Horticultural Society in Niagara-on-the-Lake. This year saw continued maintenance and development, including interpretation strategies to further enable connections between students, community members and the natural landscape. The Society continues to support the re-intro-duction of native species on campus.

The Ravine and MeadowTHE RAVINE is a deep and little-seen feature on the Willowbank campus, part of a First Nations portage route around Niagara Falls for thou-sands of years and now a fragile ecosystem. A key component in the landscape initiatives has been an ecological land classification to inform the ravine’s landscape monitoring and planning.

THE MEADOW is adjacent to the ravine, and forms a rolling descent between the estate house and its historic gateway to the village below. As part of long-term efforts to return this portion of the estate to its original picturesque landscape, a thoughtfully-selected parcel has been convert-ed from lawns to a more sustainable and native meadow. In the summer season, solitary bee stations and species were introduced and have created a pollinator sanctuary in the meadow.

BUILDINGS & WORKSHOPS

The historic schoolhouse on the lower campus was the focus of a conservation management plan by second year students in 2014-15.

The new forge building under construction.

In the estate house, plaster restoration was undertak-en by first-year students in the Bright Parlour, as part of ongoing work to the stone building, which marks its 180th birthday in 2016.

STONE FESTIVAL

The Stone Festival was created as a way of enriching the Diploma Program while extending Willowbank’s message and identity to a larger audience, and was held a second time this year.

A celebration of stone, it brought attention to work by some of the best dry-stone wallers and stone carvers in the world. They came from across Canada, as well as the United States and the United Kingdom, and represent the very best of traditional craftsmanship

and design skills, in a contemporary world that has often lost sight of the strength and beauty of this material.

Short courses were offered to the public in dry-stone walling and on stone carving, taught by the craftspeo-ple who converged on campus. The carving course in-troduced a new mentor, master stone carver Nicholas Fairplay from Oberlin, Ohio. He demonstrated both a mastery of the art and an ability to communicate with students and professionals alike, and was invited to become a Faculty Associate at Willowbank.

As a way of connecting Willowbank to its community, the Stone Festival engaged a wide cross-section of people within the village and from the wider Niagara region. A food and artisan market, talks, tours,

Future room restoration off the central hall of the 1830s estate house.

The future rebuilding of the Rand estate greenhouse on campus.

The Bluma & BramAppel Barn, a rebuilt, century-old hands-on workshop.

The 1914 Laura Secord school, drawn with restored doors and windows.


children’s activities, a party and dance brought together people of all ages, and re-introduced both old and new friends to current developments at Willowbank.

The Upper Canada Stone Company was a strong supporter, generously donating all of the stone for the festival and the forge building.

OPEN HOUSE

Willowbank held its annual Open House on April 11, an event that welcomes both the public and prospec-tive students. It is an important opportunity for the community to learn more about Willowbank and for prospective students to visit the campus, speak with current students, graduates and faculty. Activities included stone carving, window repair, blacksmith-ing and plastering, lectures about the campus and the academic program, as well as opportunities to showcase student works.

GRADUATION

Graduation ceremonies for the Class of 2015, the larg-est to date, took on a new dimension while Willow-bank works to rehabilitate its lower campus facilities to house larger-scale events. Graduates, their families and a cross-section of the wider Willowbank commu-nity left campus this April and gathered at the nearby Queenston Library, a conversion of an historic church, then travelled through the village to a reception at the estate house, the enduring heart of campus.

JAZZ FESTIVAL

The annual Jazz Festival in support of Willowbank was held in June, realized especially through the work of community volunteers. This year’s event, now beyond a decade as a tradition, drew in an audience of 250 at the nearby Riverbend Inn and Vineyard.

7000 B.C.E. 1600 B.C.E. 1812 C.E. 1834

Nomadic hunter-gatherers make camp at Willowbank, leaving behind burnt tools suggesting ritualistic use of the site.

Willowbank is key along the portage route of First Nations, traders and explorers, and the Mississaugas tribe soon settles here.

A battleground in the War of 1812, control of Willowbank changes hands several times between American and British forces.

Alexander Hamilton and Hannah Jarvis begin building the Greek Revival mansion and give the estate its name.

H I S T

1934 1966 2002 2009

The Bright family, pioneers in the development of Niagara's fruit and wine industry, acquires and reorients the estate.

Willowbank is bought by the Congregation of Mis-sionary Sisters of Christian Charity, and becomes the Holy Trinity Monastery.

The estate is rescued from destruction by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Conservancy, Tom & Mary Urban and Laura & Jim Dodson, and soon becomes a National Historic Site.

The first class of graduates earns the Willowbank Diploma, the beginning of an independent and in-novative institution in the cultural heritage field.

O R Y

“WILLOWBANK IS DEVOTED TO THE SHIFT TOWARDS A MORE ECOLOGICAL AND SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO HERITAGE CONSERVATION THAT CELEBRATES THE CONTINUITY OF CULTURAL TRADITIONS. MY AIM IS TO SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGE EXACTLY THESE KINDS OF APPROACHES IN CANADA.”

HRH THE PRINCE OF WALESTO THE GLOBE & MAIL, 2014

Willowbank’s Director of Academic Programs at The Prince’s Summer School.

ROYAL PATRONAGE


traditional urban design are key to creating healthy and prosperous communities in a way compatible with people's needs and aspirations.

Over three weeks in July and August, Elaine O’Sullivan, Director of Academic Programs, and David Deo, a recent Willowbank graduate, travelled to the United Kingdom to participate in the Foundation’s summer school, joining an international class of architects, planners and craftspeople from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Italy and the United States.

We discovered many philosophical similarities between The Prince's Foundation and Willowbank, and we're striving toward many of the same goals.

David Deo, Class of 2015

Courses in history, drawing and geometry began the experience, along with architectural tours of London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. A week of hands-on workshops in plaster, timber, stone and thatching followed at Dumfries House, an 18th-century estate in Scotland being revitalized by The Prince. The summer school culminated in intensive design projects on and near the estate, for which the Willowbank representa-tives helped create winning proposals.

For them, it was an experience that emphasized the reconnection of disciplines, the abstract elements of great design, and the shared work that builds quality. As envoys of Willowbank, they were able to advance a dialogue and rich exchange of ideas between Willowbank and the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community.

This summer experience followed a visit to London in November by the Dean of Faculty, who met a range of students, staff and stake-holders in The Prince’s educational programs, and toured their facilities.

Earlier in 2014, His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales granted Royal Patronage to Willowbank, which joins only a handful of Canadian organi-zations with the same honour.

This tremendous distinction was announced at a meeting of urban designers, planners, develop-ers and civic leaders convened by The Prince in Winnipeg during his 17th visit to Canada. His Royal Highness met with Julian Smith, Dean of Faculty, and Lisa Prosper, Director of the Centre for Cultural Landscape, invited to present on issues around sustainable urban growth.

This patronage is a unique opportunity for Willowbank to align its activities in cultural heritage with the pioneering work and global leadership of The Prince. Throughout his life, His Royal Highness has worked passionately to champion overlooked issues. The Prince’s desire to protect and sustain the natural environment is matched by his interest in the built environment and how it affects the quality of people’s lives.

ENGAGING IN DIALOGUE

Royal Patronage reflects areas of personal interest for The Prince, and for Willowbank it creates a new dialogue with his range of established initiatives in the United Kingdom. These include the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, the Royal Drawing School and the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, with its graduate program in urban sustainability, its summer school, and the Building Skill in Craft Programme.

In the Foundation, The Prince has created a forum where the design and construction of communities can reach higher levels of local environmental and economic sustainability. Putting people at the centre of the design pro-cess, it teaches that timeless principles of

The Prince of Wales on Prince Edward Island in 2014.

Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell on campus.

THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

Willowbank welcomed Her Honour the Hon-ourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, 29th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, in June, the first visit of its kind to campus and one made possible through The Prince’s Patronage.

Installed as Her Majesty The Queen’s represen-tative in Ontario in September, Her Honour has devoted her life to public service, leading provin-cial, federal and international institutions – in-cluding as Under Secretary General of the United Nations – and making vital contributions to causes which integrate environmental, econom-ic, social, educational and cultural concerns.

Her Honour participated in a multi-faceted program, engaging with a cross-section of students, graduates, faculty and board members. In a roundtable discussion, she was introduced to the Diploma Program, the cultural landscape perspective, and to Willowbank’s reach in the world. In a tour of campus, Her Honour spoke one-on-one with students and graduates about their emerging careers, during which hands-on activities were in progress, demonstrating the intersection of theory and apprenticeship.

The visit was filled with insightful exchanges with Her Honour, who cares deeply about the environ-ment, and who has dedicated her time in office towards meaningful dialogue about the common challenges of our interconnected world.

Queenston village on the Canada-United States border.

STRUCTURE & GOVERNANCE


directly in local activities, including the Board, fundraising events, and various landscape initiatives. In addition, volunteers often become involved in curriculum activities off-campus, for example as community representatives on con-servation management plans or leading tours of culturally-significant places.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Willowbank has a distinguished Board of Directors who provide long-term and strategic direction, and who are closely involved with the financial sustainability of the institution.

Dr. Christina Cameron continued in 2014-15 as President of the Board of Directors. A high-ly-respected figure in the international heritage conservation community, Christina was for many years Director-General of Canada’s National Historic Sites program and chaired UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee. She is the Canada Research Chair on Built Heritage at the Université de Montréal, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Official Residences of Canada, and President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

Also in 2014-15, Board member Bob Skerker contributed to overseeing the Willowbank staff in an interim capacity. Bob is a leading business figure in Buffalo, NY, where he has contributed to that city’s recent regeneration.

Board of DirectorsChristina Cameron CM, PhD, FRSC – President (Ottawa, ON)Canada Research Chair, Université de Montréal

Clinton Brown FAIA, NCARB – Vice-President (Buffalo, NY) President, Clinton Brown Company Architecture, PC

Willowbank is a not-for-profit institution incor-porated in the Province of Ontario, as well as an accredited private career college.

Its Constitution outlines Willowbank’s purpose, including that it should provide education in conservation theory and practice, a forum for discussion, skills and employment development, public awareness of conservation, a resource centre and an educational model for others.

In order to carry out this purpose, there is a volunteer Board of Directors and a paid staff. The staff report to the Board through an Ex-ecutive Director, and operate within a matrix structure rather than as a hierarchical system. This reflects Willowbank's commitment to moving away from rigid hierarchies towards more ecological and community-based systems of governance, design and development.

The staff currently includes a Director of Academic Programs and a supporting coordina-tor for this directorship, a Director of the Centre for Cultural Landscape, an Estate Manager, an Administrative Coordinator, a bookkeeper, and various part-time positions open to Diploma students to support areas such as the Centre’s activities, student affairs, the library and social media platforms. Other staff are funded through summer grant programs and opportunities as they become available.

Faculty Associates form a key part of the Willowbank community. They are paid fees and disbursements standard to their profession. It should be noted that a number of Faculty Associates return all or part of these payments to Willowbank, as part of their commitment to training new generations of skilled practitioners and theorists in the field.

The work of Willowbank also depends on a large number of volunteers. These people are involved

Donna Scott OC (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) Past Chair, Canada Council

Robert Skerker BSc (Buffalo, NY) President, Jacobs Institute, Buffalo

Sandy Smallwood (Ottawa, ON) President, Andrex Holdings, Ottawa

Chris Wiebe MA (Ottawa, ON)Manager, Heritage Policy and Government Relations, National Trust for Canada

Member of Board Committees Nigel Molaro FRCGS – Alumnus ‘15 (Ottawa, ON)Heritage Consultant, Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects, Ottawa

Brad Nixon BA, MBA, LLB – Secretary (Toronto, ON) Senior Partner, Nixon Fleet & Poole LLP

Frank Racioppo B.COMM, MBA, LLB – Treasurer (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) Founding Partner, RZCD Law Firm LLP President, Queenston Quarry Reclamation Ltd.

Vikki Broer – Past President (Cleveland, OH)Burton D. Morgan Foundation

Stephen Bedford MCIP, RPP (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON)Urban Planner

Emily Bright BSc (Virgil, ON) Past National Home Economist, Sears Canada

George Dark FCSLA, FASLA (Toronto, ON) Senior Partner, Urban Strategies Inc.

Elaine Eigl – Alumna ‘10 (Mississauga, ON)Heritage Coordinator, City of Mississauga

Michael Howe MBA, CPA, CA (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) Retired Senior Partner, KPMG LLP

Patrick Little BA, LLB (St. Catharines, ON)Senior Partner, Heelis, Little & Almas, LLP

Judy MacLachlan BA, ORDER OF NIAGARA(Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) Retired Educator

Richard Moorhouse B.ARCH, BES, OAA (Toronto, ON)Past Executive Director, Ontario Heritage Trust

Elizabeth Oliver-Malone MD, FRCPC-(Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) Retired Anesthesiologist

Dry-stone wall construction on campus.


Salvaged cast iron gears for campus greenhouse.

FINANCIAL POSITION


Willowbank’s fundraising goals include paying down the mortgage on the recently-acquired lower campus, establishing a major fund for capital upgrades to the estate house and a num-ber of other buildings, and providing enhanced operational funding through contributions and naming opportunities to programs such as bursaries and fellowships.

In keeping with best practice, Willowbank un-dergoes an external audit each year. The follow-ing multi-year balance sheet reflects the current net asset position of the institution.

2014-15 was a successful year at Willowbank from a financial perspective. It recorded a surplus of over $300,000 through donations and through the sale of surplus land, which enabled it to retire some of its debt and to invest in its capital assets.

Willowbank is an independent not-for-profit organization that receives no ongoing opera-tional funding from government. It draws on tuition, private donations and grants for its revenue. Tuition for the Diploma Program was kept low in 2014-15, at $5,500 per year, to keep it affordable and to avoid the problem of young graduates with heavy debt loads. Despite its strong financial performance, the institution requires operational and capital funding to achieve full sustainability and to provide full access to some of the key historic buildings.

Willowbank is therefore very reliant on volun-teers and donors. It was created by volunteers, who established the initial lobby group to purchase the estate when the 1834 main estate house was threatened with demolition.

Tom and Mary Bright Urban, descendants of one of the families that once owned Willow-bank, provided the major gift that allowed the purchase of the estate. The family, including the children of Tom and Mary, and the family foun-dation, have continued to be the major benefac-tors of Willowbank. Their support has been a critical and welcome investment over the years of Willowbank’s growth from an initial idea to a functioning and internationally recognized institution.

Laura Dodson, who founded the School, was also a benefactor. An open-the-doors campaign provided initial capital funding, and many of these volunteers formed the first Willowbank Board of Directors.

OPERATIONS 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15

Revenue 265,727 492,695 597,899 999,913

Expenses 322,718 557,438 607,630 685,751

Net Income -56,991 -64,743 -9,731 314,162

BALANCE SHEET

Assets Current Assets 100,522 93,382 43,195 127,710 Property and Equipment 3,382,973 3,491,286 3,742,789 3,718,480

Total Assets 3,483,495 3,584,668 3,785,984 3,846,190

Liabilities

Current Liabilities 232,170 265,259 260,306 167,475

Long-term Debt 853,015 969,118 998,618 887,493

Total Liabilities 1,085,185 1,234,377 1,258,924 1,054,968 Capital Contributions 197,230 213,954 400,454 350,454

Net Assets 2,201,080 2,136,337 2,126,606 2,440,768

Liabilities and Net Assets 3,483,495 3,584,668 3,785,984 3,846.190

The Willowbank fiscal year ends on June 30.


View from the porch of the estate house.

ThanksWith special thanks to Jonathan Castellino, Faculty Associate, and to FACTORY 8: hardworking design of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

IllustrationsCover image: Class of 2017P.1 Hugo Bernand / P.4 Cosmo Condina / P.9 Maurizio Cesprini / P.10 Angela Garvey / P.16 Matthieu Boisvert / P.19 H.Otake / P.25 Nigel Molaro / P.26 Julian Smith / P.30 Richard Ivey / P.32 Courtesy of the Department of Canadian Heritage © All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, 2015. / P.33 Cosmo Condina / P.34 Courtesy of Frank Racioppo and the Queenston Limestone Company / P.37 Cosmo Condina / P.38 Angela Garvey / P.41 Cosmo Condina /Back cover Michael Molaro

All others by Jonathan Castellino.

Contains FSC® certified 100% post-consumer fibre.

Printed at Peninsula Press.

MADE BY FACTORY 8

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathancastellino/

http://www.factory8.ca

WILLOWBANK.CA

http://www.willowbank.ca

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