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Nowadays, the congregation of St. Mungo's consists of a small, loyal group of caretakers and patrons who  succeeded in raising enough funds to supplement government grants and restore the exterior of the building, before moving on to the interior, which despite its age is remarkably intact.
       A gallery runs round three sides and the pews and pulpit are original. In its day, the church could easily accommodate three hundred people. Now, it is only opened two or three times a year for special services.
      Late in the 18th century, tracts of land in Chatham township were granted to veterans of the first battalion of the 84th Regiment of Foot, also known as the Royal Highland Emigrants, who fought in the American Revolution (1775-1783) and Seven Years War (1756-1763). Archibald McMillan, whose house still stands in Grenville village, brought some 450 Highlanders from Locharkaig, Scotland, to settle along the river in 1802.
      Built by the stonemasons who worked on the Ottawa River canals, St. Mungo's played an important role in uniting the vibrant Scottish pioneer community who helped develop western Québec in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. McMillan himself remarked that he had never heard more Gaelic spoken than he did along the Ottawa River Valley.

POLAROID TRANSFER PRINTS  

Polaroid image transfers are created by migrating the dyes in the emulsion of a peel apart print to a receptor surface such as watercolour paper. The resulting one-of-a-kind image looks like a combination of photography and painting.

Capturing the moment is the photographer’s interest, but mainstream photography has usually focussed on the subject and its treatment. Film isn’t the most tactile or flexible medium. Processing requires planning and the results depend largely on a rather distant manipulation of the elements, literally fumbling around in the dark with tongs and hypersensitive chemicals.
   With the emergence of digital photography, the potential for image altering and editing becomes infinite. In some ways, this plethora of options could be interpreted as freedom from the limitations imposed by more archaic methods, but it also adds such complexity that a single vision becomes difficult to achieve. Push against this medium and it doesn’t push back – it adapts and expands. Only the artist can decide which moment out of a million is worth preserving.

CYANOTYPE PRINTS

In her work, photographer Jane Linders revisits the relationship between subject, medium, and process. The cyanotype of the Brooklyn Bridge below is printed on a page torn from a 1939 Sheet Metal Handbook. Cyanotype prints are a crude photographic process during which an absorbent surface is soaked in a solution of water, potassium ferricyanide, and ferric ammonium citrate to render it photosensitive. Objects or negatives are placed on this surface and exposed to light (traditionally sunlight) and then the material is rinsed with water. The result is a white print on a blue background. The process was widely used for copying architectural plans, the origin of the term blue print, and adds an additional layer of interest to Linders' series of architecturally themed images.

For the renewal of the New York High Line, an international design competition was launched in 2003, leading to an exhibition of 720 proposals at Grand Central Terminal. The services of landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro were retained for the construction, along with specialists in engineering, horticulture, security, maintenance, and public art. Groundbreaking took place in April 2006 with the lifting of the first rail. Over the next 8 years, work was pursued on the various sections of the park:

        1. Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street
        2. West 20th Street to West 30th Street
        3. Rail Yards

The variety of native plant species integrated into the park’s landscape was inspired by the range that grew up naturally in the urban wilderness created by 25 years of abandonment. Hardy and sustainable, these trees, shrubs, perennials, and grasses produce texture and colour variation, as well as diversity in bloom times over a long season (late January to mid-November).

From its humble beginnings as a wood planing mill in 1861, the Western Electric site evolved into an elaborate complex that housed the research laboratories of Bell Telephone for over 75 years. A world centre for sound communication innovation, the labs produced new types of switchboards, telephone cables, transistors, and the first electronic amplifiers. Harold D. Arnold's invention, the high vacuum tube, solved a major technological problem in 1914 by making transcontinental telephone service possible.

The early 20th century West Side Improvement Project involved incredible vision and collaboration and left an indelible mark on the New York cityscape (if only as evidenced by the many dramatic films featuring the overhead track as a backdrop). However, the longevity of the ‘lifeline’ was far from assured. Full operation began in 1934 on the heels of the Great Depression, which saw rail freight shipments drop by 50 per cent. It had taken 40 years to conclude the agreement that led to the construction of the High Line; its popularity and usefulness lasted about as long. Once truck shipping muscled its way back into the economy, rail traffic dwindled to about two carloads per week.
     The final blow came in the form of a one-year interruption in service in 1980 due to the construction of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. In the decades that followed, bids for renewal battled demolition schemes with little hope of resolution. It seemed that the elegant but rusting structure’s death would be as drawn out and agonizing as its birth.
     Finally, in 1999, two West Side residents formed an organization called Friends of the High Line that began seriously advocating for preservation and restoration in the form of a public park. Architect Casey Jones was granted a fellowship to conduct a research and planning study, followed by the first sign of City Council support in 2002. The idea became more viable when it was projected that tax revenues created by the reuse of the space could realistically cover the cost of construction.

The complex was converted (1967-1970) under the direction of architect Richard Meier into a housing, studio, and theatre centre. This was the first subsidized housing complex for artists in the United States and one of the first major adaptations of an industrial building for reuse.

NEW YORK, USA

For the renewal of the New York High Line, an international design competition was launched in 2003, leading to an exhibition of 720 proposals at Grand Central Terminal. The services of landscape architects James Corner Field Operations and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro were retained for the construction, along with specialists in engineering, horticulture, security, maintenance, and public art. Groundbreaking took place in April 2006 with the lifting of the first rail. Over the next 8 years, work was pursued on the various sections of the park. Along with the practical work of cleaning, preparing, and securing each part of the structure during construction, the High Line has become a model for the productive dialogue that can occur between landscape, history, art, architecture, and design in an urban neighbourhood – not just at the completion of a project, but throughout the entire process.

The West Side line of the New York Central Railroad was long known as the lifeline of New York since much of the city depended on the transportation of milk, poultry, meat, and other express merchandise along this, the only all-rail freight line on Manhattan Island. The street-level tracks authorized in 1847 were, however, a terrible liability. Over the next 80 years, so many accidents occurred that men known as the West Side Cowboys rode on horseback ahead of the trains, waving red flags. Ironically, essential parts of the ‘lifeline’ became deadly: 10th Avenue, for instance, was nicknamed ‘Death Avenue’.
       In 1929, the city, the railroad company, and the State of New York agreed to a plan that would ultimately cost over $150 million dollars, the equivalent of approximately 2 billion today. The West Side Improvement Project, incorporating the High Line, an elevated structure with at least 14-foot clearance, eliminated 105 ground-level railroad crossings. The 13-mile-long line, running from 34th Street to the newly constructed St. John’s Park Freight Terminal, connected directly to factories and warehouses built specifically for sidetrack service, allowing trains to roll right into them.
     At the time of the terminal’s dedication on June 28th, 1934, the project represented one of the greatest endeavours ever undertaken by joint public and private interests in Manhattan. Just to secure the right of way through the industrial district involved about 350 separate deals across 60 city blocks. In addition to improving street safety and avoiding trucking costs for businesses located along the West Side line, the project added 32 acres to Riverside Park with the coverage of the railway north of 72nd Street.

Much of St. Ives reputation is derived from its status as a haven for artists. The coast is imbued with a special golden light much of the time, readily captured in paintings or photographs. The town is poetry incarnate, with its steep streets, colourful personalities, and stranded boats in the harbour at low tide.
     On a striking site overlooking Porthmeor Beach, the Tate St. Ives museum opened in 1993 with the mandate to promote the legacy of the St. Ives Modernists who worked here during the mid 20th century. The international exhibition program sponsors three shows a year of Modern and Contemporary Art. In 2014, a major project began to refurbish and extend the gallery.
     On days when the fog rolls in and the beach is more suited to walking than sunbathing, there is much to discover among the narrow streets of St. Ives. It is known for its curiosity, craft, and gift shops. Children will adore this aspect of a town that seems to have been intentionally scaled to them and their imaginations, a fairy tale come to life.
   For all its prettiness, however, it cannot be separated from the shadow of Pendennis, an austere headland that marks the watery graves of many a wayward ship. St. Ives served as a fishing and shipping centre for much of its history. During World War II, it attracted intellectuals (St. Ives School of Painting) and hosted military troops, such as the Commando Mountain Training Centre, originally based in the Cairngorms, Scotland.

CORNWALL, ENGLAND