Category Archives: Community

Business, Community

First Days At The Nook; Final Touches

A lot has happened in the five months since Tommaso Biasiolo became the Outreach and Admin Coordinator for ‘the Nook’ in Cortes Island’s Village Commons. The Grand Opening was on June 27, 2025, but there are still small projects to complete. Two special small rooms need to soundproofed; the Nook’s kitchen has not been installed. The original vision was to create a space where nonprofits can work and hold their meetings, but these spaces are now available for individuals as well.

Continue reading First Days At The Nook; Final Touches →
Community

Folk U: What’s Happening on Cortes This Summer

On June 13, host Manda Aufochs-Gillespie was joined by community leaders and organizers, Duane Hanson, Mark Vonesch, Jemma Hicken, Sadhu Johnston, Cora Moret, and Immanuel McKenty, to chat about summer 2025. There’s a lot happening on our small island! Tune in for community updates, developments, programming, and more!

Continue reading Folk U: What’s Happening on Cortes This Summer →
Arts, Community

At The Museum: ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbour’ Exhibit Explores Community Life In Cortes Island

What does it mean to be a neighbour on Cortes Island? This  question is at the heart of the new Cortes Island Museum exhibition ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbour?’ curated by Melanie Boyle, Managing Director of the museum and Monica Hoffman. Opening Sunday May 4th the exhibit invites visitors on a visual and narrative journey through both the historical and contemporary communities that shaped life on the island.

“The  idea of focusing on neighbourhoods came from the prior exhibition, ‘From the Ground Up,” explained Hoffman.

Boyle added, “We did touch on how people work together to build structures, in terms of collaboration.  It was also about repurposing material and sharing of resources and, in a way, this is also what this new exhibition is about. Collective land arrangements are a way for people to live affordably on Cortes, to share  the land, but also to share the material, resources and work collaboratively. So there’s a lot of overlap.” 

Continue reading At The Museum: ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbour’ Exhibit Explores Community Life In Cortes Island →
Community, Development

New Pavilion & More Taking Shape in Manson’s Landing

A sense of momentum is building—quite literally—in Manson’s Landing, where work is underway on a new pavilion designed to bring community members together for music, events, and gatherings. This is the latest in a series of structures erected in the Village Commons. The pavilion’s frame was raised on Friday, April 11, 2025

“ We hope to have all the details done by the end of May. It’ll be in service this summer,” explained Richard Andrews, Project Manager of the Village Commons. 

Continue reading New Pavilion & More Taking Shape in Manson’s Landing →
Animals, Community

The Quadra Project – The Mouse Experiment

On July 9, 1968, John Calhoun began his mouse experiment called Universe 25. He designed the perfect mouse habitat of 16 buildings each divided into 16 apartments with their own feeding stations. A plentiful supply of food and water was always available. No predators or diseases. The ideal temperature and humidity. Two male and two female mice were placed in Universe 25 on that July day. Calhoun and his team then watched what happened over a nearly four year period (New Scientist, Dec. 14, 2024). 

Continue reading The Quadra Project – The Mouse Experiment →