A day on Fogo Island

Fogo Island, the largest island on Newfoundland and Labrador’s vast coast is home to 11 communities - each with its own distinctive flare and allure.  The town of Tilting was first settled by the Irish bask in the 18th century and is now a National Historic Site of Canada.  Here you can wander through the tall, lush grasses and run your fingers over the red paint of old fishing rooms.  It’s an inspirational and historic place that has been restored and maintained to its original spendour.

My day today started and ended with a ferry ride - to and from Fogo Island.  Not much wildlife today, other than a few jelly fish seen on the ferry trip, but lots of stunning scenery.

Unsurprisingly, the town and the island attracts acclaimed artists from far and wide, particularly drawn to the region’s residency programs and the chance to work in incredible, modern studios built into Mother Nature’s architecture of sea and stone.  The artists’ residency initiative is part of the Shorefast Foundation’s ongoing project to revitalize and preserve Fogo Island’s cultural traditions through modern projects encompassing art, heritage, geo-tourism and entrepreneurship.  The foundation has already succeeded in putting Fogo Island on the international map - the cutting edge design of the studios has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian and World Architecture News.

 Long Studio is located in Joe Batt's Arm South.  It is a hundred foot long black box that measures eighteen feet wide.  The twelve hundred square foot studio is the largest of the Fogo Island Arts Studios.  Its western glass facade frames panoramic views of the North Atlantic Ocean that periodically includes icebergs that originate from the glaciers of Greenland.

 The Squish Studio is located near an historic Irish cemetery just outside the historic town of Tilting on the eastern end of Fogo Island.  As you descend towards the steep and rocky coastline, the streamlined form of the Squish Studio becomes apparent with its high back and low (squished) front designed, in part, to deflect the North Atlantic winds.

 Perched on the rocky shoreline of Shoal Bay, Tower Studio can be reached by walking on a narrow wooden boardwalk that hovers just slightly above a bog that feature an abundance of cloudberries, known locally as bakeapples.  The boardwalk, a mere twelve inches wide, provided an even track for wheel barrows to bring building supplies to the construction site without disturbing the delicate eco-system of the Newfoundland bog and lichens that grow on outcroppings of rock.

And as today proved, it can sometimes be a good things to wander around and look a bit inquisitive (or perhaps I was ‘lost’ looking?).  I thought you might to see what the view from the bridge of the ferry to Fogo Island looked like - and it even had a new captain for a few minutes of the trip!