See some of his recent works at the Yorkville Public Library, 22 Yorkville Ave (416) 393-7660

February 2-29, 2008,

Mon., Wed., Friday: 10am to 6pm

Tues. & Thurs.: 10am to 8:30pm

Saturday: 9am to 5pm

Opening Reception: Meet the Artist: Saturday February 2, 2 to 4pm

Gilles Arseneault hails from Acadia, born near Dalhousie New Brunswick in May 1955. After spending 3 years at U. of Moncton, he came to Toronto in the 80s to work as a carpenter. An enthusiastic labour and environmental activist, Gilles founded the first Environment Committee in the Canadian building trades—at Carpenters local 27 in 1991. With two friends, he founded Green City Construction and was lead carpenter on the CMHC Healthy House, 1995-96. At Green City, Gilles was particularly concerned with waste management, and was an advocate of deconstruction & reuse, rather than demolition. He served on the Waste Caucus of the Ontario Environment Network. Gilles’ artistic activities began as a student, but throughout the nineties he began to commit ever more time to his creative side. His works included some amazing sculptures, made from construction site waste—shaped, glued, screwed and brightly painted. His artistic and social concerns merged in his work with the Mayworks festival of labour arts, for which he served as a board member in 1995-96. In 1997, a near-fatal fall resulted in a serious brain injury and a coma of several months duration. Gilles has made a partial recovery and has renewed his focus on painting, using his one good hand. One of his sculptures received an honorable mention award at the prestigious Broken Fence Society juried environmental art competition in 1999; and his paintings and sculptures were featured at a Mayworks festival showing in 1998. Gilles has displayed his art at the Distillery District art show in 2004, at Nathan Phillips Square, and had one of his works included in the Brain Injury Association calendar for 2006. He has been a client of the Community Head Injury Resource Services of Toronto for over six years, and now resides at the Shaw St. residence of the Bellwoods Centre for Community Living in Toronto. Gilles is also a member of the Coalition for a Green Economy.

The following pictures are a few samples of Gilles’ work, old and new, including a couple of his pre-accident sculptures. The exhibit will feature some of these, but mainly different paintings.

To purchase a work of art or to answer any questions regarding the exhibit,

please contact Joanne Schwartz at (416) 656-5449.

For other information about Gilles & his work:

contact Jacques Arseneault at (416) 539-9039

A Few Favourite Links

Mayworks festival of working people and the arts Broken Fence Society (eco-art) Bellwoods Centre for Community Living Community Head Injury Resource Services (CHIRS) Breathe by Association / Liefhebber Architects Manufactured Landscapes Apollo Alliance Green Homebuilding Halsall engineers/consultants (Doug Webber) Ocean Arks International  (John Todd) Grassroots Recycling Network WindShare / Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative Energy Action Council of Toronto  (EnerACT) Community Bicycle Network Great Lakes United Grassroots Environmental Products Green$aver Used Building Materials Assn.

Gilles’ former construction company now operated by Peter Shepherd, (416) 535-6707

1992

Deconstruction Institute Waste to Wealth: EPR Michael Moore Ontario Environment Network Labour Council of Toronto Carpenters Union CAW Durham Regional Environment Council Worldwatch Institute Blue Vinyl:  My House is Your House Rev. Billy & the Church of Stop Shopping Seppo Leinonen’s amazing EnvironMental Cartoon Gallery Coffee and Cigarettes Blade Zone

Other Info and Resources:

· A. Whitney Brown, “I Support Our Troops!”, YouTube

· Wendy Priesnitz, “Living Off-Grid in the City”, Natural Life Magazine #56; feature on the CMHC Healthy House in Toronto

· Van Jones on a Green Pathway out of Poverty, YouTube

· Green Possibilities for Dalhousie New Brunswick (Gilles’ home town), YouTube

· David Boyd, “Look Who’s Driving the Green Agenda”, Globe & Mail, September 24, 2003; article on labour’s role in advocating Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

· Michael Renner, “Creating Jobs, Preserving the Environment”, Chapter 9 of the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2000.

· The Worldwatch Institute’s Good Stuff Guide: a product directory

Special thanks go to Joanne Schwartz (of Toronto Public Library), Pete Broadley (of CHIRS), Debbie Wright (of Bellwoods), and Jacques Arseneault in helping Gilles get his work to the public.

For general information on Gilles’ work, contact Joanne Schwartz at (416) 656-5449 and Brian Milani at (416) 968-1282

For art purchases, contact Jacques Arseneault at (416) 539-9039