Pictou Island Portage was an artist residency/performance/project I organized as part of my ongoing "New Canadian Pilgrimages" project (2007-). With support from the Canada Council for the Arts and Arts Nova Scotia, I invited a group of artists to make make new performative works while also making daily walks (back and forth) on Pictou Island. Participating artists included: Aimée Henny Brown, Ursula Johnson, Barbara Lounder, Douglas Smarch Jr., Michael Waterman, Sheila ReStack, Sig Burwash (field artist), Katherine Knight (photographer), Lindsay Dobbin (drummer) Liz Johnson (intern) and Mary MacDonald (writer).

Excerpts from an essay written by Mary MacDonald are included in the pages following. For a copy of the full essay, please contact to request.