Fogo Island and Change Islands
Fogo Island and Change Islands lie off the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland, Canada. They are what's called outport communities. If you’re in Newfoundland, this is how you’ll hear the small coastal settlements referred to. They’re not towns, or hamlets or villages; they are, in the unique language that has developed in this place over the centuries, outports.  Some 2400 people live on Fogo Island and 250 people live on Change Islands. CommunitiesFogo Island is home to 11 communities – each with its own distinctive flare and allure.
Understand It is not surprising that the Flat Earth Society considers Fogo Island one of the four corners of a flat earth.
Fogo Island and Change Islands were among the earliest settlements in Canada. They are populated by a people descended from immigrants from the west country of England and Ireland. They have always sustained themselves from the resources of the sea and have developed a vibrant culture based on deeply rooted connections to place and community. Located in the Labrador Current, the Northeast Coast of Newfoundland is the only place in the world where people live in moving ice – as the Arctic pack ice and icebergs are brought to their shores by the south flowing current. To live here is to have an indomitable spirit, a deep understanding of the full community of life, of the give and take of living with the sea and no small sense of humour. People settled on Fogo Island and Change Islands, like most of Newfoundland, to fish for cod. Cod has sustained people in this place for centuries. In 1992, the government imposed a moratorium and the cod fishery was closed. The upheaval throughout rural Newfoundland was devastating with hundreds of small rural communities – outports – losing their livelihoods almost overnight.  It is a sad reality that many fishing communities are ‘too far gone’ to save. This is not the case with Fogo Island and Change Islands. While the islands suffer from high unemployment, the out-migration of youth and the lack of many of the social and health facilities that most Canadians take for granted, there is no poverty of aspirations. Far from it. Contemporary ArtFogo Island and Change Islands are known for world-class, cultural programming that attracts people from around the world. Fogo Island Arts [1] hosts internationally recognized artists and researchers working in a wide range of disciplines, including visual art, new media, design, fine craft, music, writing and film. It also brings artists and local community members together for workshops, seminars, exhibitions and other events. Arts Corporation activities have two intertwined strands – an international Residency Program and a Production Program. All activities focus on locally rooted and site-responsive themes inspired by Fogo Island’s and Change Islands’ unique geography and people, while reaching out to the international art scene at the same time. ArchitectureContemporary Architecture Fogo Island is a place of stunning beauty and the setting for an exciting sociological and economic experiment in which architecture, as a vital component within the fabrication of culture and the identity of a place, plays a central role. Six remote sites scattered across Fogo Island were chosen to host a portion of the art centre’s programs. The six studios for artists and writers in residence range in size from two hundred square feet to twelve hundred square feet (twenty to two hundred square meters). The siting of the studios on a series of locations around Fogo Island, allows the artists to live within the various communities and interact, on a daily basis, with the local residents. In all six studios, the intent was to sample and allude to local construction techniques: the spruce wood shell that cites the clapboard of the “outports”, or local fishermen’s houses; the stilt construction of Newfoundland’s waterfront fishing sheds; the proportions of the volumes and skewed frames, particularly in the case of the smaller studios. All six studios are one hundred per cent off the grid with no connection to public services. Long Studio  Located near the community of Joe Batt's Arm, the Long Studio is an elongated and slightly distorted box that measures just over one hundred feet in length and about eighteen feet in width. Although this solitary, off-the grid building is firmly grounded by a concrete foundation at its western end, the twelve hundred square foot studio gradually takes flight, as it begins to hover on a series of stilts that lifts the structure above the ground to frame a view of the North Atlantic Ocean that periodically includes icebergs that originate from the glaciers of Greenland. The project's robust architectural character certainly resonates with the sensibility of this place. It has a duel character as a viewing device that frames the landscape, the sea or a cloud overhead, as well as, an introverted place of repose for the artistic soul – a well-insulated industrial object designed to weather any storm. Saunders has carefully choreographed a sequence of events that responds to the seasons, given the studios will be used spring, summer and fall. It begins with a covered exterior entry area that provides a degree of shelter from the rain and wind. This entry zone then mutates into an exposed exterior patio, a notch in an otherwise uninterrupted black box, that faces south to capture the sun. The last zone is a fully enclosed, insulated workspace, designed to filter light and direct views. Upon entering the studio's interior, one is immediately struck by the drama of an elongated space that is further delineated by the horizontal lines of the white pine planks and flat countertops of the kitchenette and work area. A large triangular skylight, screened by the exposed timber framing below it, provides ample top lighting that reduces the need for extensive electrical lighting (and larger arrays of photovoltaic panels) and provides full color rendition for the work produced by the visiting artists and designers. The Long Studio terminates with a large glass window that hovers above the horizon – a lookout to watch the weather move throughout the day and season. As a hollow structure, that filters its environment, one can imagine, in the dead of night, the whistling of the high winds that ride the North Atlantic, or the slight taste of the salt, as the studio's operable windows are opened and the space is vented with the ocean breeze on a warm afternoon in July. Squish Studio Get inThe closest airport for visiting Fogo Island and Change Islands is Gander International Airport in Newfoundland and Labrador. From Gander, you must get to the community of Farewell on Route 235, the Road to the Isles scenic driving route. There is a ferry service that takes approximately 25 minutes from Farewell to Change Islands, and 50 minutes from from Farewell to Fogo Island. The Fogo Island ferry schedule can be found on the Newfoundland and Labrador government website by following this link.[2] Get aroundSeeFogo Island and Change Islands offer the opportunity to see stunning natural wildlife and scenery. It is a regular occurrence to spot humpback whales, caribou herds, soaring seabirds, and towering icebergs. Do
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