I have been making mixed media drawing and paintings of canoes and canoe-like shapes for many years.  In, ‘It takes a Village…”, I wanted to continue working with this imagery, but change my medium and format; using textiles and actual Canoes..  Still wishing to work collaboratively, I reached out to the Peterborough Canoe Museum and found a co-creative instigator in the museum’s Karen Taylor.  She was open, excited by and receptive to the earlier work I had done in the school system (the work on the ‘I, Canada’ exhibit, ‘Nest’ and Patchwork People) and she wanted to put ‘It Takes a Village’ into action.  Within a few months of our initial meeting, I was on my way to Peterborough to host an artist run active installation that was open to museum goers.  I was stationed in the front area of the museum with all my fabric, yarn, thread and needle paraphernalia and a museum-provided canoe ready to be decorated and adorned with patchwork creations from museum patrons and staff.  With this participatory approach, viewers became an empowered presence in the creation of the art on display.