read more »

Congratulations on the recently announced recipients of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Awards! Calgary artists are Robin Arseneault (installation artist), Christine Cheung (painter), Anne Koizumi (film director and animator), Simon Mallett (theatre director) and Chad Van Gaalen (musician and multi-media artist). The Lieutnenant Governor and all Albertans should be thrilled with this investment.  

After hopping art galleries for Art Walk and the East Side Studio Crawl (an extension of Art Walk in Inglewood/Ramsay) on Saturday, I was back at the Calgary International Film Festival on Sunday. The Joe Media / NFB Best of Alberta Shorts Awards package screened at the Uptown Stage and Screen at 6:30pm. I got the very last ticket to the sold out show. (Don't tell the guy who was behind me.) Ten short films from across Alberta were screened (...ahem, mostly Calgary). The quality of the work over all was very strong and only the tip of the iceberg in the independant film scene in Alberta.The atmosphere in the theatre was of a congenial nature both on and off the screen. On screen, were numerous actors I have seen in the last year in both the community and professional theatre world of Calgary, such as personal favourite, Grant Reddick, in the film, Promise (2008), by David and Kirsten Bolton.   read more »

Calgary Arts Development has just posted granting deadlines from other major arts funding programs accessible to Calgary artists and art organizations. They are listed on our events calendar. (Upcoming events are posted on our home page as well.)

We can't guarantee the info will stay current, but we'll do our best to keep it up to date. Absolutely, check with the funding bodies themselves for any details about their programs. We're happy to post other deadlines, so please let us know if you have other suggestions.

Information about Calgary Arts Development's 2009 Community Investment Programs will be available in late September. We look forward to working with the community in this exciting new program.  read more »

Another quick note from South America: I found a culture house in Buenos Aires, care of Lonely Planet and confirmed by a hip, young porteña (local woman) walking her dog. It´s called El Catedral. If you were every lucky enough to go to The Night Gallery in Calgary, then you´d love this place. It’s located in a warehouse just outside of the centre of Buenos Aires. It’s cavernous filled with art and eclectic furniture with gigantic chandeliers with red lights, vegetarian food, and a big dance floor. We drank the local beer, Quilmes, and watched stylish, young couples do a sensuous tango lesson. It was mesmerizing… Check out the photos on this website. I hope the link works!  read more »

Writing on location from Curico, Chile. It´s a small city two hours south of the capital, Santiago. Curico is not unlike the Okanagan, surrounded by vineyards and orchards. (The wine is cheap and delicious… and so is the fruit.) It´s spring here: the sun is shining and I´ve slathered sunscreen all over my fair skin. I´m staying with a visual artist whom I met several years ago when studying art in Spain. She has regular exhibitions and teaches art and yoga by day (not at the same time). I´m here on vacation but our work at Calgary Arts Development never escapes me. There´s nothing like a trip to South America to offer some perspective on development in general…  read more »

I left the comfortable environment of the Kensington Pub, last night, to go to my first (ever) Hip Hop dance class at SAIT. Stepping into the mirrored studio, I suddenly wished I hadn't declined the pint at the pub beforehand. Surrounded by fearless, young students (many with dance experience, by the way), I spent an hour blushing compulsively, tripping over myself, and laughing my way through the body waves. It was a humbling experience. I see the need to practice in my living room or in a local dance club near you. So watch out, Calgary!

Speaking of hip hop, did you know that one of the two actors in the last (fantastic) show at The Grand, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, is also a Belgian rap star? Check this out! His name is Pitcho Womba Konga and he has a website and a MySpace. When I was testing out my Hip Hop moves at Broken City last weekend, the DJ played one of his songs, which I thought was pretty darn cool.  read more »

Calgary Arts Development's recent research on arts spaces showed a strong and increasing demand for rehearsal spaces for the performing arts.

Since the release of that research, there has been increased public awareness of the "arts space crunch." As a result, Calgary Arts Development receives inquiries and offers of potential spaces that may be appropriate as short and long term solutions for the arts. We have been made aware of a potential rehearsal space in a prime downtown location. You can help us by answering a couple of questions and we’d be happy to keep you in the loop about the space, if it develops.

This survey is designed to give us a snapshot of the current state of demand for rehearsal spaces only. We intend to conduct these kinds of surveys on a number of important issues on a regular basis. Your participation will help us provide good advice to those that wish to get involved.

By the way, your best estimates will suffice, please don't take more than 5 minutes to do this survey!

The survey can be found here.

Please complete by Monday, September 10, 2007 so we can compile the results.
Thank you!  read more »

I usually make a yearly trip to my childhood home of Summerside, PEI, taking in as much arts and culture as I can manage between beach trips and card games. This trip, ending last week, reminded me again of what a small art town Canada is...  read more »