The following dates are integral for the level of investment flowing through Calgary Arts Development's restructured granting programs and the next steps in our long term strategy to add to Calgary's inventory of art spaces.  In keeping with our commitment to transparency and community engagement, we are taking this opportunity to inform the community of important steps in the decision making process surrounding municipal support for the arts.  read more »

On behalf of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, Calgary Arts Development would like to invite you to meet the CCA Director General and participate in a forum discussion on Tuesday, November 4th. Please RSVP by Monday, November 3rd (details below).

With the arrival of a new federal government in power, this is an opportune time for the arts and cultural stakeholders to gather and consult on the short-term and long-term strategies, so that the interests of the arts and cultural communities figure within the public discourse and on the political agenda. During this fall, the CCA will be on tour to meet with artists and cultural workers across Canada. We invite you to meet the CCA Director General, and to express your perspective on the three following questions:

* Within the arts and culture milieu: how can we improve collaboration in the pursuit of common objectives?

* What should our 3 to 5 priorities be for the next coming two years?

* What are the best strategies to promote these priorities?

Date: November 4th, 2008
Time: 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm
Location: Morris Shumiatcher Activity Room Located on the 3rd floor of Glenbow Museum (130 — 9 Avenue SE, Calgary)

We look forward to hearing your opinions! The regional forums are free and open to all; however we are requesting that you confirm your attendance before Monday November 3rd with Annie Caporicci annie.caporicci@ccarts.ca, 613-238-3561 extension 10. ccarts.ca

The CCA would like to thank the host of this forum:

   read more »

15 arts spaces projects will be recommended to Calgary City Council as strong opportunities for the future of Calgary later this fall as a result of a comprehensive arts spaces strategy being led by Calgary Arts Development in partnership with The City of Calgary.

In 2007, Calgary Arts Development completed research on the current state of cultural space for the arts in Calgary, including the construction of a cultural space inventory and extensive engagement with over 350 citizens and 125 arts organizations, as well as benchmarking across North America and the collection and analysis of international case studies. The conclusion of this research identified Signature Flagship Projects, Arts Incubators, and Community Arts Facilities as top priorities. A comprehensive strategy was developed to meet these key needs, including the Arts Spaces Investment Process (ASIP), an open and transparent process to recommend cultural space projects for municipal investment through the City of Calgary's Culture, Parks & Recreation Infrastructure Investment Plan (CPRIIP).  read more »

NOTE: These projects are RECOMMENDATIONS ONLY. Funding for the recommended projects will be determined at a later date by the City of Calgary's through their CPRIIP process.

Important Information on Calgary Arts Development's New Operating Grant Programs and 3-year Strategy Plan Including Budgets for 2009-11.

Please join Calgary Arts Development for an important community information session on our new Community Investment Operating Grant Programs. As well, this session will provide details on Calgary Arts Development's 3-year strategy including The City of Calgary's 2009-11 budget process. There are two sessions to choose from:

The economic impact study for the 2008 Juno Awards, which was hosted in Calgary from April 3-6, 2008, is now available and underlines the city's overall success as host for Canada's top music awards celebration. The Juno Awards had a significant economic impact on Calgary's metropolitan area and the rest of Alberta, generating significant increase in the local and provincial GDP, increased employment and increased tax revenues for all three levels of government.

Highlights from the study, which was conducted by Leger Marketing, include:  read more »

Many thanks to everyone who submitted nominations and applications to participate as grants assessors for Calgary Arts Development's Community Investment Program. We were overwhelmed by the positive response as we received applications and nominations of more than 230 qualified people. We have gone through an initial process of shortlisting candidates towards filling approximately 35 assessor positions in our 2009 granting cycle. We considered peers with a breadth of experience and whenever possible multi-disciplinary expertise. For community members, we considered exposure and depth of knowledge of Calgary and the sector. We have also tried to balance diverse experience and broadly cover artistic disciplines. While we have many more interested applicants than we will need for this year, we are beginning to build a long term roster of possible assessors. We will accept suggestions of names for this roster year round and place high value on the community nominating peers and community members for this opportunity.

Instructions regarding our next steps have been sent to all applicants via e-mail. If you have not received any communications, please let us know by e-mailing volunteer@calgaryartsdevelopment.com or by calling the Calgary Arts Development office at (403) 264-5330. We look forward to growing a community-owned process for arts investments this year and well into the future.  read more »

Calgary Arts Development is pleased to welcome a new staff member to the team! Lauren Simms, a recent graduate of the University of Calgary's Department of Fine Arts and a practicing visual artist, has joined Calgary Arts Development as our new Program and Office Assistant. Lauren will play an important role in helping us serve arts organizations and artists through our Community Investment programs. She will also support our internal operations through general office administration.

“Lauren is already actively involved in the community as an artist and audience member, and we know she will make a great contribution to our team and to the artists and arts organizations we serve,” said Terry Rock, President & CEO of Calgary Arts Development. “She's been in the office for only a few days and is already doing a great job.”  read more »

Thank you to everyone who participated in the ArtsMart newsletter survey. We gained some valuable feedback and would like to share it with you! The results will be useful in planning ArtsMart into your marketing strategy this year. Click here to access the report.

If you're not using ArtsMart to promote your events, please use our online submission form to add your events and benefit from this free service owned and operated by the team at Calgary Arts Development. Your events may also be listed on the ArtsMart e-newsletter delivered weekly to over 6000 members' inboxes. ArtsMart is your guide to Calgary arts and entertainment events and a resource for our city's community of artists and presenters.  read more »

If you want to buy tickets now, go to CalgaryBluesFest.com.  read more »

You'll find Calgary's music venues and festival spaces jam-packed with regional, Canadian and international artists delivering fresh sounds all summer long.

There are great festivals happening in Calgary every weekend throughout July and August - be part of it! If you haven't already planned your summer festival itinerary, visit MusicLivesHere.ca or download the handy pocket guide below to browse through a full listing of Calgary festivals and enter to win one of three great festival prize packages.