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NEWS RELEASE 

 For immediate release
 June 28, 2010 

Calgary revealed as 2012 host city for the Magnetic North Theatre Festival 

CALGARY – Calgary will host the 10th edition of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Canada’s National Festival of Contemporary Canadian Theatre in English, in June 2012. 

Canada’s National Festival of Contemporary Canadian Theatre in English, the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, moves around the country like the magnetic north pole itself, treating Canadians to excellence in English theatre from across Canada. Produced by the Canadian Theatre Festival Society and co-presented by the National Arts Centre English Theatre, the festival moves its operations to a new host city every other year. 

“Theatre, both amateur and professional, has a venerable history in Alberta and Alberta’s playwrights and performers have produced some stunning works on local, national and international stages,” said Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. “Albertans are thrilled to be a part of this theatrical tradition and the Government of Alberta is proud to support this festival in the amount of $350,000 dollars over two years.” 

This is the second time that Alberta will host Magnetic North. Artistic Director Ken Cameron notes “Edmonton was the first city to host this unique experience in 2004, and that gesture set the bar for all subsequent host cities. Moving an arts festival from one province to another every two years is an enormous undertaking, and it would not have been possible without Alberta showing it could be done. So it is only fitting that the province should host our 10th anniversary”. Cameron has lived in Calgary since 1992 and continues to live in the city while working for the festival and commuting to Ottawa. 

Launched in Ottawa in 2003, Magnetic North has been hosted by Edmonton, St. John’s, Vancouver and Kitchener-Waterloo, returning to Ottawa as its “base” at the National Arts Centre every other year. During this time, it has presented more than 80 professional presentations and created a national position for itself. It has been referred to by critics and artists alike as “the closest Canada has come to a truly national theatre institution” (Ottawa Citizen). 

Magnetic North Theatre Festival presents ten plays on its main stage drawn from the work of theatre companies across the country. Taken together the plays offer a showcase of contemporary theatre practice and a sample of artists working from coast to coast. The announcement was made on the closing day of the Festival’s Industry Series to an international crowd of theatre producers, presenters and artists, some of whom had come as far afield as Lebanon, Australia and China to take the temperature of Canadian theatre. Central to the festival, the Industry Series is a theatre conference that gathers artists, presenters, producers, agents, programmers and general managers from across Canada and around the world to participate in professional development and discover what projects will be the hits of the next season. 

“We are thrilled with the support that we have already received from the Province of Alberta, the local theatre community, our host venues and members of the Calgary community” says Ann Connors, Managing Director of Magnetic North. “This kind of support two years in advance of the Festival is vital to the success of the host year and allows us to better plan a Festival that will really speak to the host community. The impact that Magnetic North leaves in the host region, both financial and artistic, is something that this Festival is extremely proud of. We are excited to work together with the city of Calgary to ensure that the festival’s impact is felt for a long time”. 

"2012 marks a pivotal year in Calgary’s cultural history with the centennial anniversaries of some of the city’s cultural cornerstones including the Calgary Stampede, City of Calgary Recreation, and the Calgary Public Library," says Terry Rock, President and CEO, Calgary Arts Development. "The Magnetic North Theatre Festival will be part of this exciting year of celebration and is an additional reason why Calgary is in the running to be designated the 2012 Cultural Capital of Canada." 

For more information about the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, visit www.magneticnorthfestival.ca. 

For photos and interviews please contact:
Ann Connors
Managing Director, Magnetic North Theatre Festival
Email: ann@magneticnorthfestival.ca
Phone: 1.866.850.2787 ext. 718
Cell: 613.853.2370 

About the Magnetic North Theatre Festival 

The Magnetic North Theatre Festival is Canada’s National Festival of Contemporary Canadian Theatre in English. Hosted in Ottawa on June 4-11, 2011 and in Calgary in June, 2012, the festival presents a showcase of ten plays from across the country. The festival provides a snapshot of the state of contemporary Canadian theatre in Canada and serves as a national gathering place for Canada's theatre community. For more information about the Magnetic North Theatre Festival, visit www.magneticnorthfestival.ca.

(Calgary, AB) – Calgary Arts Development is pleased to announce that Reid Henry has been hired as Director of Art Space Initiatives. Beginning in late June, Reid will be responsible for leading and managing the development of public art facilities in this new position within the organization.

In March 2007, Calgary Arts Development published a research report on the current state of art spaces, along with a companion strategy and capital plan to guide the long-term buildout of art spaces in Calgary. This strategy called for Calgary to develop specialized expertise to develop art spaces throughout the city to support and drive the growth of our cultural scene.

Reid brings over 13 years of experience working at the intersection of urban, cultural and economic development. Through a range of consulting and project management roles across Canada and abroad, he has developed an approach to city-building that is multi-disciplinary in perspective and collaborative in practice.

Over the last 6 months, Reid has led the cultural planning practice of Office for Urbanism in various cities across Canada. Previous to that role, Reid developed and led the consulting practice of Artscape, a leading creative urban development organization based in Toronto. Reid played a lead role in a diverse range of building feasibility studies, district planning frameworks, policy development initiatives and cultural/creative sector research projects.

Reid’s recent work includes a provincially-funded study of infrastructure for creative entrepreneurs in Toronto, the City of Vancouver’s 10-Year Cultural Facilities Priorities Plan, a downtown cluster development framework for the City of Kitchener; and an adaptive re-use strategy for a former distillery complex on Kingston’s waterfront. Reid was also instrumental in building Artscape’s national workshop program for communities undertaking mixed-use, creative work space development.

"After an extensive hiring process, Reid stood out to us as the person best suited to take on this new role at Calgary Arts Development," said Terry Rock, President & CEO. "His expertise managing complex cultural spaces strategies for some of Canada’s most creative spaces make Reid an asset to the team."

Due to problems with the fire system equipment inside the Seafood Market in East Village, live performances of i-ROBOT Theatre have been postponed indefinitely.  The Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) announced late yesterday afternoon that due to technical issues with the equipment in the building, the production would have to be postponed.

“We sincerely regret that we can’t make the space available at this time, but the safety of the artists and the public is paramount,” said Chris Ollenberger, CMLC President and CEO. “We simply cannot, in good conscience, proceed with the use of the space for the public without a proper operational system.”

Last month, CMLC and CADA partnered in a pilot project scheduled to run for three months that invited Calgary’s arts community to utilize the 24,000 square foot Seafood Market in East Village for a variety of programming that could include theatre, music, visual arts or new media. Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre’s production of i-ROBOT Theatre was scheduled to open last night. The production is now postponed until further notice.

“We’re making it a priority to work with the Calgary Arts Development Authority (CADA) and the theatre company involved to find a new space for their production. CMLC will continue to resolve the problems and will work with CADA to find the right artistic uses for the building”, said Ollenberger.

"Calgary Arts Development looks forward to continuing our work with CMLC and the Calgary arts community to realize the dynamic vision of the future of the East Village as Calgary's newest culturally vibrant neighbourhood," said Terry Rock, President and CEO of Calgary Arts Development. "Our work together on the Seafood Market pilot project has demonstrated the value of collaboration."

Despite yesterday's turn of events, CMLC is confident that an alternate solution can be arranged and remains committed to its partnership with CADA and the Calgary arts community.

“Our apologies go out to the artists. With any pilot project, issues are bound to arise and unfortunately this is a big issue,” said Ollenberger. “Today may have been a setback, but it doesn’t change our short- or long- term allegiance to arts and culture in East Village.”