I recently returned from attending the Creative Cities Network in Edmonton. Being at the conference meant spending four days in 'Deadmonton' (the sister city to 'Cowtown’) and brought me to consider what the real differences were between Calgary and Edmonton.

I should out myself right away ... I was born in Calgary, but moved to Edmonton when I was 2 and spent most of my pre-20 life there. I have always been a big Edmonton booster – especially during the years I spent in Toronto amongst people whose knowledge of the west ended in Ottawa. On this trip to Edmonton I felt the lure of the tight knit supportive pockets of community, which Nancy Tousley so aptly described as more like a ‘village’ in her recent Calgary Herald article. This village feeling is built in part by communities of people that have lived in Edmonton all their lives and share the history of the place – but this visit for me revealed something about the Calgary experience in relationship to Edmonton that I had not realized before. There are very real differences between the two cities and those differences create the advantages of both.

As Calgary goes through this ‘boom’ it seems that the growth is creating a city that is open to everyone that chooses to call it home and to play a part in defining its future. Where Edmonton may be a village of support, Calgary is a crossroads of a place. A place where decisions must be made - a pointed place. In terms of the arts, being at a crossroads means being in a position to define as much as to reflect and to take risks as much as to be on safer ground. Working in Calgary has amplified my own feelings of possibility and exploration and I appreciate the value of being in a city that encourages me to realize possibilities. At Calgary Arts Development we relish being at the crossroads and exploring the new terrain of working as a development authority for the arts. Being witness and audience to the visionary arts producers and artists in Calgary makes me proud to associate myself as a Calgarian.