around Calgary

Tune in 7pm tonight

Erica Mattson — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:15:22 -0400

This just in - you may want to tune your radio dial to 102.1FM in Calgary before you read.

The Calgary Girls Choir has just won the CBC Radio Choral Competition in the Youth Choirs Category! The choir performed this afternoon as part of a "live-to-air" broadcast today, April 30. If you were unable to attend in person, tune in to CBC Radio Two tonight at 7 p.m. MST or listen via the internet (see below).

A huge congratulations from all of us at Calgary Arts Development to the Calgary Girls Choir, artistic director Elaine Quilichini and all the hard-working parents and volunteers behind the scenes!

Internet Listening Instructions

1. Go to http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/ read more »

The Beginning of Something Extraordinary

Laurel Buss — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:27:39 -0500

Somehow the first month of my work term with Calgary Arts Development has flown by without a blog post. Not a single one. As a public relations student at Mount Royal College, I understand the importance of communicating with the public, so I figured it was time for me to jump on the blog train with reckless abandon. And there's no better time to start than now.

The other evening I had the good fortune of attending the dress rehearsal of Alberta Ballet's Dangerous Liaisons. I was pleasantly surprised. Take everything you thought you knew about the ballet and throw it out the window. Dangerous Liaisons pushes the boundaries by having a play and a ballet going on simultaneously. The choreography was visually stunning as dancers held poses that at times were painfully beautiful to watch. This truly is a must see, even if you don't think you like the ballet. Go. I promise you won't be disappointed. read more »

Nostagia, Media, Geolocality

Mike Scullen — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 13:38:17 -0500

Memories are powerful. If you look at some current pop cultures trends it's easy to find evidence of the power of nostalgia. The fact that we have an orange Care Bear in the office is a good indicator. 80's revival has been in full swing for some time now and I've got my plaid shirts and doc martins on deck for a 90's grunge revisit. For many of us around the triple decade mark conversations often turn to the music, movies, and television we experienced when we were younger. Those of us who grew up in the 80's were really the first generation to grow up in such a media saturated environment and we can easily relate our media experience with just about anybody the same age in North America. read more »

LiveRush!

Charis Birchall — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 17:07:26 -0500

It's been a rush. Since today is my last day at Calgary Arts Development, I thought I would attempt writing a blog. I have to admit I've been sort of afraid of blogging (even though blogging dates back to 1983 and I still haven't tried it). How does one write about something in a way that is interesting to read; conversational, yet not silly? But, like Terry says when referring to accepting new technologies, “jump on the train”. read more »

Building Blocks

Catherine Knops — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:23:43 -0500

Vancouver 2010. Having been there and in Whistler for the past week, there are sites earmarked all over the area for development ahead of the Winter Olympics. A series of high class venues and buildings, all built to house this great sporting event.

However, my friend, who lives in Whistler, was wondering about all this construction. Why, she asked, when you're surrounded by some of the most beautiful scenery in Canada, would you want to erect a series of "iconic" buildings? read more »

News from the creative industries

Terry Rock — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 22:59:43 -0500

Scanning bloglines today, I noticed an item on the 37Signals blog Signal vs. Noise... it appears that Calgary's own VEER was purchased by Corbis. Congrats are due to the folks at VEER for another major Calgary creative industry success story. Some of the heaviest hitters in the world in the creative industries--Corbis and Getty Images--now both have major operations in Calgary. read more »

Breaking it down...

Catherine Knops — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:43:43 -0400

This Monday past, we held our Volunteer Appreciation Party, to recognise the work and contribution of the volunteers who work on our Granting Committee. It was held in Calgary Opera's Arrata Centre, a beautifully restored church in the Beltline district. Part of our entertainment that evening were the performances of two young artists, Whitney-Leigh Sloan and John Conlon, both of whom are participants in Calgary Opera's Emerging Artists Programme. The pair sang a duet and then each performed a solo. read more »

Re-Inventing TV

Holly Simon — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 02:10:13 -0400

Over and above back-to-back arts events for 11 weeks straight... I find myself in a particularly exciting week book ended by me in a bumble bee suit at the Grave Gala and a flight to Buenos Aires. In between, I had a flash adventure in Regina, Saskatchewan, for the 22nd Gemini Awards. (I hardly even watch television. When I do watch, I watch The Hour or Corner Gas.) I had a line on good seats through a friend and I couldn't say no...

I've seen the Gemini Awards now and again but this was obviously different. If you know George Stroumboulopoulos and The Hour, you'll not be surprised that he and some of his team re-invented the Gemini awards this year.* As soon as the show went live on the air at 5 o'clock, the energy in the room spiked. George was his usual attentive, humorous and provocative self. Somehow, a show about television, became about relevancy and response to the Canadian condition. The humour became a little more real. (I hope you saw the "Saskatchewan IS flat" skit - not the correct title - written by Paul Bates, I think.) This was the first Gemini Awards that was open to the public (which hopefully foreshadows the open and transparent future of Canada). The day ended with a party in the (haunted) Hotel Saskatchewan lobby with a crowd of young and smart Canadian television makers. Besides feeling a little star-struck, I'm reminded of the constructive threat our generation provides to the status quo.

I'm excited for the Juno Awards in Calgary, April 2008!! Let's break the Calgary music scene wide open to the world. Music lives here!

P.S. Many thanks to George and his friends for the hospitality.

*My knowledge of the whole Gemini's production is limited.

Yarn and Threads

Erica Mattson — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 16:27:50 -0400

Calgary saw its first skiff of snow last week and it's here again today. I noticed one group of "people" looking especially cold this morning. Earlier this year artist Suzen Green dressed several pieces from the City of Calgary's Public Art collection in bright, colourful knits as part of the ArtCity festival. The long legs of Mario Armengol’s Family of Man sculptures – located on Macleod Trail and 5th Street SE outside of the Calgary Board of Education - were fitted with beautiful, extremely colourful knee-high knitted socks. The project was originally conceived as "guerilla-style graffiti using knitting," but instead Green was able to make a connection with civic officials to get the go-ahead to alter several public sculptures for 10 days during the festival. The "appropriated with permission” aspect of Green's work continues to be one of the things I appreciate most.Green's work has forever altered my view of that space in our city and really awakened a desire for more playfulness in our urban landscape. And now that it's getting cold, it really makes me feel sorry for those poor chilly sculptures!

Culture shock?

Catherine Knops — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:04:16 -0400

Having only been in Calgary for eight and a half months and working at Calgary Arts Development for 2 of those months, I'm still on a steep learning curve about what the city has to offer in the way of arts. This learning curve doesn't only involve discovering the vast amount of performances and events, but also how the arts community in Calgary has developed and is developing. It is in exploring this that I realise just how different my own background and experiences are. Not only do I not come from Calgary originally, I am not even Canadian, hailing as I do, from the UK. Moving away from my familiar cultural references has been more of a shock than I had anticipated and certainly more of a challenge. Suddenly, I can't reference contemporary or historical authors, artists, musicians and organisations. My cultural landscape has disappeared and I'm moving through new and alien territory. read more »