By the end of the run, we had a wall covered with comments ranging from one word responses to mini-essays.

Annual general meetings • Business meetings • Convocations • Film screenings • Fundraisers

• Galas • Press conferences • Receptions • Weddings • Workshops and more!

Book your event today! Call 403.294.7455 or visit epcorcentre.org

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Alberta theatre Projects is proud to produce the english language premiere of Thinking of Yu, a new play by award-winning Quebec playwright Carole Fréchette. Alberta theatre Projects commissioned a translation by Alberta’s own John Murrell. this season, the play will also be translated into two other languages and will premiere in France, Belgium and Germany.

the play tells the story of a woman in Montreal who discovers a small news story about the release of a political prisoner in China, Yu Dongyue. Yu, along with two friends, threw eggs filled with paint on the iconic portrait of Chinese

communist leader Mao tse-tung during the tiananmen Square protests of 1989. the news clipping leads the woman to examine the impact Yu Dongyue has made on the world and in her own life.

Fréchette’s lyrical and powerful play asks us to consider how our own behaviour and actions can inspire small but profound changes in the most surprising places. Thinking of Yu premieres in the 26th Annual enbridge playrites Festival of new Canadian Plays, February 1- March 4, 2012. For tickets, contact ePCOr Centre Box Office at 403.294.9494 or go online to epcorcentre.org.

written by Vicki Stroich

An act of defiance in China inspires a new play in Canada

Good Fences by the Downstage Creation ensemble, in association with Downstage

energy – it heats our homes and cooks our food, but how do we reconcile our feelings about this commodity when it’s extracted, processed and shipped right through our neighbourhoods? the longstanding relationship between a rural community and an energy company is put to the test as plans for a new sour gas pipeline unfold. A new work developed by the Downstage Creation ensemble, winner of the 2010 ePCOr Centre Founders Award.

drama by Karen Hines

where do we find soul in an increasingly heartless world? A female forensic psychiatrist investigates an epidemic of soullessness, lipstick intact. Styled as part film noir, part Japanese horror film, this play is an edgy and darkly funny ensemble piece set in a city not unlike Calgary. Hines’ multi-genre black comedies have traveled the globe, winning a loyal following for what the Montreal Gazette pronounced “Greek tragedy by Betty Boop.”

Enb

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ash rizin by Michael P. northey & Kyprios, in association with Green thumb theatre

this inventive new hip-hop musical is set to an irrepressible beat. it’s a high energy musical journey from the creators of the west Coast hit show Cranked, which was “part of a vanguard of boundary-breaking acts moving hip-hop theatre into the mainstream.” ~ Variety

renowned graffiti artist Ash rizin is pulled from the shadows and shoved into the hip-hop spotlight, only to be discovered by old friends who are part of a gang.

ePCOr Centre FOr tHe PerFOrMinG ArtS

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At Rhino, we believe that there is nothing like a live performance to stir the soul and inspire the mind which is why we proudly support the performing arts in Calgary. Through printed works such as Stephen, we are able to help inform and unite the community and those who share our passion for quality. To see what our passion for printing can do for your business, give us a call.

rhinoprintsolutions.com

c a l g a r y | e d m o n t o n | v i c t o r i a | v a n c o u v e r

Calgary is fast becoming the envy of many cities across Canada for its exciting and innovative cultural projects currently in the works. Cantos Music Foundation’s national Music Centre, a new downtown Central Library and a re-imagined centre for performing arts will connect audiences, citizens and tourists in new ways to the richness of Calgary’s cultural community, while propelling our profile across the world as a creative and vibrant city.

recognized as Calgary’s future cultural icons, these facilities are only one part of a much more complex “ecosystem” of spaces that exist across the city. Much of the infrastructure required to nurture and sustain Calgary’s cultural and creative production exists in diverse spaces and places that are not associated with large organizations or established institutions. these are the less recognized and heralded spaces such as artist-run centres, artist studios, rehearsal venues, small galleries and theatres, workshops for building stage sets and shared office hubs that weave throughout Calgary’s inner city neighbourhoods and industrial areas like east Village, inglewood, ramsay, the Beltline and Kensington.

PitH Gallery and Studios, Untitled Art Society, Seafood Market Studios, ArtPoint and Currie Barracks are all critical building blocks of Calgary’s arts

DnA, but many of them, including the hundreds of creators they support, are constantly endangered due to a lack of affordable, suitable and stable space in our city. Unfortunately, the norm in Calgary for artists and small non-profit organizations has become short term leases in poorly located, sub-standard buildings that are at risk of redevelopment into condos or other “higher value” uses.

to tackle this issue proactively, Calgary Arts Development and the Calgary Foundation have established a dedicated social enterprise, cSPACe Projects, to develop a new generation of creative spaces that leverages the benefits of co-location, diversity and collaboration among artists, non-profits and community.

cSPACe embodies a values-based approach to real estate development that focuses on:

• Calgary advancing its vision of sustainable urbanism through innovative place-making efforts;

• Creativity and the conditions that enable it to thrive;

• Community and the transformative impact of engagement with people, places and ideas; and

• Collaboration and the capital this unlocks across interests, silos, disciplines and sectors.

cSPACe’s first major initiative is the adaptive reuse of King edward School, a historic sandstone school built in 1912 and a project that has recently been approved for $5 million from Calgary City Council. cSPACe staff have worked with both the arts community and adjacent neighourhoods over the last 10 months to prepare a compelling vision for the site. A shared aspiration to provide a dynamic and collaborative gathering place has emerged, focused on the incubation and advancement of professional arts practice, social innovation and community development.

As experienced in many remarkable places across the world, the expression of artistic, cultural and creative vitality is most impactful when artists and creators flourish alongside the city’s anchor arts institutions. cSPACe and the King edward School will be successful if Calgary becomes recognized as a preferred home for local artists to practice in the early years of their career and a place where imaginative arts organizations can propel their missions.

written by reid Henry

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ePCOr Centre FOr tHe PerFOrMinG ArtS

Ben Cameron’s perspectives transformed mindsets in the Jack Singer Concert Hall with his assessment of Calgary’s arts sector as thriving, welcoming and collaborative. three hundred arts champions listened attentively to the profound and inspiring words and statistics shared by Cameron, keynote speaker at Calgary’s first annual Arts Champions Congress, organized by Calgary Arts Development Authority (CADA). informed by his experiences as program director for the arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation in new York City, as well as expertise gathered from past experience in non-profit arts organizations and as a corporate community investment funder, Cameron’s words permeated the Congress.

with their passions validated and contributions acknowledged, artists, arts administrators, managers, board members, volunteers, corporate champions, audience members, government supporters and policy makers from across the city and province eagerly attended themed sessions in locations throughout Calgary’s Cultural District. Lively conversations took place as participants walked between venues, demonstrating that flexibility, resiliency and innovation were emerging from these sessions. Panels and discussions revealed goals, dreams and projects that require the assistance of other artists. Arts champions widened their circles of influence and also became acquainted with the skills and resources of others in the room. Strangers became co-conspirators of future collaborations. One session in the #1 Legion was specifically designed to facilitate networking.

wish lists gathered at the Congress illustrated a desire for more and longer facilitated sessions to help individuals and groups create future business opportunities. Other feedback included a desire for additional Collab-Labs, availability of online data and in-person lunch-and-learn sessions covering topics like shared administration, marketing, audience and sector research and development. A need for ongoing mentorship and networking for festivals, film, individual artists, boards and marketers was consistently expressed. Session facilitators assured attendees that their discussions and feedback would create CADA’s to-do list over the coming months.

At the end of the exhilarating and exhausting day, Ben Cameron, Dani DeBoice, director of corporate citizenship at First Calgary Financial and Col Cseke, co-artistic director of Verb theatre and CADA board member, shared their impressions of the sessions they had observed. their wrap-up conversation provided great insight, as well as several nuggets to mull over in the days following the Congress.

CADA demonstrated its role as an enabling organization, engaging its partners in sharing information at the Congress. its partners, in turn, expressed CADA’s need to be agile, adaptable and responsive, while keeping sight of long-term challenges and goals. the depth of Calgary’s enthusiasm for the arts gives momentum to calculated risk-taking in order to strengthen Calgary’s already vibrant arts sector.

the next Congress will be held Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13, 2012.

written by tim Christison

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