Calgary Doesn’t Have Arts?
It takes a LOT to get me frustrated to the point that I will vocalize it. And, a LOT more than that for me to sound angry. But a couple of weeks ago one of my best friends pushed my buttons on a particular topic and definitely received an atypical response from me. (What else are friends for?)
All it really took was one sentence: “There are no arts in Calgary.” Now, I have heard this lament from many different people and yet all I see every day of my working life is Calgarians producing great art in all different forms from theatre, to comedy, to music, to visual arts, to dance, etc. Now, I will make some concessions about the local “arts” scene:
- Art is not as visible as it is other places in Canada. Larger cities often have more of an “arts” sector – you can see it everywhere you walk when you are downtown (or wherever that section of the city happens to be). Calgary’s scene is more spread out, but that is no different than the rest of our civic planning. (And these days I admit the phrase “civic planning” is more oxymoron than government division.)
- The Alberta Government is not as supportive as other provincial governments. While this may be changing (they have created new programs and positions) it has been very true since Klein’s government. What is more amazing to me is that despite a lack of government support – great work is still being produced.
To avoid my stress level increasing every time I hear that Calgary is “artless” I have come up with a new response: “Really? How many artistic events have you gone to in the past year?” If this hypothetical person answers with “None” it may seem like a victory for their argument. “I haven’t been to see any artistic events because Calgary doesn’t have any.” But that is a gross exaggeration… and a heck of a good way to lose the argument. (If I learned anything from that friend of mine that took debate in high school.)
Walk into The Epcor Centre for the Performing Arts in downtown Calgary any given week and at least half a dozen different theatrical productions are going on. I can’t begin to count the number of music venues in town and I’ve definitely seen a number of art galleries. That is all without even picking up an arts-focused newspaper or doing a Google search. In fact, if Calgary had only one arts event a year it proves that Calgary DOES have the arts.
Perhaps this misinformed idea of “no arts” has more to do with the visibility. The mainstream newspapers in town (whose names don’t deserve the press in this blog), have very few artistic-type articles. The largest theatre companies in town have to fight for the press… so the “little guys” don’t really stand a chance. As mentioned above, the community is more spread out than in other places, which makes it slightly more invisible, but you CAN find unique and wonderful events if you take a few seconds to look.
Pick up a FFWD (they are free every week) and cover a wide range of arts. There are tons of event listing websites. Pay more attention to your radio station’s PSA segments. And maybe, just maybe, say “Yes” to one of those Facebook invites that you receive.
On the flip side of the coin: don’t look for any of it. But, in doing so, remove the phrase: “There are no arts in Calgary” form your speech.
