The "This Is My City" program provides Calgary's homeless community with increased opportunities for creative expression and to engage Calgarians in a dialogue about the issues around homelessness and the place of art and culture in society.
Upcoming Events
This Is My City, This Is Your City Symposium
Sunday, January 24, 2009
10-1:30 p.m.
Conoco Philips Theatre, Glenbow Museum
130 9 Ave S.E.
Register: 268-4545
Art Matters
Their Excellencies the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, Governor General of Canada, and Mr. Jean-Daniel Lafond would like to invite you to this public forum organized on the occasion of the High Performance Rodeo Festival and the This is My City Symposium.
Sunday, January 24, 2009
2:30 - 4:30 p.m.
Conoco Philips Theatre, Glenbow Museum
130 9 Ave S.E.
Register: 268-4545
Topic of Discussion
What is the power and purpose of using the arts to engage in social issues?
Panellists:
- Beth Gignac, City of Calgary Arts & Culture
- Louise Gallagher, Calgary Drop-In & Rehab Centre
- Ian Prinsloo, Theatre artist /animateur , Calgary
- David Diamond, Headlines Theatre, Vancouver
- Reg Knelsen, independent artist, Calgary
- Brooklyn Fink, interdisciplinary artist, Calgary
Power Play: Homelessness
January 22 & 23, 8 p.m.
ConocoPhillips Theatre, Glenbow Museum
Pay-what-you-can.
To reserve a seat, please call: (403) 294-7411
Two Bit Oper-EH?-Shun
Land's End Chamber Ensemble with Onalea Gilbertson
January 16, 7:30 p.m.
Grace Presbyterian Church
$28, for tickets please call (403) 294-9494
"This Is My City" Showcase Cabaret
January 20, 6:30 p.m.
W.R. Castell Library - Lower Floor
Free
"This Is My City" Open Art Workshops
January 23, 2 - 4 p.m.
Drop In Centre and Mustard Seed
Free
To register please call (403) 604-3476
"This Is My City" Art Exhibition
January 7 - 31
The Municipal Atrium, EPCOR Centre and the Glenbow
Free
About the This Is My City Program
- Uses the arts to educate and engage the public about the experience of homelessness;
- Engages homeless art makers and provides them with an opportunity for creative expression – increasing self-confidence and esteem;
- Provides opportunities for artist mentorship;
- Encourages collaboration with social service agencies (based in community cultural development);
- Supports Calgary's 10-year Plan to End Homelessness; and
- Establishes program sustainability with partners after the project is completed.
Program
Over the course of twelve months (January 2009 – January 2010) TMC has provided artistic tools and mentorship to enable homeless art makers to find their creative voices and has encouraged homeless citizens to use their art-making as a conduit for public advocacy and dialogue. It also offers professional development opportunities for artists within the community to participate as artist-mentors.
Multidisciplinary Program
TMC is a multidisciplinary program that includes poetry, fiction, performance, personal narrative, street reportage, drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, photography, and video. It is inclusive, as children and families are encouraged to participate, though the focus has been largely adult based. Small groups of homeless art makers, paired with an artist-mentor, work collaboratively to determine their project outcome.
Viewing the Resulting Artwork
Artworks created during the project span are exhibited, performed, published or showcased online for public viewing. This assists with community awareness as TMC hopes to change the perception of the homeless by educating the public that homelessness is a symptom of systemic ignorance of, and indifference to, a community's most powerless citizens.
Enabling Homeless Citizens
TMC does not pretend to be a solution to the homeless crisis. Rather, the project intends to enable homeless citizens to speak on their own behalf through the power of creative self-expression. A series of open public forums provided a place for safe, open dialogue; facilitated sessions where interested individuals come together to discuss the issues raised by TMC and the program structure.
To date, This is My City has initiated over 40 different programs of different arts disciplines to meet the needs of the diverse populations within Calgary's homeless community. TMC has worked with over 700 homeless individuals and by the time we complete the project in January 2010, we will have touched the lives of many more homeless art-makers by allowing these individuals to create, express, learn and share their experiences through the arts.
Artist Trading Cards
The Artist Trading Card movement has taken off world wide. These trading-card sized works of original art are traded amongst the Artist Trading Card community as a way to democratize the arts in a community building capacity.
This is My City has employed Cat Schick, one of the movement's originators, to run a series of trading card workshops, trading sessions and exhibitions from September 2008- September 2009. Stay tuned for specific exhibition information.
Email Community Culture Development for more information.
