Community News

On June 25, 2021, the Alberta government announced it would work with Indigenous communities to establish a permanent memorial on the Alberta legislature grounds for the victims of the residential school system.

Indigenous artists can submit a Expression of Interest for a memorial on legislature grounds to honour residential school students who never came home.

Funding

Up to $1 million.

Eligible applicants

This Request for an Expression of Interest is open to the following categories of Indigenous artists from or living in Alberta:

• individual artist
• artist-led teams
• artist collectives
• partnerships of artists

Recent familial connections to Alberta First Nations or with the Metis Settlements and Métis Nation Regions are required.

Deadline

Deadline to apply: July 29 at 2 pm MT.

For more info:

news release

Learn more on eligibility requirements and how to apply by clicking on the pink button below.

For further information or to set up an informational meeting please contact ir.rscrg@gov.ab.ca.

Like the rest of the world, Alberta is navigating a new reality brought by a pandemic that is changing public life and re-shaping our economy. Organizations in the arts, culture, sports, recreation, tourism and hospitality sectors, all which rely on live, group experiences, are grappling with new challenges. Organizations need to be prepared for a change in audience behaviour. The question is what that will look like, now and over the coming months.

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is pleased to be a funding partner in this collaboration with Stone-Olafson and other community leaders to develop a long-term research investigation and evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts and culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities.

The initiative is being funded by: 

• ActiveCITY Collective
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts 
• Angus Reid
• ATB
• Calgary Arts Development 
• Calgary Foundation
• Edmonton Arts Council
• Edmonton Community Foundation
• Rozsa Foundation
• Stone-Olafson
• Travel Alberta

​This research is being conducted in six waves over the course of the next year with the first wave of results (based on surveys conducted between May 21 and June 2, 2020) now available.

This is a community resource that is FREE to access and results from the first wave of research are now available.

Download the reports:

• Alberta Report
• Calgary Report
• Edmonton Report

You can subscribe to receive notifications when the new reports are available by visiting stone-olafson.com. 

This research is being conducted in six waves over the course of the next year. This is a community resource that is FREE to access and results from the third wave of research are now available. 

Findings for Alberta organizations from Wave 3 results include:

• Community attitudes on comfort are becoming entrenched.
• Risk tolerance provides a richer understanding of how Albertans will approach engagement.
• Right now audiences indicate they need to hear experiences will be safe and fun.
• Capitalize on desire for shared experiences but with a focus on innovation and intimacy.
• The intersection of cohorts, shared experiences, and risk tolerance means audiences will engage, but appear to be doing so with their cohorts in mind - "will this put my friends/family at risk?". 

What are the implications for Alberta organizations?

• Comfort with conditions and other people has dampened willingness to actually engage in their usual activities. It is likely this variable is an additional barrier impacting final consideration of participating in activities.
• The benefits you offer and the messaging you broadcast must overcome that broader interpretation of risk. Whereas risk used to be overcome simply by appealing to the motivations of the individual, now we will have to assuage safety/health concerns that impact the people around the individual (i.e. safety measures are not just for you; they are for those around you.)
• Knowing who you can reach, what to offer them and what to say will be critical as organizations plan how to engage audiences in the coming months.
• Right now audiences indicate they need to hear the experiences they will have are safe and fun. This is critical for building confidence and organizations need to reinforce those dual messages of safety/comfort with enjoyment. The weight of each type of message will vary depending on how risk tolerant the audience is.
• Audiences need to hear they will be able to have the desired shared experiences but that the experience is safe (for them and their cohort). To balance those needs of social, safety, and fun, organizations will need to develop and continuously reinvent (often many times over) the types of small group offerings that deliver this.
• Opportunities exist for organizations in the experience economy to engage Albertans by balancing the notion of cohorts with shared experiences. Show them how to engage with their entire cohort or at least show the activity will not put their cohort at risk.

Download the reports:

• Alberta Report
• Calgary Report 
• Edmonton Report

You can subscribe to receive notifications when the new reports are available by visiting stone-olafson.com. 

About the project

The Alberta Foundation for the Arts is pleased to be a funding partner in this collaboration with Stone-Olafson and other community leaders to develop a long-term research investigation and evaluate how current conditions will reshape Albertans’ attitudes and behaviours towards social and group activities, across a variety of sectors. The purpose of this work is to give leaders of community sports, recreation, arts and culture, professional sports, active living, heritage, tourism or hospitality sectors relevant facts about local audiences that they will need to bring life back to our communities.

The initiative is being funded by: 

• ActiveCITY Collective
• Alberta Foundation for the Arts 
• Angus Reid
• ATB
• Calgary Arts Development 
• Calgary Foundation
• Edmonton Arts Council
• Edmonton Community Foundation
• Rozsa Foundation
• Stone-Olafson
• Travel Alberta

Calgary's IntegralOrg has been added to the The National Network of Legal Clinics for the Arts map on its National Network website. This is the first Alberta-based organization to be included in the network.

IntegralOrg offers education and support to Alberta nonprofits and charities in governance, strategic planning, risk management, and legal compliance.

National Network of Legal Clinics for the Arts

The National Network of Legal Clinics for the Arts is a proposed system of connected regional legal hubs for artists and arts organizations that includes existing Canadian pro-bono legal clinics.

Current Clinics:

British Columbia + Yukon:

• Pacific Legal Education and Outreach Society | PLEO

Alberta

• IntegralOrg (for Nonprofits)

Manitoba:

• L. Kerry Vickar Business Law Clinic

Ontario

• Artists’ Legal Services Ottawa | ALSO
• Artists’ Legal Advice Services | ALAS
• Visual Artists’ Legal Clinic of Ontario | VALCO

Nova Scotia

• Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia (LISNS)

Join the AFA in recognizing its 30th Anniversary and the annual Month of the Artist by celebrating our local artists and arts organizations. Get to know Frederick Kroetsch, documentary filmmaker.  

Frederick is an Edmonton-based documentary filmmaker. Jump to his bio below. The World Premiere of his newest film, Blind Ambition: The Story of Wop May, will be on October 3, 2021, at the Edmonton International Film Festival. Check out screening info here.

We asked Frederick about his film, his practice, and about being an artist in Alberta...

Tell us about your documentary filmmaking practice.

For me, collaboration is key. Filming documentary content can be difficult and usually requires working with many other artists. There are directors, cinematographers, actors, animators, editors, foley artists…depending on the complexity and creativity it often means numerous people.

I also prefer to be diverse in the content I make. It ranges from commercial to abstract. There are numerous aspects to documentary, and I enjoy all of them.

What do you want people to know about documentary filmmaking as an art form?

Documentary IS an art form. It isn’t just reality TV, activism, and true crime retrospectives. Documentary has a long and celebrated history in Canada, with some proposing we make it our official art form.

Documentary is ubiquitous - our digital landscape is inundated with vlogs, Youtube, news organizations and Netflix. So much of that content falls into conventional tropes.

I’d like people to think about the way we tell our stories and seek out content that has style and originality. Next time you post a selfie video, record using lights, or do it under water.

Tell us about your recent project Blind Ambition: The Story of Wop May

Blind Ambition brings to life the story of what I think is Edmonton’s most inspiring pilot – Wilfred ‘Wop’ May.

This project started as a very small and conventional documentary with talking heads interspersed with archival photos. As we slowly received more funding support, the project became more ambitious.

Once we secured some AFA funding, we decided to recreate some of the historical moments that didn’t have any archival materials. Then we decided to shoot on actual 35mm film. Another grant came in and we decided to film with a 50-piece orchestra in Prague. We pieced it all together in small hops.

In the end it became a 20-minute short documentary with creative elements like cinematic dramatic recreations and comic book art.

What is it like to be an artist in Alberta?

Like all places, there are both positives and negatives to being a documentary filmmaker in Alberta.

On the positive side there is tremendous support from organizations like the AFA, Edmonton Arts Council, Edmonton Heritage Council and the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta (FAVA) to keep me telling stories. The film community is passionate and always ready to lend a hand.

It is also less expensive to live here and rent facilities than other major cities. Alberta also seems to have an entrepreneurial/risk-taking spirit that often lets me push the barrier a little further.

On the negative side, I’m required to travel long distances to attend industry events and meet with broadcasters.

^{Behind the scenes filming Blind Ambition: The Story of Wop May}

It’s been a difficult year for artists. What’s has your experience been like trying to work during the pandemic?

I went from shooting a food travel series across Canada with my wife, to sitting in my basement in front of a computer. Although financially challenging, it provided me an opportunity to look inwards and start developing new projects.

Due to timing issues, we had no options but to film Blind Ambition during the pandemic. It was challenging to work with a relatively large crew and maintain proper COVID protocols – but we managed to pull it off with no one getting sick. 

What’s the most important thing Albertans can do to support local artists in Alberta?

Find out if your elected officials care about supporting artists. Go to local art shows. Hang out at local film festivals. We make cool things here – we should be proud of that.

And please come to the Edmonton International Film Festival to check out amazing Albertan films!

Frederick Kroetsch bio

Frederick has numerous credits under his belt! Here are a few highlights...

He made Last of the Fur Traders for AMI-tv, which follows the journey of his father returning to the arctic.

He also created the TV-series Queen of the Oil Patch for APTN. Frederick has made dozens of documentaries for organizations such as TELUS Originals, CBC Digital, Telefilm, Bravo, NFB, CTV and Shaw.

He recently produced the feature documentary The Secret Society and is currently directing the TV-series Dr. Savanna: Wild Rose Vet for Cottage Life.

Frederick graduated with a film production degree from Concordia University; was awarded a Top 40 Under 40 Award in his home city of Edmonton; and won a Hot Docs Short Film Pitch. He is an alumnus of The Werner Herzog Rogue Film School, The NSI Business for Producers Program, Whistler Doc Lab, and the TELUS Fellowship Program. 

Frederick is EP and DOP on Wochiigii lo: End of the Peace, which premiered at TIFF 2021.

The film Form and Function from his arts collective “Are we artists or Cops?” is currently on display at the Artists in the Fallow Exhibit at Brighton Block. He is also very excited about receiving his first Canada Council grant for an experimental film tentatively titled Flesh Ballet

How will you take part in art and support artists? Share your experiences through social media by tagging the AFA and using the hashtag #TakePartInArt.

As the AFA celebrates its 30^th Anniversary and the annual Month of the Artist, we’re encouraging all Albertans to “take part in art.” A recent study by Hill Strategies Research Inc. provides insight on the positive health and mental health impacts of arts participation.

In February 2021, Hill Strategies Research Inc. released the report Canadians’ Arts Participation, Health, and Well-Being.

The report probes the relationships between 15 arts, culture, and heritage activities and four aspects of health and well-being:

• Overall health
• Mental health
• Satisfaction with life
• Satisfaction with feeling part of the community (i.e., sense of belonging)

The report shows important linkages between the arts and well-being, linkages that are particularly important within the current pandemic and eventual post-pandemic recovery.

Key Findings:

• There is a strong connection between cultural participation and health.
• There is solid evidence of a connection between cultural participation and mental health.
• There is a moderate connection between cultural participation and satisfaction with life.
• There is a limited connection between cultural participation and community belonging.

Strong Connection with Health

Arts and culture activities have a strong statistical connection with overall health. Attendees or participants in all 15 arts, culture, and heritage activities are more likely to report very good or excellent health than non-attendees or non-participants. For 14 of the 15 activities, the differences are statistically significant, including arts activities such as: active arts participation; live theatre or comedy attendance; classical and popular music attendance; cultural festival attendance; art gallery attendance; and book reading.

Solid Evidence of a Relationship with Mental Health

The analysis provides evidence of a connection between cultural activities and mental health. Attendees or participants in all 15 arts, culture, and heritage activities are more likely to report very good or excellent mental health than non-attendees or non-participants. For 12 of the 15 activities, the differences are statistically significant, including arts activities such as: live theatre or comedy attendance; classical and popular music attendance; cultural festival attendance; art gallery attendance; and book reading.

Moderate Connection with Overall Satisfaction with Life

Some of the evidence in the report shows a positive connection between cultural activities and satisfaction with life. However, the connection is not uniformly positive, depending on the measurement used for satisfaction with life.

The measurement with the strongest apparent connection with cultural participation is the satisfaction rating of 7 to 10. Attendees or participants in all 15 arts, culture, and heritage activities are more likely to rate their satisfaction with life as 7 to 10 than non-attendees or non-participants. For 13 of the 15 activities, the differences are statistically significant.

Limited Connection with Sense of Belonging

The report contains some positive evidence of a connection between cultural participation and Canadians’ sense of belonging to their communities, but the evidence differs depending on the measurement used for community belonging.

The measurement with the strongest apparent connection with cultural participation is the satisfaction rating of 7 to 10. Attendees or participants in 11 of the 15 arts, culture, and heritage activities are more likely to rate their satisfaction with feeling part of their community as 7 to 10 than non-attendees or non-participants. For four activities, the differences are statistically significant.

More information

Read the full report on Hill Strategies website.

The article "Financial impacts of the pandemic on the culture, arts, entertainment and recreation industries in 2020" was published on August 17 by Statistics Canada.

Description:

The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly disrupted many businesses that create and distribute arts and culture or offer recreational activities. This study looks at preliminary operating revenue estimates and labour-related expenses for the culture, arts, entertainment and recreation sectors in 2020.

Issue Number: 2021001

Author(s): Bernard, Marie-Christine; McMaster, Megan

The Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation is proud to announce that artist Faye HeavyShield (Blood Reserve, Kainaiwa Nation, AB), writer and filmmaker Cheryl Foggo (Calgary, AB), and dance choreographer Vicki Adams Willis (Calgary, AB), have been selected to receive the 2021 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Distinguished Artist Award.

Arlene Strom, chair of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Arts Awards Foundation said, “Albertans can be proud of these three whose contributions have pushed the boundaries of art to reflect Indigenous identity and expression; present a more inclusive and diverse view of Alberta’s history; and define the province as a beacon for jazz dance artists. Each has contributed immeasurably to the development of the province’s artists, arts communities and expanding art disciplines.”

Faye HeavyShield, Visual Arts

Over the past 30 years, Faye HeavyShield is one of Canada’s pre-eminent artists within Alberta and the Blackfoot Confederacy. Currently living on the Blood Reserve in southwestern Alberta, Faye studied at Alberta University for the Arts in Calgary. 

Honouring her Kainaiwa (Blood) Nation, the striking landscape they dwell within and the Blackfoot language which she speaks, Faye HeavyShield’s legacy of three-dimensional art and sculpture, including recent installations incorporating photography and delicately constructed paper figures, make her a senior figure in the artistic and cultural renaissance of Indigenous nations in the country. 

Cheryl Foggo, Playwright, screenwriter, film maker, author

Creating a more inclusive and diverse view of Alberta’s history through her plays, films, books, articles and multi-media presentations has been Cheryl Foggo’s life work. Profiled in Who’s Who in Black Canada and the recipient of the 2008 national Harry Jerome Award for The Arts, Foggo has applied her talent as a researcher and writer to uncovering the compelling but overlooked stories of Alberta’s Black settlers and cowboys. Most recently, the award winning National Film Board feature-length documentary, John Ware Reclaimed (2020), highlighted an earlier thriving Black community in the province often left out of the history books.

Her seminal, autobiographical book, Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place In The Canadian West was reprinted in 2020 to commemorate its 30th anniversary. In addition to her books, Cheryl Foggo has published prose in more than 40 journals and anthologies. Two new productions of Foggo‘s plays are scheduled in 2021 with the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and the Urgency Collective in Calgary, and her short play The Sender is currently available through Toronto’s Obsidian Company’s 21 Black Futures Project. As a cultural activist, mentor and volunteer she advocates for writers and Black artists.

Vicki Adams Willis, Performing Arts: Dance  

Vicki Adams Willis has changed the face of jazz dance in Alberta and Canada. A co-founder nearly 40 years ago of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD), she is foremost a teacher and choreographer of more than 35 original productions. Jazz dance is a misunderstood art form. Born of African parents and of the Black American experience, Vicki Adams Willis acknowledges herself as a guest in this form and has demonstrated her deep understanding of, and utter respect for, the authentic roots and history of jazz through her research, teaching and choreography. She is recognized as a true leader in the world of jazz; an acclaimed ground-breaking choreographer who created one of the most unique jazz dance companies in the world, and the key person to ensure Calgary, Alberta as a viable dance centre for serious jazz artists. 

“These three ground-breaking women have offered important contributions to the arts in Canada. Their creativity has brought new light to their respective disciplines and created countless opportunities for us all to learn, grow and explore fresh ideas. Artists like this are essential to the vibrancy of our communities and we are truly fortunate to have them as cultural leaders in our province and country as a whole.” Her Honour, the Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta 

Ceremony

The awards patron, the Honourable Salma Lakhani Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, will present the awards at a celebration hosted by the Community of Lac La Biche and Portage College, Lac La Biche campus, at an awards event June 10 and 11, 2022. This celebration in 2022 will also include recognition of the 2022 Emerging Artists.

The 2021 Distinguished Artists were chosen from nominations received and reviewed by a jury of experts overseen by the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. Jurors for the 2021 Distinguished Artist Awards were Mary-Beth Laviolette, visual arts curator and author; John Estacio, 2017 Distinguished Artist and JUNO nominated composer;  Seika Boye, scholar, writer, artist and Assistant Professor, University of Toronto, Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies; Jordan Abel, Nisga’a writer from Vancouver and Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta teaching Indigenous Literatures and Creative Writing.

Image provided by the Citadel Theatre

Alberta’s government is investing in the Citadel Theatre so that Albertans of all ages will be able to continue to enjoy the performing arts in Edmonton.

Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre is a performing arts hub in downtown Edmonton and an important partner in Alberta’s vibrant arts and culture scene. It draws both local and international visitors and productions to Edmonton while also offering programs to teach and encourage the next generation of creative voices.

As part of the Budget 2023 Capital Plan, Alberta’s government would provide the Citadel Theatre with $4 million to help fund its renewal project. Supporting the theatre’s renewal project will ensure it remains in top condition to provide a high-quality performance space for Alberta’s talented performers and continues to be a destination for world-renowned productions for years to come.

“The Citadel Theatre is a hub for the performing arts in Alberta. Through development of cultural infrastructure like the Citadel, we are creating jobs, helping to diversify our economy and building vibrant communities for all Albertans to enjoy.”

Jason Luan, Minister of Culture 

“This funding is absolutely transformational for the Citadel Theatre! As one of the gems of downtown Edmonton, the funds will be put towards capital infrastructure costs. We are really delighted, as this building has long needed this level of support. Thank you to the Government of Alberta for recognizing the Citadel Theatre and for their support of arts and culture in Edmonton.”

Sarah Pocklington, executive director, Citadel Theatre

Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre provides nearly 170,000 square feet of community space, and the project will see upgrades throughout the building.

Quick facts

•  The Citadel Theatre is one of the largest theatres in Canada and home to the Foote Theatre School.
• The Citadel Theatre renewal project includes: 
  • replacing elevators, window glazing and skylights, flooring and mechanical systems
  • renovating washrooms and adding stairlifts to increase accessibility
  • renovating the flexible hospitality venue

Related information

• The Citadel Theatre - Edmonton Theatre, Musicals & Plays
   

Indigenous relation to the land in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton) is the subject of a new artwork, Sipikiskisiw (Remembers Far Back) by Michelle Sound, which was coordinated by the Edmonton Arts Council and is currently being installed this week at the Edmonton Transit Service (ETS) shelter located at 10020-100 Street NW.

The transit shelter was recently renewed as the City of Edmonton works toward creating more safe, inclusive, and attractive public spaces for transit riders and the public.

Commissioned in 2022 under the City of Edmonton’s new Public Art Policy, the Edmonton Arts Council worked with three local Indigenous artists/curators to select an artist for this project. Edmonton Arts Council's Public Art Director David Turnbull said, “the new policy allows us to be flexible, responsive, and use curatorially-driven approaches to intentionally grow and develop a public art collection that is high quality, accessible, relevant, and representative of Edmonton’s diverse communities.” 

“We are pleased to partner with Edmonton Arts Council and artist Michelle Sound to display this Indigenous art – which tells a meaningful story of those who were here before Edmonton was a city – in our transit space,” said Carrie Hotton-MacDonald, Branch Manager of Edmonton Transit Service. “Supporting talented artists and displaying their beautiful works of art helps to create more vibrant transit spaces for everyone to enjoy, and this work adds to the inventory of public art and murals in transit spaces.”

Like Sound’s artwork often does, Sipikiskisiw (Remembers Far Back) explores her Cree and Métis identity from a personal experience rooted in family, place and history.

Her artwork for the ETS shelter uses torn copies of archival images of an Indian Affairs Papaschase reserve survey map from 1899 and a photograph taken prior to 1907 of Indigenous men and tipis on the grounds of Fort Edmonton. The artist then mended the torn imagery using embroidery thread, caribou tufting, porcupine quills and beadwork.

The rips in the images are meant to “show the colonial violence that Indigenous people have experienced, including residential schools, intergenerational trauma, loss of language, and displacement from our territories,” explains the artist.

The mending of the images doesn’t fully obscure the rips, shares Sound, just as “the loss, grief, longing, and memory cannot be fully mended and the resiliency required to survive colonialism is also messy and fragile. These losses can never be fully healed but we can process our histories and realities through art, culture and stories.”

In an article about the artwork, Emily Riddle – one of the curators of the project – writes that the land on which the ETS shelter now sits was an important outlook for Indigenous Peoples prior to the construction of downtown Edmonton. Said Riddle, “When the jury met, Michelle Sound was at the top of each of our lists of artists whose work we wanted to see in Edmonton...in stitching together these two archival records with threads, beads, rick rack and tufts, Michelle Sound asks us to imagine a restitched present while we are in transit. On the hill above the site of both these photos, we are very much embedded in this history and in the forever now of a Nehiyaw present.”