Have you ever considered lending your business leadership skills to the board of an arts organization? Find your match with BoardLink!

On Thursday, May 6th, from 5pm until 8pm, some of Calgary’s most interesting arts & culture boards will be at The New Gallery. Art Central’s First Thursday will provide an intersting backdrop while you mingle with arts professionals, enjoy a drink and catch up with friends. The goal of BoardLink is to match young professionals with board positions in a quick, “speed-dating” format. Once you arrive, we’ll ask you to sign up to meet with your preferred boards in easy, five minute sessions – you can meet with each board alone, or with a small group.

The boards participating are:

• The Calgary Opera
• Calgary International Film Festival
• Calgary Underground Film Festival
• Decidedly Jazz Dance Works
• Springboard Dance Company
• The New Gallery
• Calgary Young People’s Theatre

There is no commitment required at the event, however there is a form we need you to fill out, asking you about your skills and what boards you are most interested in joining. There are a limited number of spots available, so come down early to ensure a spot.

We’re looking forward to seeing you there,

artsScene Calgary

On Thursday, April 29, Frontenac House will launch not four, but TEN poetry books at the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival.

As a prelude to the main event, join them at the Triangle Gallery, 104 – 800 Macleod Trail SE, Calgary

From  5:00 – 6:30 pm, there will be Frontenac’s 10th birthday toast, nibbles and a few prizes and surprises.

Then at 6:30 everyone will head over to the John Dutton Theatre, 616 Macleod Trail SE. All ten Dektet poets will read from their new work at the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival, 7 – 9 pm

• Attenuations of Force, Lori Cayer, Winnipeg, MB
• Children of Ararat, Keith Garebian, Mississauga, ON
• Confessions of an Empty Purse, S. McDonald, Toronto, ON
• ex nihilo, Adebe D. A., Toronto, ON
• Fallacies of Motion, William Nichols, Edmonton, AB
• Falling Blues, Jannie Edwards, Edmonton, AB
• Learning to Count, Douglas Burnet Smith, Antigonish, NS
• [sic] Nikki Reimer, Vancouver, BC
• Standoff Terrain, Jocko Benoit, Calgary, AB
• White Shirt, Laurie MacFayden, Edmonton, AB

Frontenac House would like to thank the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival and WordFest for their support. We appreciate the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Creative Development Initiative and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

artsScene Calgary is presenting BoardLink – a unique opportunity to connect young business professionals with board positions on various arts & culture boards in town.

Come out to The New Gallery on May’s First Thursday at 5pm and meet with boards from film, theater, dance and music to find a potential fit.

While the event is open to everyone, meetings will be scheduled on a first come, first serve basis, at the event. Please show up a few minutes early to claim your spot!

While not meeting with a board, enjoy a drink and wander through Art Central. Catch up with old friends and meet some new people!

Date: Thursday, May 6th, 201

Time: 5:00pm – 8:00pm

Location: The New Gallery, Art Central

A cool opportunity from our friends at DJD, definitely take advantage of this!

Friday Oct 2 8pm show + after show artist mingle

Exclusive offer: $55 show & cocktail at afterparty

Amin Tobin – the same acid jazz hot guy who does video game soundtracks and left crowds clammering to get in at the Orpheum in Vancouver this summer, hooked up with Kimberley Cooper DJD’s fiery red-head choreographer to come up with Wow and Flutter. It’s a gritty, groove-laden ride through an otherworldly realm that spanned from outer space to the bottom of the ocean. The show is back for two nights, after selling out in 2008.

To buy:
Call DJD Box Office: 403-245-3533 (monday to friday)
Mention: “Artscene deal” to get special price and afterparty admittance

A little known fact, Calgary is home to more than just cowboy boots, oil tycoons, steak and blow. The cool kids in Calgary have taken on a collaborative photobook to show you how they see the city. Thirty local photographers were asked what they would show someone that displayed the most important part of Calgary in one picture. The result is the yycPhotobook.

Duncan Kinney had the idea and says about the project, “Collaboration and community building are two of the most important skills for new media journalists. The yycPhotobook melded all my interests into one interesting project.” He got Conner Turner, of Armadillo Studios to agree to design the book for him, then used Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to organize meetings, build buzz and to vet the pictures. Blurb, an online custom publisher, is printing the books and handling the shipping.

A great example of people working together to build community, the photographers decided all profits from the book will go to Brown Bagging It For Calgary’s Kids, a Calgary charity that provides healthy meals to under-privileged school age children.

yycPhotobook launch party

Yes, there’s a party and yes, you should probably go. Why? Because there’s reasonably priced beer and wine and some light refreshments. Also because you can meet the contributing photographers and get a sneak peek of the book. The yycPhotobook launch party is on Sept. 18, 7pm at Venturion at 214 11th Ave. SE.

Launch party details can be found here.

The website for the project can be found here.

A preview of the book can be found here.

Over 150 young creative and business professionals came to the artsScene Calgary Launch Party on June 25. We joined forces with the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts at Axis Gallery and Sled Island Music Festival at the Palomino Club.  The  2009 inductees of the RCA were featured at Art Central, and the Axis of Conversation, The Pack A.D., Analog Bell Service and Brasstronaut played to a sold-out audience at the Palomino. Here are some pics from the evening!

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On May 26, 2009, after months of planning, we finally launched artsScene Edmonton and artsScene Calgary! We were fortunate to be joined by the Honourable Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture and Community Spirit, along with Nichole Anderson, President/CEO of Business for the Arts, who flew out from Toronto to celebrate the day with us. Check out more pics from the event here! Special thanks to 3TEN for the great photos and to The Citadel Theatre for hosting us!

Michael Brechtel, artsScene Edmonton Co-Chair

The Honourable Lindsay Blackett, Minister of Culture & Community Spirit

Nichole Anderson, President & CEO of Business for the Arts

Ken Bautista, Chair, artsScene Alberta Organizing Committee