Free This Week

An immersive soundwalk with New Works Calgary. A stop-motion animation workshop at Sparrow Artspace. A conversation between award-winning authors Francine Cunningham and Wayne Arthurson. All part of this week’s free arts offerings!

Wünderbriefs

Until March 24, 2024
Various venues
Free to watch

The Wünderbriefs are short pop-up mask or puppet interactions. Crafted from the whimsy of a suitcase, or the box of an old radio, or the charm of a wagon, these are not just mini shows — they’re spectacles, marvels, the very essence of animated extraordinary. Check them out as part of the Festival of Animated Objects! And learn more about the festival in our latest Living a Creative Life videos.
maskandpuppet.com

Emily Phernambucq with Augustine Yates

March 20, 2024, 12:10 – 1pm
Cathedral Church of the Redeemer (604 1 St. SE)
Free to attend

Emily Phernambucq is a talented soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Canadian pianist Augustine Yates shines as both a composer and performer. Their ProArts@Noon concert features the Prokofiev Sonata for flute and piano as well as some of Yate’s original compositions!
proartssociety.ca

Nickle at Noon – Kay Burns: How to Lie with Maps

March 21, 2024, 12 – 1pm
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (435 Campus Lane NW)
Free to attend

Although perceived as factual documents, maps have a curious history of including misrepresentations with intention and by accident. From early marine expeditions, to Google maps, to western Canadian colonialism and land speculation, multidisciplinary artist and researcher Kay Burns explores this peculiarity and the reasons behind cartographic fallibility and misinformation.
events.ucalgary.ca

Single Onion #200

March 21, 2024, 7 – 9pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4 St. SW)
Free to attend

The Single Onion presents an event celebrating Indigenous poets, featuring Cobra Collins, Francine Cunningham, Henry Heavyshield and Tapisa Kilabuk. Make sure to join them!
shelflifebooks.ca

Mary Beth Laviolette: Curator’s Tour of Harry Mitsuo Kiyooka

March 22, 2024, 1 – 2pm
Nickle Galleries, University of Calgary (435 Campus Lane NW)
Free to attend

Mary Beth Laviolette, curator of Nickle Galleries’ latest exhibition, HARRY MITSUO KIYOOKA – Artist. Educator. Activist (1928 – 2022), offers an intimate tour of the exhibition and discusses Kiyooka’s 70-year career as a painter, printmaker, instructor and community builder.
events.ucalgary.ca

Drop-in Puppet Lab

March 22, 2024, 1 – 4pm
Sparrow Artspace (36 4 St. NE)
Free to participate

Discover the boundless possibilities of puppetry at this hands-on Puppet Lab with Jenny Dale Stables. Unleash your creativity as you explore a range of materials to craft your own unique puppet, then bring it to life on the interactive puppet stage.
sparrowartspace.com

Open Studio for 55+

March 22, 2024, 1 – 4pm
Contemporary Calgary (701 11 St. SW)
Free to attend, registration required

Contemporary Calgary’s Open Studio for 55+ on Fridays in March invites participants to bring projects they are currently engaged in, or ideas and materials for projects, offering the opportunity to work with the support of peers and a facilitator with a background in visual art.
contemporarycalgary.com

Cell-uloid Workshop

March 22, 2024, 4 – 6pm
Sparrow Artspace (36 4 St. NE)
Free to participate

Learn with local animators Chantal Beaulne and Sacha Michaud about the basics of stop-motion animation! Participants can look forward to creating their own main character out of plasticine and easy-to-source materials and composing their own animation on their cell phones.
sparrowartspace.com

Shibboleth — Opening Reception

March 22, 2024, 7 – 9pm
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. S)
Free to attend

In Shibboleth, Pedro Barbáchano reframes the collections of institutional museums. Through his use of sculpture and photographic mediation, Barbáchano imagines how communities that have been historically persecuted can emerge and maintain their voices. Check out the opening!
thenewgallery.org

Contemporary Kids: Landscape, City and Collage

March 24, 2024, 1 – 2:30pm or 3 – 4:30pm
Contemporary Calgary (701 11 St. SW)
Free to attend, registration required

Inspired by the exhibition Surface by Anton Ginzburg at Contemporary Calgary, this hands-on collage workshop invites kids to explore the fun of collaborative collage, while considering ideas related to composition, landscape in city planning, and how we relate to the city in which we reside.
contemporarycalgary.com

Soundwalk with Andrés Porras Verwaayen

March 24, 2024, 2 – 3pm
Start Point: Olympic Plaza (228 8 Ave. SE)
Free to participate, registration required

On this soundwalk, Andrés Porras Verwaayen sparks a historical discussion of significant Calgary locations — as places for gathering and celebration, as sites of protest. While considering their cultural significance, participants may ponder the use of “voice” within these spaces, while considering which voices have historically been the loudest.
showpass.com

Writers-in-Residence in Conversation

March 26, 2024, 7 – 9pm
RGO Treehouse, cSPACE Marda Loop (1721 29 Ave. SW)
Free to attend

Don’t miss your chance to see these two award-winning authors on the same stage! Francine Cunningham and Wayne Arthurson will read from their respective works and be in dialogue with one another. A book signing will follow the event
eventbrite.ca

NORMA: Book Launch

March 26, 2024, 7 – 9pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4 St. SW)
Free to attend

Join Shelf Life Books and Invisible Publishing for the Calgary launch of Sarah Mintz’s NORMA. Sarah will be in conversation with Shelf Life Book’s very own Kenn Enns. Don’t miss it!
shelflifebooks.ca

Antyx Youth Programming

Ongoing
Various venues
Free to participate

Antyx Community Arts invites Youth ages 12 – 18 to participate in a number of their programs focused on providing safe spaces for creative expression including their mural projects, Youth Arts Action, The Film Lab and more!
antyx.ca