Free This Week
Get out and about with these great events
- Price: Free
With a broad swath of free events to choose from this week, there’s a number of very cool ways to get out of the house without breaking the bank. Here’s what we’re hitting up:
Red Phone Project
January 23 – 27, 2018, 7:00pm
Laycraft Lounge, Arts Commons (2nd Floor, 225 8th Ave. SE)
Free
Allowing anyone to engage in urgent, touching, and uplifting conversations that prominent Canadian writers think we should all be having, the Red Phone Project is part theatre and part social intervention. Showcased at High Performance Rodeo, only two audience members are allowed at a time, so get ready to grab a drink at the Laycraft Lounge and participate in this one-of-a-kind performance.
hprodeo.ca
ProArts@Noon Series
January 24, 2018, 12:10 – 12:50pm
Cathedral Church of the Redeemer (604 1st St. SE)
Free
Lunch hour has never been so good! For three Wednesdays in January, grab your food and head to Cathedral Church of the Redeemer to enjoy free performances as part of the High Performance Rodeo. This week you can hear the Middle East Meets Klezmer Project—a musical project dedicated to exploring the colourful and vast klezmer tradition (Eastern European Jewish wedding music) and related styles.
proartssociety.ca
Baconfest
January 24, 2018, 6:00 – 8:00pm
John Dutton Theatre, Calgary Public Library (616 Macleod Trail SE)
Free
Calgary’s favourite Urban Planning Film Festival returns for its fifth year. The brainchild of The City’s General Manager of Urban Strategy Rollin Stanley, Baconfest brings together thought-provoking screenings and conversations in celebration of renowned architect and planner Ed Bacon. This week includes a screening of Through My Eyes.
calgary.ca
An Evening of Celebration of Reflection and Flow
January 25, 2018, 6:30pm
Canyon Meadows Aquatic & Fitness Centre (89 Canova Rd. SW)
Free
Join The City of Calgary for this celebration of Reflection and Flow, a new series of artworks by Michael Grills of Union Illustration Company. Free and open to all, refreshments will be served.
facebook.com
La Nuit des Idées
January 25, 2018, 6:30pm
Alliance Française, cSPACE King Edward (3rd Floor, 1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free, registration required
A French worldwide cultural event, this collaborative and artistic creation consists of assembling natural elements on a wide circular paper. Folded and then burnt or buried at the end of the colourful ceremony, the evening hopes to bring people together to build a new future.
afcalgary.ca
Indigenous Design Thinking: Pathways and Approaches
January 25, 2018
MacEwan Hall, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free, registration required
Presented by the Faculty of Environmental Design, this is the first major event following the launch of the University of Calgary’s Indigenous Strategy ii’ taa’ poh’ to’ p. The day focuses on pathways to careers in design for indigenous students and indigenous approaches to design, and is open to the public.
evds.ucalgary.ca
Crossroads: Deserts, Mountains and the Sea
January 25, 2018, 10:00am
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre (850 4th St. SE)
Free
Join the National Music Centre for a new cross-cultural concert series, kicking off with an all-day music festival at Studio Bell. Featuring Amir Amiri and Carl Berger, the first edition explores the Jewish-Canadian experience through music and visitors can enjoy free youth-focused performances and education workshops.
studiobell.ca
Legislating Love Workshop Reading
January 25, 2018, 6:00pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
Free, donations accepted at the door
Join Sage Theatre and explore a fresh draft of Natalie Meisner’s newest play, Legislating Love: The Evert Klippert Story. Produced in conjunction with Third Street Theatre and the Calgary Gay History Project, see this workshop reading before the full production is staged in March.
facebook.com
The Unravelling with Clem and Olivier Martini
January 25, 2018, 6:30pm
Main Floor Salon, Memorial Park Library (1221 2nd St. SW)
Free, registration required
With anger, dry humour, and hope, The Unravelling tells the story of one family’s journey with mental illness, dementia, and caregiving. Made up of a poignant graphic narrative from Olivier Martini accompanied by text from his brother, award-winning playwright and novelist Clem Martini, don’t miss this free reading.
calgarypubliclibrary.com
FreeFall Magazine Issue Launch
January 25, 2018, 7:00pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free
Launching its upcoming issue, join the FreeFall Literary Society of Calgary for a night of readings and presentations.
facebook.com
Art Now: Renellta Arluk
January 26, 2018, 10:00 – 11:30am
Art Building 672, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free
Reneltta Arluk shares insight from being a young Indigenous girl growing up in the Northwest Territories to finding her way into the arts using nothing but gut instinct and a naive determination to see what’s out there. Part of the University of Calgary Department of Art’s visiting artist and scholar series, this lecture explores how life experience and identity can bring us to places we never thought possible.
art.ucalgary.ca
Welcome to 2018 Glass Sale
January 26 – 28, 2018
Bee Kingdom Glass (427 22nd Ave. NW)
Free
With glassblowing demonstrations and a glass sale, explore Bee Kingdom Glass’ studio shop and find colourful drinking glasses, assorted vases, scotch glasses, decanters, and decorative sculpture.
facebook.com
How Can You Think That?!? Political Bookclub
January 27, 2018, 10:00am
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free
A book club for conservatives and liberals who want to get out of their echo chambers and bridge the great divide, buy Laura Kipnis’ Unwanted advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus, read it, and join in this lively discussion.
facebook.com
Open Studio: Pamela Norrish
January 29, 2018, 5:30 – 7:30pm
CAAF Studio, cSPACE King Edward (1721 29th Ave. SW)
Free
Pamela Norrish’s favourite writers have the ability to put their experience into a text so fully that it makes the reader feel like it happened to them. She hopes to do this in her artwork, to share something private and without shame, and has used her CAAF residency to explore ideas surrounding abundance, emotion, and repose.
facebook.com
Recognition
January 29 – February 2, 2018
AB 621, University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free
Featuring more than 100 artworks created through social practice community workshops as part of Dick Averns’ public art project Recognition… Validation… Reassurance… Art + Mental Wellness, this popup is presented in conjunction with Bell Let’s Talk Day.
facebook.com
Lecture with Visiting Artist Dayna Danger
January 30, 2018, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Gallery Hall, Taylor Family Digital Library, University of Calgary (410 University Ct. NW)
Free
In this visiting artist lecture, Big Racks, Black Masks, Dayna Danger questions the line between empowerment and objectification. Utilizing photography, sculpture, performance, and video, Danger claims space with her larger than life scale work.
facebook.com
