Originally published on Jan. 16, 2021 at CBC Calgary. In the summer, with half of Memorial Drive in Calgary shut down to traffic, a group of protesters set up near the Peace Bridge to draw attention to a bewildering array of grievances. One sign attacked Justin Trudeau, another warned of 5G networks, some supported oil and … Continue reading COVID denialism and the Alberta context
Calgary
The quiet of Calgary’s 2013 flood
When Calgary was hit by a devastating flood in the spring of 2013, the city of over one million people turned into a virtual ghost town in the inner neighbourhoods and downtown. The silence was eery and there was nothing but space for roaming roadways normally choked with traffic. All photos by Drew Anderson
Incarceration and freedom with Kent Monkman
For those of us who live here, the Calgary Stampede can be many things — beer-soaked debauchery, greasy food, the midway, the rodeo, or simply a time to get the hell out of the city. For artist Kent Monkman, however, the Stampede represents something else entirely. Commissioned by the Glenbow to create an installation based … Continue reading Incarceration and freedom with Kent Monkman
Wreck City artists run amok in Sunnyside
Wherever there is cheap space, you’ll find artists. Detroit is a great example. As the city empties and houses are abandoned, property is bottom-barrel cheap and artists move in. There are blocks of decorated houses because, well, what else is anybody going to do with them. Calgary? Not so cheap. Yet, if you wander along … Continue reading Wreck City artists run amok in Sunnyside
Looking back on Calgary’s year as Cultural Capital
Let’s get one thing out of the way right at the beginning. Calgary 2012, as in the people who form the organization, had an impossible task. How do you organize, create, fund and promote Calgary’s year as a cultural capital of Canada and please everybody? Well, you don’t. It’s one of the flaws of the … Continue reading Looking back on Calgary’s year as Cultural Capital
Defined by what is not: Unbuilt Calgary
The great myth of Calgary is one of big open spaces that breed big ideas, fed by a relentless entrepreneurial spirit, but is that the reality? Somewhere in the ether between open sky and concrete, Calgary’s bold aspirations collide with an inbred conservatism that stops and asks: Yes, but how much does it cost? It’s … Continue reading Defined by what is not: Unbuilt Calgary
Pennies for culture: Transformation Calgary wants to build a better city
George Brookman isn’t the kind of guy you’d expect to be advocating for a sales tax. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, the typical Calgary businessman who’s, well, all business. Down-to-earth and direct, he realizes that he and his organization, Transformation Calgary, have a lot of selling to do in order to win over this city’s tax-averse … Continue reading Pennies for culture: Transformation Calgary wants to build a better city
Big ideas we’d like to see
When compiling this list, we asked ourselves: what kind of city, province and country do we want? What ideas would help get us there? This list is by no means comprehensive, but intended to start a discussion about where we’re going and where we should go. Have you got your own big ideas? Let us … Continue reading Big ideas we’d like to see
Bob Edwards: Early Calgary’s boozy bad boy
We are greatly depressed that an apparent abundance of our fellow citizens have never been blessed to know the writings of the late, great Bob Edwards. If there was a thing such as justice in this great city (without the need for the proper coinage to purchase it), those who don’t know of this Calgary … Continue reading Bob Edwards: Early Calgary’s boozy bad boy
Questioning Calgary’s arts party
The federal government kicked in $1.6 million, the city one-upped them with $2 million and the province gave $250,000, with another $500,000 set aside to match corporate donations. It’s a tidy sum of money, all earmarked for arts and culture after Calgary was named the cultural capital of Canada (okay, one of the cultural capitals; … Continue reading Questioning Calgary’s arts party
Drew Anderson 