CANMORE – Canmore may be far from the Playa, but not far from Burning Man culture.
HeARTburn is a Burning Man-inspired volunteer-run event put together by volunteers that features an art exhibition and a Valentine’s party giving ravers a night of connection, dancing and partying.
“The mission of heARTburn is creating community through art. And that looks like taking over artsPlace here for a single event, that includes two stages from acoustic music and a cafe that we pop up in the ceramics room, and then the art gallery is one part of that event,” said Hannah Antonsen, heARTburn art team lead.
The gallery, which features the work of 28 artists and community members, showcases art on and off the walls of artsPlace. From metal jellyfish to paper mâché masks, the art represents a community effort to create a unique arrangement of creativity.
“We have a bunch of different stuff this year. We have sculptures, mixed media, metal work, woodwork, ceramic, elements with light. We’re always interested in interactive art, so we have a few pieces like that this year,” said Antonsen.
The gallery is available for viewing until Feb. 11.
An opening reception for the art exhibition will be held Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. to 1 a.m., featuring live art, performances and music. Entry is by donation, which will go to support the Eagle’s Nest Stoney Family Shelter.
“If you're familiar with artsPlace, when you see it on heARTburn, it is a completely different space than it is typically,” said Antonsen. “The space is just completely transformed by the team.”
Following the opening reception, on Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m., burners and like-minded individuals will gather at artsPlace for an evening of community connection and raving.
“It's creating a celebration around arts and music and seeing a whole bunch of people come and enjoy it and seeing so many collaborations and so many different aspects in one space that then makes it such a vibrant interesting event,” said Simon Ham, heARTburn treasurer.
For the main event, tickets will go on sale Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. on the heARTburn website, https://heartburn.love/.
Using part of the tickets sales, heARTburn can fund artists that participated in the exhibition with its own grant program. With sales from last year, the group was able to support 13 artists.
“That's important to us to be able to support the art,” said Antonsen.
