CANMORE – ArtsPlace taps into the community’s creative reservoir with its fourth annual Festival of Art and Creativity from Sept. 27-29.
The Canmore-based event is also part of the larger province-wide Alberta Culture Days, which takes place each year on the last weekend of September.
“One of our biggest goals with the festival is to engage the community in an interactive way and to give them an opportunity to experience the arts and really to take part, to participate," said artsPlace communications manager Paula Krupa. "So all of our workshops and activities that are happening here are interactive and hands on."
With an emphasis on interaction and engaging the community in arts, artsPlace is opening its interactive exhibit, the Space Between Moments, the weekend before the Alberta Culture Days.
The interactive art display will feature exhibits in partnership with Innovate Canmore, Mountain Maker Madness, Mind Matter Media Lab from the University of Calgary and the Palliative Care Society in the Bow Valley.
With the Space Between Moments people can add their own creativity to the exhibit in order to create one big community art piece.
“It highlights our individuality where we can kind of express ourselves in ways that we want to, but also it highlights that we are part of a bigger community and then we can create something together,” Krupa said.
From Sept. 27-29, the Canmore Festival of Art and Creativity will start off the fall arts weekend with a Community Campfire Kickoff Party. Community members can gather around the campfire for roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate from local food vendors accompanied with storytelling, a dance performance from First Nations and live music from headlining act Shred Kelly and local Bow Valley musicians, Northern Quarter.
On Saturday (Sept. 28), explore artisanal crafts and food vendors with the Mountain Made Market located right in the artsPlace parking lot from 10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Each day of the event will feature art workshops and demonstrations run by community organizations including spin bike painting, Try-it Wheel Throwing, Clay Play Workshop and a 3D printing workshop with the CHAOSMakers Lab.
Live performances include Dance Play from Jillian Danielson and Canmore Dance Corps at noon followed by the sing along puppet show, Hullabaloo! from Entangled Puppetry with some special puppet guests.
Wrapping up the day will be The Seven Stars from the Smalleyes family of the Stoney Nakoda First Nation, which includes Indigenous storytelling through contemporary and traditional dance.
“One performance in the festival that I'm really looking forward to is The Seven Stars by the Smalleyes family. Samantha Smalleyes ... [her eight children] and her husband, it's been their lifelong dream to share their culture and share their creativity in a performance like this,” said program manager Nicole Fougère.
The Seven Stars will have two showtimes, one starting at 3:30 p.m. and the final performance at 7 p.m.
Art and Creativity continues on into Sunday (Sept. 29) with even more entertaining performances including a presentation from Banff Centre’s musicians in residence, cultural dances from Peru presented by AYLLU and two theatrical plays, Grizzly Bear Shakedown and Pine Tree Player’s reprise of Robin Hood: Prince of Outlaws.
Finishing off the weekend festivities is the Bike Shorts Film Festival. Presented by Canmore Community Cruisers, the film festival features shorts passionate about cycling.
“ArtsPlace is a place where community meets creativity and the festival is the highlight of that mission statement. So it has to be community created and it has to be filled to the brim with community participation,” Fougère said.
Go to artsplacecanmore.com for more details.
