All in AC@Home

It's all about Strawberries & Peaches

It's all about Strawberries & Peaches

Alex Bonyun
AC@Home, Artist Perspectives, Arts Commons Presents, Behind the Scenes, Inspiring Stories

This February, Arts Commons Presents: TD Amplify Cabarets return! Each of these popular cabaret-style performances feature a different cast of amazing local talent that have inspired, challenged, and energized audiences with dance, music, poetry, and performance art in the intimate space of the Engineered Air Theatre. As with so many events right now, this first presentation of the TD Amplify Cabaret series, Strawberries & Peaches will feel a little different, streamed virtually direct to your home rather than live in the theatre.

What does it take to be a virtual Artist-in-Residence?

What does it take to be a virtual Artist-in-Residence?

Jenny Peters
AC@Home, Artist Perspectives, Behind the Scenes, Learning Through the Arts

It’s been 10 months since Arts Commons teaching artists started to navigate virtual instruction and adapt their livelihoods to the virtual realm, unable to work directly with teachers and students in schools and onsite at Arts Commons or in their studios. And with growth mindset in mind, they have inevitable developed new best practices for creating interactive virtual arts education.

We reached out to teaching artists from the visual and performing arts to talk about what sort of constraints they have overcome and new joys they have discovered in keeping children and youth inspired and connected through the arts.

Stitching Together Social Connection

Stitching Together Social Connection

Alex Bonyun
AC@Home, Visual and Media Arts, Artist Perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic has, among other things, contributed a great deal of isolation for many members of our Calgary community, but for some people, this isolation was always a way of life, and has only become stronger with the enforcement of widespread social restrictions. Penny Gunderson is a local artist who works in a number of different art mediums including slow stitching, encaustic or hot wax painting, fibre, and fabric printing. Her interest has recently turned towards the problem of isolation and the importance of women being able to connect with other women for social and cultural support.

Visual Arts Goes Virtual: A look inside the creation of the 360 tours

Visual Arts Goes Virtual: A look inside the creation of the 360 tours

Celina Vides
AC@Home, Behind the Scenes, Visual and Media Arts

During the pandemic, we have seen the temporary closure of museums, galleries, and exhibition spaces. For these entities, the work to keep audiences engaged could be said to be relatively easy as they work with highly visual pieces that can be shared online. But as an avid museum attendee, I know there is more to the experience of art than just flipping through pictures on a website.

In our current world, what can cultural organizations do to bring back these immersive experiences? The answer is not as simple as you might think.

Flex Ave and the Art of Flexn

Flex Ave and the Art of Flexn

Josh Dalledonne
AC@Home, Arts Commons Presents, Artist Perspectives, Behind the Scenes, Inspiring Stories

There may be a few reasons that the dance style Flexn could seem familiar to you. Maybe you’re a culture-vulture that took note when New York City’s newest performance venues, The Shed, invited Flexn artists in residence for its inaugural season; or perhaps you caught Flexn as part of Beyonce’s 2018 Coachella performance. Regardless of whether you’ve seen or heard about Flexn before, what becomes clear when you witness this dance is that it’s a powerful grassroots form of movement that connects performers and audiences through kinetic stories and characters that are both deeply personal and wholly universal.

Behind the Scenes of Calgary Phil's Virtual Concert Series

Behind the Scenes of Calgary Phil's Virtual Concert Series

Maureen McNamee
Calgary Philharmonic, Behind the Scenes, AC@Home

Not long after COVID-19 shut down live performances last spring, it became clear the Calgary Philharmonic would not be able to present its 2020/2021 Season to live audiences as planned. The focus quickly shifted to creating the quality musical experiences people from our community and beyond were seeking online. Fortunately, due to the live-stream initiative launched by the Orchestra in 2017, all the people and pieces needed to record virtual concerts were already in place — and the musicians were eager to start playing again.

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