While perhaps known to most as the gateway to Banff National Park, the site of the 1988 Winter Olympics and world-renowned Calgary Stampede, or as the Alberta boomtown whose thriving oil industry fueled such a rapid population explosion that it recently suffered a shortage of lumber to build new homes, Calgary is now gaining notoriety for a more-refined accolade—cultural boom.
“I think that one of the things about Calgary is that we would consider ourselves a young, dynamic city,” says Terry Rock, president and CEO of Calgary Arts Development, an organization that operates similar to an economic development group, but instead of supporting businesses invests in the arts and artists, and works with the local tourism industry to promote the cultural side of the city. “We have tons of world premieres every year, and some theater companies [located here], their whole reason for being is creating and showing new work. Pretty much every time of year in Calgary you can find new theater, both national and international.”
In fact, according to Rock, Maclean’s Magazine recently listed Calgary as the No. 1 city in Canada (with a population more than 1 million) in terms of cultural participation.
“It’s just one of those things that people don’t think about when they think about Calgary,” he says. “But if you think about the product that we’re offering, it’s absolutely driving people to get involved.”
Rock says Calgary is also the third-most-diverse city in Canada, has the youngest average age, and is one of the most educated.
All this and Calgary’s art is “accessible,” too, in that the cultural district is situated in a very confined, walkable area centered around Calgary Olympic Park and the historic district, full of live music and performance venues along with some of the best restaurants in the nation.
For a venue that combines art, food and history, Rock recommends a restored historic theater located downtown.
“The one that is really a jewel in Calgary is the Theatre Junction Grand, in the former Grand Theatre,” he says. “It was originally from 1912 and home to vaudeville shows, and a couple of years ago it was renovated, and has an amazing restaurant in the lobby. It’s one of the premier 400-seat venues, is absolutely flexible—with historic brick and reclaimed architectural features—and provides a real contemporary cultural experience that is popular with meetings at the end of the day.”
Rock says that visitors can expect to pop in on a music festival during just about any summer weekend, and January through March is when performance truly peaks, with its High Performance Rodeo offering theater, dance, music and multimedia presentations, and the Festival of New Canadian Plays.
“It’s winter and you’re thinking there’s nothing going on, but that’s one of the hottest times of the year in terms of contemporary art,” Rock says.
With arts seemingly exploding all over Calgary, one could also misperceive this major Alberta metro as a mere overnight sensation. Not so, according to Rock.
“It’s really been growing for 25 or 30 years,” he points out, “and people are just taking note right now because of our economic success.”
