What should a modern arts centre be?
Arts Commons Transformation (ACT) - the largest arts-focused infrastructure project currently underway in Canada - is happening at a pivotal time in the growing city of Calgary. There is no better time to ask: What should an arts centre be in 2024 and beyond? And who should it serve?
Those questions united Arts Commons President & CEO Alex Sarian and Dave Werklund. A local Calgarian born and raised on a farm outside Valleyview, Alberta, where he learned how to take care of his community and the land he depended on, Dave challenged Alex to use this opportunity to lean into the connection between equitable access to the arts, education, and our collective health and wellbeing. Alex rose to the challenge.
Through many talks and shared meals over the years, they envisioned a truly transformational shift in the role of a modern arts centre in Canada—one that blends arts, education, social enterprise, and greater civic dialogue.
Marking the largest philanthropic gift to the performing arts in Canadian history
With immense gratitude, Arts Commons is humbled to accept a transformational gift of $75 million from Dave Werklund and family to support ACT and OPT, bringing project funding to $498.5 million of its $660 million goal. Arts Commons will invest the $75 million gift towards construction costs, create the Dave Werklund Education Wing, as well as establish four funds to support the sustainability of the following institutional priorities: education, accessibility, operations, and an ongoing endowment to rename Arts Commons as Werklund Centre in perpetuity, starting in the 2025-26 season.
A centre that is "of and for Calgary"
Revealed in April, 2024, design renderings for the expansion phase of ACT - including a new 1,000-seat theatre and 200-seat studio theatre - show a building inspired by Alberta's landscapes and Indigenous dwelling typologies and a new downtown destination that is "of and for Calgary."
As Werklund Centre, this gift ensures that this project will continue to be Calgarian to its core.
"Integrity, building trust and being a force for positive change is at the core of who I am. Those are the values that my family aspires to and that inspired us to make this contribution. Family, yours and mine, are the heart of every community. It is my sincere hope that Werklund Centre will be run with these principles in mind and through its innovative programs be a force for positive change, bringing families across all sectors of our communities together," says Dave Werklund.
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