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Getting Started on the PeoplePuzzle with Wakefield Brewster

, Oct 23, 2023

If you know, you know! For those who haven’t experienced the TD Amplify series, tucked away in the Engineered Air Theatre is a groundbreaking showcase of local talent. Mentored through the TD Incubator program, these interdisciplinary artists blend artforms both on stage and off. The first performance, Wakefield Brewster Presents, Pt. 1 showcases Adetola “aloT of Poetry” Adedipe, Jiajia Li, Jocelyn Mah & James Watson, and Mandy Morris. Learn more here!

This year’s TD Amplify series is guided by the artistic vision of Wakefield Brewster. Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster is not a fresh face in the artistic community. Since moving to Calgary 18 years ago, he has been racking up awards and recognition for his outstanding spoken word and poetry pieces and has had no desire to move to the traditional artistic epicentres of Canada, like Toronto or Montreal: “I couldn’t have done this anywhere else,” he says, “there is something very special about Calgary.” And now, as Arts Commons’ newest Incubator Fellow, Wakefield aims to encourage Calgary’s budding artists to grow where they are planted.

“There is something about Calgary’s artistic community that is changing the reputation, the name, and the face of Calgary.... We are keeping the hometown heroes home.”  — Wakefield Brewster

It is through his mentorship in the program – which he has gleefully compared to “X-Men school” – that he will provide opportunities for a cohort of local artists to flourish, the program’s largest group yet. First up in the public performance series is Wakefield Brewster Presents, Pt. 1, featuring Adetola “aloT of Poetry” Adedipe, Jiajia Li, Jocelyn Mah, James Watson, and Mandy Morris. Each with their own artistic disciplines, these artists are coming together in the first show of the TD Amplify series to assemble a “PeoplePuzzle”, a concept conceived by Wakefield.  

Described by Wakefield as “curated by connection, forged in a deeply personal foundry of familiarity”, PeoplePuzzles are made up of many different pieces, originating from many different “spaces, places, and people unexpected”. And like any good puzzle, there is some assembly required. Want to find out about how you can work on completing your own PeoplePuzzle?

Join Wakefield and a talent group of multi-disciplinary artists to learn part by part, starting with Part 1 on November 19th and 20th in the Engineered Air Theatre, and learn more about Wakefield’s vision here.  

In one sentence, Courtney is a lover of learning, musicals, and adventures. In more detail, she is the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at Arts Commons. Courtney currently holds a Master's degree in Arts Leadership, and Bachelor’s degree in Communications for Cultural and Creative Industries. Having relocated to Calgary from the farming village of Zurich, Ontario, Courtney is thrilled to be within driving distance of the mountains, and walking distance of everything else.

 

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