Community Engagement | Arts Commons

Producing & Engagement

Producing and Engagement at Arts Commons supports equitable and inclusive opportunities for diverse communities in Calgary to converse, create, and celebrate. Through transparent and flexible partnerships, we are working with established organizations and grassroots groups to create arts-based workshops that create connections to and amplify the voices of under-served communities.

The term ‘diverse communities’ or ‘underserved communities’ is – yes – very broad. However, we use these terms in an attempt to describe the complex network of communities that make-up Calgary. The organizations, groups, or participants may self-identify with one or more ‘diverse’ or ‘underserved’ communities, such as: an ethno-cultural community (e.g. Asian Canadians, Indigenous nations), an ability-based community (e.g. deaf/hard-of-hearing, developmental disability), a sexual-minority/gender-variant community (e.g. queer, non-gender conforming), an age-defined community (e.g. seniors), an artistic community (e.g. interdisciplinary performance), and there are of course many others.

If you are interested in connecting with Arts Commons for support in leading an arts-based activity that serves your community please don’t hesitate to reach out.

All questions, comments or concerns can be directed to:

Joshua Dalledonne
Producing and Engagement Associate, Arts Commons
jdalledonne@artscommons.ca
403-294-7455 ext. 1451

Arts Commons Cabarets

Curated by diverse artists at the edge of their practice, these cabaret style events introduce new perspectives, connections and collaborations in the intimate Engineered Air Theatre. Expect casual collisions of artists, ideas and audiences. Expect to leave different.

To learn more, visit the Arts Commons Cabarets Page.

Action Dignity – Our Canada Our Story

Re-imagined from its first successful production, Our Canada Our Story combines song, spoken word, theatre, dance, and more to show the many faces and stories that define our home. Action Dignity and Arts Commons partner to bring the voices of underserved communities into focus in this community arts spectacle.

Date: Feb 1, 2019; 2:00pm and 7:30pm
Location: Martha Cohen Theatre.

Tickets and more information available soon!

Philippines Festival Council of Alberta – Youth Empowerment Program

The Youth Empowerment Program (YEP) is a project of the Philippine Festival Council of Alberta (PFCA), the organization behind the annual Fiesta Filipino in Calgary, in partnership with Arts Commons.

YEP is all about youth engagement through hands-on experience of Filipino-Canadian culture. It gives emphasis to young Filipinos integrating and settling in the Canadian setting through (1) hands-on experience of Filipino arts and culture, (2) increasing young people’s sense of belonging in Canadian culture and sense of Filipino Canadian identity, as well as (3) promoting leadership, diversity, professionalism and creativity. This year, YEP will embrace the PFCA’s theme of Kapit-Bisig (Strength in Unity).

For more information, please visit:

The YEP Fiesta Filipino registration site, or
The Fiesta Filipino website.

National Indigenous Peoples Day Celebrations

A free, all-ages, celebration of Indigenous culture in support of Canada’s Indigenous National Peoples Day on June 21 and National Indigenous History Month (June). Families are encouraged to join the free drop-in sessions at any time to learn and take part in different Indigenous songs and dances, while the Mini Pow Wow is a great first-look into the rich Pow Wow scene occurring here in Mohkinstsis – the traditional name for Calgary – and across North America. We hope that these events spark an interest and desire for families to celebrate Indigenous Culture year-round.

Date: June 18, 2020
Location: Arts Learning Centre & Centre Court

More information available soon!

National Indigenous Peoples Day Celebrations
Location: Jack Singer Rehearsal Hall & Arts Learning Centre
Date: June 20, 2019

Arts Commons is excited to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day a bit early on June 20th with FREE events for families and all-ages throughout the day. Families with young children (18-months and older) are encouraged to join Chantal Chagnon in the morning to learn and try drumming, while Shirley Hill shares Indigenous dance styles and Niitsitapi (Blackfoot) Storytelling in the afternoon. Over lunch, our Mini Pow Wow will host dancers from across the Treaty 7 region and internationally recognized Pow Wow drummers, Eya Hey Nakoda.

Families are welcome to join the FREE drop-in sessions or Mini Pow Wow at any time, and are free to leave when they need. While the workshops are best suited for families with young children, the Mini Pow Wow is suitable for all-ages. National Indigenous Peoples Day at Arts Commons is a great way for all Calgarians to take part in the traditions and celebrations that continue to be a part of our shared home since time immemorial.

CineMusic Live: The Many Faces of Jimmy Stewart
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: Jun 2, 2019

CineMusic Live is a performance collective bringing together an array of media artists, local musicians, and improvisers, who edit, re-score, and redub films to create a live, mixed-media performance. During their short-term residency, CineMusic Live explores whether various filmographic appearances of a single actor's face - Jimmy Stewart - can be successfully stitched together into one cohesive story. With familiar visuals colliding and creating unexpected combinations and juxtapositions, CineMusic Live will present an entirely new and unpredictable experience.

Happenings Late Night
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: May 17, 2019

This late night art-party takes its cues from the Surrealist and Dadaist events of the 1940’s and is tailored to adults with an appetite for the unusual. A combination of performances, music, and art-activations transform the Engineered Air Theatre into an all-night party. Audiences are encouraged to take-in the buffet of art-offerings until they’re ready to burst.

Labelled by Action Dignity’s Youth PLACE
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: April 27, 2019

In a world increasingly aware and sensitive to issues such as systemic racism and colonialism, intergenerational trauma, and sexism; how can we as individuals create safer spaces to both acknowledge the truth and pains of the past, while empowering ourselves in the present to move forward with hope for the future? This performance – conceived and performed by racialized youth from Action Dignity’s Youth PLACE program – dives into the core of these pressing issues that divide and disconnect people. Journey with us as we bravely navigate these questions with openness, vulnerability, authenticity, and community.

Love Notes Cabaret
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: 12, 2019

After a highly successful event last year, artistic matchmaker Harpreet M Dayal brings Love Notes back to Arts Commons. At this FREE event, poets flirt with painters, dancers, and musicians, creating a love note to Calgary and sharing it with the universe and beyond.

Preamp – Short Term Residency – Article 11
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: Mar 25 – 31, 2019

This short-term residency is dedicated to developing the partly autobiographical piece Room. An environmental and durational performance by Tara Beagan (Ntlaka’pamux) and Andy Moro (Omuskego Cree) of ARTICLE 11. ARTICLE 11 is an Indigenous arts activist creation and production company founded by these two artists in 2013, and this workshop of Room is the first-step in what is being conceived as a grand-scale performance installation project.

We Gon Be Alright Cabaret
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: Feb 22 & 23, 2019

The margins of the Black community move to the front and center. We Gon Be Alright is a cabaret experience highlighting the resilience of Black women and Queer Black folks in tumultuous and uncertain times. Through the challenging and provocative visions of five Black artists, we reimagine the past and look to the future.

Preamp – Short Term Residency - The F Word
Location: Engineered Air Theatre
Date: Jan 21 – 27, 2019

Bianca Miranda and Keshia Cheesman, performers and co-creators of The F Word (the f word, in this case, being “fat”), along with director, designer and songwriter Kathryn Smyth continue to play, experiment and develop this one-act show confronting fatphobia, diet culture, and celebrating their personal journeys.