In the spring of 2008, Beth Gignac from the City of Calgary Arts and Culture department contacted individuals working within the homeless serving sector to talk about homelessness and the arts and what the city could do to support our work in creating art-based opportunities for clients such as those who lived at the shelter where I worked. At the time, had an art program that met once a week, or when a volunteer was available and a bare bones music program that consisted of a group of people who met every Thursday night for a jam session. From those initial conversations, This is My City grew into a year-long celebration of the arts in the homeless sector. Mentor artists from the larger community joined with homeless artists in the shelters to engage in creative activities from plays to trading cards to mask-making to quilt-making to found object sculptures. The fact that Onalea Gilbertson and the oratorio she created, Two Bit Oper-Eh Shun is off to the New York Musical Theatre Festival in July is a direct outcome of the mentoring and support Beth and the team organizing TMC provided.

It was a year that ended with a panel discussion on Art Matters hosted by then Governor General of Canada, Michaelle Jean. And through it all, a profound difference was experienced in our communities, on every level.

From those year-long events, This is My City Art Society (TMC) was created. Lead by Board Chairperson, Linda Hawke, a textile artist who is one of the original TMC mentor artists, This is My City is committed to making a difference by connecting artists on every level with people experiencing homelessness. With artist mentors like Cat Schick and Eveline Kolijn, TMC  continues to inspire art-based exploration and expression throughout the homeless serving agencies and across the sector. It also continues one of the founding tenets of the initiative, to engage everyone in the dialogue surrounding homelessness and marginalized communities.

The team of This is My City Art Society are currently hosting an interdisciplinary festival of art from the margins. Featuring exhibits, panel discussions, theatre, walks and tours, music and more, the  This is My City Festival is an exciting opportunity to engage all Calgarians in the conversations and creative possibilities surrounding homelessness. The Festival has been ongoing since January and will culminate at the beginning of May with a huge block-party in downtown Calgary to celebrate the difference the This is My City Festival has created in our city, our hearts and our minds.

Hats off to the team at the City of Calgary Arts & Culture Department and to the board and members of This is My City Art Society, as well as Partners such as the MOCA, Calgary Public Library, High Performance Rodeo and all the other cultural and social serving entities that have engaged in bringing the This is My City Festival to life for every Calgarian.

You are making a difference!