The City of Calgary, Downtown Strategy - Open House 2023
May 2, 2023 | WHAT'S HAPPENING, EVENTS, CALGARYA vibrant showcase of Calgary’s developing downtown
Bird Creatives had the pleasure of producing the City of Calgary’s Downtown Strategy Open House at the Alberta Hotel Building (808 1 Street SW) from April 19-21, highlighting the remarkable efforts underway in Calgary's downtown and the dedicated individuals committed to creating a thriving hub for living, working, and leisure for years to come.
Attendees were treated to presentations from our downtown partners, performances by members of Calgary's flourishing arts and culture community, and updates on the future of the Downtown Calgary Development Incentive Program. The event encouraged community engagement, enabling Calgarians to ask questions and share their thoughts on the future of downtown.
Throughout the three-day event, the community heard insightful talks from policymakers, post-secondary professors, and arts leaders on some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing downtown Calgary.
What’s new with Calgary’s Downtown Strategy? Three Days of Discussion
Day 1: Office Conversions and Housing Affordability
On the first day of the open house Mayor Jyoti Gondek and Thom Mahler, Director of Downtown Strategy, discussed advancements made in the Downtown Development Incentive Programs. They were joined by Maxim Olshevsky, Managing Director, Peoplefirst Developments, and Matt Vermunt, Director of Acquisitions and Development, HomeSpace. The panel discussed two successful office-to-residential conversion programs and how they support a diverse urban community and help make downtown housing more affordable.
For more information on the Downtown Development Incentive Programs, check out the official website here.
(Photo of Mayor Gondek with artists Bryan Faubert, Sam Mendoza, Harvey Nicole, and Tiffany Lynn Cuffley)
Day 2: Post-secondary students in Calgary’s downtown
On the second day of the open house, we were joined with Dr. John Brown, Dean, University of Calgary School of Architecture, Planning & Landscape, Dr. David Finch, Professor, Mount Royal University, and Brad Parry, President & CEO, Calgary Economic Development (pictured right), to discuss the importance of post-secondary students to downtown revitalization and the importance of having students located in the heart of Calgary’s business community.
Day 3: Building downtown vibrancy through programming
On the final day of the open house, Calgary’s arts leaders including Mark Garner, Executive Director, Calgary Downtown Association, Alex Sarian, President & CEO, Arts Commons, and Franca Gualtieri, Manager, Arts & Culture, The City of Calgary (pictured right) came together to discuss the importance of programming and activations supporting a thriving downtown and the role that our arts and culture community has in building vibrancy. Councillor Terry Wong opened this discussion with remarks about The City’s commitment to downtown community programming.
Live painting
Throughout the three-day open house, several incredible local artists treated us to captivating live performances and live painting. As well as our favourite interactive speaker booth Speakerhead by Beakerhead and Telus Spark!
Harvey Nichol – Harvey was born in the Tondo District — Metro Manila and is currently a Calgary-based artist.
Harvey is a multidisciplinary artist who is currently pursuing a BFA at Alberta University of the Arts. His work embodies elements of various art movements such as neo-expressionism, social realism (in the Philippines), street and folk art which he married to create his version, which he coined as “Social-Folk Expressionism”.
Tiffany Lynn Cuffley – Tiffany is a former professional figure skater, Performing Arts graduate and Visual Artist in Calgary.
All of the above shape her current body of work. Her work is an exploration of shape, pattern and the geometry of movement. Tiffany continues to push the boundaries of her work and study the connection of shape, structure and unpredictable movement.
Also featured in the open house were the works of Bryan Faubert, a sculptor who earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nova Scotia University of Art and Design and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Calgary. He founded Studio 34, a sculpture studio focused on accessibility and shared knowledge. He has exhibited across Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Right outside the venue, we were joined by local food trucks brought to us by Community Food Truck Group! We also had roaming stilt performers by Green Fools Theatre Society!
Speakerhead, by Beakerhead, is a video talk-back booth that gives Calgarians a chance to sound off on what matters most to them. It is a project of Beakerhead, built by the masterminds at RocketHouse, Fracture A Femur Productions, and TechArt Custom Creations.
The Downtown Strategy Open House was an important showcase of the development of Calgary’s downtown. Check out Calgary’s Downtown Strategy website to see all the exciting developments the city is making so far!