BUMP Festival: Priya Ramesh and Ryan Tram
Creating interest in public art on a large scale
When you’re in the Beltline, you can’t miss the giant murals found on the sides of some buildings. These are the product of BUMP — the Beltline Urban Murals Project — that began in 2017 with a vision to infuse life, transform spaces and activate the neighbourhood. This inner-city festival quickly evolved into an international mural festival, with BUMP also programming arts and culture-focused events.
BUMP’s success shouldn’t be a surprise. According to Priya Ramesh, BUMP’s Creative Manager, festivals evolve as cities evolve. “In 2017 (BUMP) starts small, but you notice very quickly that there’s an appetite in this city for more public art… and even from like 2017 to 2020, to 2022, to 2024, every year or two years, the culture around how public art is received shifts, the audience shifts, what a city is ready for shifts.”
Ramesh’s eyes were opened to the possibilities that public art afforded when she managed The Guide and Protector mural in Chinatown during the pandemic, which involved her art collective, FOREIGNERZ.
“Being a part of that project… managing that mural and public art piece kind of opened my eyes to the world of public art in a really intense, urgent way… Public art is a portal. It kind of puts a mirror up to a place and a city and a people and kind of tells you about yourself based on how people respond to it,” she says. “Working on that project made me really curious about public art a bit more, and using it as a vehicle and tool to shift a city not just, you know, film and music, but how can public art be used to kind of move a culture forward?”
BUMP’s Festival and Events Manager, Ryan Tram, works in that exact space — programming a festival that continues to engage and activate public art in the city. “The more you work at an organization, the more kind of like difficult it gets, because you just want to become more thoughtful, more well organized. You want to increase capacity.”
Working with and supporting many talented artists in this city through BUMP helps to keep Tram inspired. “I think Calgary has like a very energized and youthful emerging arts community. It’s been a very exciting thing to work for an organization like Bump because we get so much exposure and can build relationships with some of these incredible emerging artists, we can give them a platform and we can also kind of pay service to improving the notion of just what public art is in the city.”
Tune into this week’s Storytelling Podcast and learn more about Priya Ramesh and Ryan Tram’s take on BUMP and public art in Calgary.
About The Storytelling Podcast
Sharing diverse stories of creativity in our city, The Storytelling Podcast shines a spotlight on artists and projects that connect Calgarians to the arts. Part of The Storytelling Project, this series raises awareness about Calgarians who, by living creative lives, are making Calgary a better city, affecting positive change and enriching others’ lives.
Have a story to share? Email us at submissions@calgaryartsdevelopment.com.
