Spectral Illuminations III
A Projection Mapping Exhibition
Beakerhead is an annual program that brings together the arts, sciences, and engineering sectors to build, engage, compete, and exhibit interactive works of art, engineered creativity and entertainment. Year-round programming and community-connecting culminates in a five-day citywide spectacle consisting of over 60 events centred around delightfully bizarre engineered installations and artworks.
For more information visit beakerhead.com.
Submission Guidelines
All submissions must include the following components:
- Proposal: Clearly, describe the proposed project. How will the project respond to the history and/or services of the Memorial Park Library? See above for a brief history of the Memorial Park Library. Please provide details about your spatial and material requirements, including equipment needs. Describe the location that you potentially want to utilize. We encourage artists to visit the library during their regular business hours to get a feel for the space and where they want their project to occupy. See floor maps for inspiration and more information on certain areas of the library by visiting emmedia.ca/floorplans.pdf.
- Curriculum Vitae (maximum of two pages): This will help us understand your artistic background and determine your feasibility of completing this project.
- Images/Support Material: Up to 10 images and/or up to three examples of video. Digital images should be in JPG format. File names should correspond to the image list. For video submit only the material that demonstrates your artistic accomplishments related to the proposed project, and please limit each example to five minutes in length. Please submit video/audio files through file transfers via Dropbox, WeTransfer etc., or through file sharing sites like YouTube, Vimeo, etc. You may also send files on DVDs or USB key if the file is too large. Please note that these will not be returned.
- Image List and/or Video list: All images and/or video files must be numbered and labeled to match the corresponding list with descriptions. All submissions must be in electronic format only. Please send all written support as PDF files and images in JPG format. If you are sending by mail, please put all files onto one CD/DVD or USB key. Please do not send any paper or include a return envelope. Submissions will not be returned.
Please send CD/DVDs and/or USB key to:
EMMEDIA Gallery & Production Society
2005 10th Ave. SW
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
T3C 0K4
Or email digital files programming@emmedia.ca with the subject line, Spectral Illuminations Submission.
For more information on applying, please contact Vicki Chau, Programming Director by emailing programming@emmedia.ca or calling 403.263.2833
Presented with Beakerhead and Calgary Public Library.
Brief History of Memorial Park Library
The Memorial Park Library opened on January 2, 1912. It is both Calgary and Alberta’s first public library, and the only remaining Carnegie library in the province.
The funding of the Memorial Park Library building and founding of the Calgary Public Library was made possible through the dedicated work of Annie Davidson, a widow with a passion for books, and a small group of fellow literary enthusiasts. The Calgary Women’s Literary Club, founded in 1906, continues to meet monthly at the Memorial Park Library.
Right from its inception, the Memorial Park Library was viewed as a public library as well as a cultural and education centre. The original building plan accommodated both library and educational functions including library reading rooms and an extensive book collection area, lecture halls, children’s reading room, a natural history museum with a display of dinosaur bones, stuffed birds, buffalo heads and mineral specimens (on the second floor), and facilities to house a number of community and educational clubs and associations. Included among the associations was the Calgary College, which was the precursor to the University of Calgary. With its focus on culture and civic education, the Memorial Park Library became known as the “centre of culture” in Calgary.
During the depression, over 40% of Calgarians were library members and the collections were so well used, that readers were restricted to 4 books at a time. By 1963, the Library had outgrown the facility, and the collections and services were moved downtown to its current location in the Central Library. A small branch library remained open to serve the immediate community and was closed in 1967. Subsequently, the building was leased to the Glenbow Foundation as an archive and research centre, until the Glenbow moved to its present location in 1976.
After considerable public debate, it was decided to restore and reoccupy the building as it was seen as an important link with the cultural and intellectual development of the city, which needed to be preserved. Upon completion of the renovation, the Library officially reopened in October 1977, with the Muttart Public Art Gallery leasing the second floor. In 1999, the Muttart Public Art Gallery gave notice it was terminating its lease at the end of that year, and in 2000, the second floor was leased to the Alliance Française. The lecture hall on the main level of Memorial Park was converted from a meeting/program room to public space for computers, studying and quiet reading as part of revitalization efforts, meeting rooms were refurbished, public hours were extended and signage was installed to enhance community awareness of the Library. The Library Foundation took over the second floor in 2012, and in 2017, this space was turned over to Wordfest and the Beltline Community Association. To this day, Wordfest continues to operate out of the second floor of the Memorial Park Library.
In June 2017, the Memorial Park Library became the only library in Calgary to house the Sun Life Financial Musical Instrument Lending Library. In addition to freely circulating musical instruments, the Memorial Park Library now hosts an assortment of music programs for the public to enjoy. Plans are currently underway to develop a more animated and community-oriented Library with an arts and culture focus. This included a renovation of the main floor of the Library in 2017 and the subsequent hosting of a variety of arts and culture experiences.
For more information, check out the historical self-guided tour document at emmedia.ca.
