2024 Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek
Mayor Jyoti Gondek, wearing a black dress with fringed sleeves designed by Melrene Saloy-Eaglespeaker, walks the fashion runway at the Celebration for the Arts. Photo: Motif Photography
Thank you to everyone who attended the 2024 Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek on October 4, 2024 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
More than 700 people were in attendance for an evening featuring emcee Karla Marx and several local performers as part of an exciting lineup that included dancer Meg Ohsada; choirs from Bowness, North Trail, Joane Cardinal-Schubert and Lester B. Pearson High Schools; Woeza Africa Music and Dance Theatre; a fashion show collaboration with MakeFashion Collective and Native Diva Creations featuring designs by IndiCity, Georgina Metzler, Chelsea Klukas, Kathryn Blair, Sydney Pratt, Maria Orduz, Alexis Saulteaux and Melrene Saloy- EagleSpeaker; and a Women in Song Circle featuring Mariya Stokes, Tea Fannie and Zoe Theodorou.
Top row from left to right: Artist Harvey Nichol at the Blue Sky City stage; dancer Meg Ohsada; emcee Karla Marx; CBE Aisinna’kiiks Choir featuring students from Bowness, North Trail, Joane Cardinal-Schubert and Lester B. Pearson high schools.
Bottom row left to right: Dancers with Woezo Africa Music and Dance Theatre, a model from the MakeFashion Collective and Native Diva Creations fashion show; Women in Song Circle featuring Zoe Theodorou, Tea Fannie and Mariya Stokes; Rozsa Foundation Emerging Arts Manager Award winner Sue-Shane Tsomondo (centre) with Mary Rozsa and Calgary Arts Development CEO Patti Pon.
The evening also recognized outstanding achievement in the arts with the presentation of the 2024 Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards. This year, 56 outstanding artists and organizations were nominated, representing just some of the artistry that vitalizes our city every day. In 2023 Calgary Arts Development invested $14.4 million through 663 grants to individual artists and arts organizations, which resulted in over 37,000 arts experiences with a participation rate of 4.9 million. The Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards are one way of recognizing artistic accomplishment and community impact.
The Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards are a legacy of Calgary’s year as a Cultural Capital of Canada in 2012. Each award is funded by a contribution from a local philanthropist or organization with each recipient receiving a $5,000 cash prize. We thank the benefactors, nominators and juries of these awards, and congratulate all the nominees and the 2024 award recipients.
Recipients of the 2024 Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards (left to right): Han Sungpil, Sue-Shane Tsomondo, Paulo da Costa, Mackenzie Brown, Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation, Suneetha Alokam and Kamika Bianca Guerra-Walker. Photo: Motif Photography
ATB Powering Possibility Through the Arts Award
2024 recipient: Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation
Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation connects and engages newcomers and immigrant artists and arts professionals to the existing arts community for professional engagement through mentorship and professional development.
Calgary Catholic Immigration Society New Canadian Artist Award
2024 recipient: Han Sungpil
Han Sungpil spotlights Canada’s most significant environmental issues of increasing wildfires and melting glaciers. His work serves as an amplifier to the public to raise environmental awareness.
The Legacy of Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award
2024 recipient: Paulo da Costa
Paulo da Costa broadens the discussion of patriarchy’s cost. In lyrical prose he seeks social change the way water changes rock — with a soft voice and endless purpose.
Mamdani Arts Leadership
2024 recipient: Suneetha Alokam
Suneetha Alokam is a dedicated arts leader with the ability to connect different arts communities. She has a vision to promote multiculturalism, diversity and inclusion and has a passion for creating a platform for local talent connecting to cultural roots.
RBC Emerging Artist Award
2024 recipient: Kamika Bianca Guerra-Walker
Kamika Bianca Guerra-Walker is committed to using her talents as a multidisciplinary artist to aid the city’s unhoused population and foster the BIPOC arts community in Calgary.
Rozsa Foundation Emerging Arts Manager Award
2024 recipient: Sue-Shane Tsomondo
Sue-Shane Tsomondo is being recognized for her transformative leadership at M:ST Performative Art Society during the company’s critical period of transition.
Indigenous Artist Award
2024 recipient: Mackenzie Brown
Mackenzie Brown — “My name is Kamamak, or Mackenzie in English. As a young girl I was taught about balance. The balance between traditional and contemporary. This is how I live my life — with a moccasin in both worlds.” This award is sponsored by TD Bank Group.
Video presentation of the 2024 Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards:
Champion Sponsor
VIP Sponsors
Arts Patrons
Aspen Properties
Calgary Downtown Association
Calgary Flames Foundation
DIALOG
Kasian
Event History
The Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek continues the annual tradition of bringing the business and arts sectors together to celebrate Calgary artists and arts organizations and recognize outstanding achievement. This event, held in collaboration with Mayor Jyoti Gondek, replaces the previous Mayor’s Lunch for Arts Champions, a collaboration between Calgary Arts Development and former Mayor Naheed Nenshi. It evolved from a longstanding event established by the Calgary Professional Arts Alliance (CPAA) in 1993 to bring Calgary’s business and art sectors together in recognition of the important relationships that foster artistic achievement in Calgary. The Mayor’s Luncheon for Business and the Arts, and later the Mayor’s Evening for Business and the Arts, enjoyed support from each civic administration since their inception. From 1993 to 2010, the CPAA and the Mayor’s Luncheon for Business and the Arts recognized over 30 outstanding arts and business partnership and over 20 emerging, established and innovative Calgary artists.
