2025 Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek
Mayor Jyoti Gondek on bass guitar (right) with house band bass player Lisa Jacobs, along with the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede Show Band, gives a surprise performance for the grand finale of the Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek on April 24, 2025 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
Thank you to everyone who attended the 2025 Celebration for the Arts hosted by Mayor Gondek on April 24, 2025 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary. More than 800 people were in attendance for an evening featuring 100-plus local performers and recognizing outstanding achievements in the arts. The onstage portion of the event was followed by an after party in the Jack Singer Lobby.
Clockwise from top: Clarence Wolfleg Sr. and Skip Wolfleg, Tribe Artist Society performing, Elizabeth Stepkowski Tarhan and Elinor Holt, Diversity Performing Arts Club of Calgary, Simon Mallet, Executive Director, Rozsa Foundation and Celebration for the arts afterparty guests.
The evening included a video presentation of the 2025 Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards. This year, 67 outstanding artists and organizations were nominated, representing just some of the artistry that vitalizes our city every day. In 2024, Calgary Arts Development invested $14.9 million through 659 grants to individual artists and arts organizations, which resulted in over 37,000 arts experiences with a participation rate of five million.
The Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards, a legacy of Calgary’s year as a Cultural Capital of Canada in 2012, are one way of recognizing artistic accomplishment and community impact. 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 2025 award recipients.
Recipients of the 2025 Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards (left to right): Cosmo Christoffersen, Morgan Black, Monique Barrie, Eva Verity, Kelsey McMahon-Stoker of the East Side Dance Festival Society, two representatives standing in for Mia + Eric, and Yeisen Chang.
The 2025 award recipients are:
Rozsa Foundation Emerging Arts Manager Award
Cosmo Christoffersen, Managing Producer of the Festival of Animated Objects, elevates Calgary on the international stage as a hub for puppetry, supports emerging artists and builds community connections.
ATB Powering Possibility Through the Arts Award
East Side Dance Festival Society inspires dance artists and empowers public and private sector instructors to take socially conscious approaches to dance education, raising the public esteem of dance in society.
Mamdani Arts Leadership
Eva Verity is the board chair for Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre and goes above and beyond for the staff to have living wages and benefits, a rarity in Calgary independent arts organizations.
The Legacy of Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award
Mia + Eric are internationally recognized interdisciplinary, socially engaged artists. Their research-driven, participatory work reshapes how people engage with environments, histories and civic systems, fostering new ways of imagining the public realm.
RBC Emerging Artist Award
Monique Barrie is a brilliant businesswoman and filmmaker, whose emerging but impressive filmmaking career has already profoundly impacted the local film industry for the better.
Indigenous Artist Award
Morgan Black is a St’át’imc & Secwépemc artist/curator living in Treaty 7 territory. She spends her time connecting to diverse creative processes that deepen her relationship to her ancestral cultures, the Land and all relations. Morgan is a co-founder of Crawlspace Gallery and works in Cultural Services at Miskanawah.
Calgary Catholic Immigration Society New Canadian Artist Award
Yeisen Chang is a Cuban artist based in Calgary. Her work explores migration, identity and cultural transformation through video art and digital media. She addresses the emotional impact of relocation, fostering dialogue on belonging, adaptation and cultural connection.
Thank you to all the benefactors whose generosity makes these awards possible: ATB Financial, Calgary Catholic Immigration Society, the Rozsa Foundation, Riaz Mamdani and Strategic Group, RBC, TD Bank Group and the Honourable Lois E. Mitchell. We also thank the Central Public Library and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for their support through artist residencies for the New Canadian Artist, Indigenous Artist, and The Legacy of Doug & Lois Mitchell Outstanding Artist Award winners. And we acknowledge and thank the Rozsa Foundation for including a spot in their Rozsa Arts Management Program (RAMP) for the winner of the Emerging Arts Manager Award.
The Celebration for the Arts event is made possible through the support of Champion Partner: Rozsa Foundation; Artist Showcase Partner: Calgary Foundation; Venue Partner: Arts Commons; Lobby Activation Sponsor: Tourism Calgary; Ticket Accessibility Sponsor: Bird Creatives; VIP Sponsor: Calgary Economic Development; and Patrons: Alberta Blue Cross, ATB Financial, Calgary Downtown Association, Calgary Hotel Association, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation and DIALOG.
Learn more about the Cultural Leaders Legacy Arts Awards here.
Awards announcement and interviews with the 2025 recipients:
Champion Sponsor
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.
