• Price Free

Local literary arts are ready to shine with a number of events this week and that’s not all! Add in festivals and opening receptions, and it’s another busy one for sure! Here’s what where checking out:

Taking Flight

Until April 8, 2017
University of Calgary (2500 University Dr. NW)
Free – $15

An interdisciplinary celebration of dance, drama, and music at the University of Calgary, the School of Creative and Performing Arts is ready to take off with its annual festival of student work. There are even a number of free events on the schedule including three performances of Dance@Noon.
scpa.ucalgary.ca

This is My City Festival

Until April 27, 2017
Multiple locations
Free

For the fifth consecutive year, This is My City Art Society presents this interdisciplinary festival of art from the margins including several visual art exhibits. All programs are free of charge and all are welcome, donations are gratefully accepted.
thisismycitycalgary.ca

ProArts Presents Collegium Musicum

April 5, 2017, 12:00 – 12:50pm
Cathedral Church of the Redeemer (604 1st St. SE)
Free

Catch this free lunch hour concert with Collegium Musicum, the University of Calgary’s only ensemble dedicated to the study and performance of early music.
proartssociety.ca

Re-Imagining the Commons

April 5, 2017, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Illingworth Kerr Gallery, Alberta College of Art + Design (1407 14th Ave. NW)
Free

Artists Alana Bartol, Kevin Jesuino, and anne drew potter host this evening of discussion on urban agriculture and community gardens as a site for critically examining and strengthening our commons in Calgary. Contribute your ideas to Experiments in Public Art and enjoy some slow cooker vegetarian chili.
facebook.com

59 Glass Bridges

April 5, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free

Steven Peters celebrates his new novel with this book launch and reading at Shelf Life Books. 59 Glass Bridges introduces readers to an unnamed narrator who travels through a maze that is at once mutable and immutable—walls fall to vine-filled forests, hallways to rivers, bridges to lamp-lit boats. What remains is the desire to escape.
facebook.com

Making Courage: Screening of Documentaries

April 5, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
John Dutton Theatre, Calgary Public Library (616 Macleod Trail SE)
Free

A film screening and book launch that’s part of This is My City Festival, participants of WP Puppet Theatre’s workshop series View from the Inside: Courage Journey share their stories on the challenges and celebrations of being human. The evening also includes a collection of TMC video shorts highlighting the writing of participants at the Calgary Drop-In Centre, Alpha House, and The Women’s Centre of Calgary.
facebook.com

Micheline Maylor’s Little Wildheart Launch

April 5, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Memorial Park Library (1221 2nd St. SW)
Free

Join Calgary’s Poet Laureate Micheline Maylor as she launches her new book of poetry, Little Wildheart. Full of quirky, startling, and earthy poems that reflect the moods of existence, Maylor asks readers to perceive how we inhabit our selves and how words construct us.
facebook.com

Mini Masters

April 6, 2017, 11:00 – 11:45am
Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free, registration essential

Calling Calgary’s newest contemporaries! Join the Esker Foundation on the first Thursday of every month for a hands-on art class. Parents and guardians are invited to bring their little ones, ages two to five, to explore art making in this fun and social program. All are welcome to participate, just dress for mess!
eventbrite.ca

Song Circle: Singing Social Justice

April 6, 2017, 12:00 – 1:00pm
Central Library, Calgary Public Library (616 Macleod Trail SE)
Free

Join This is My City and add your voice alongside TMC artist-mentor Sally in this song circle. All are welcome to join this celebration in song.
facebook.com

Current Interloper & Shell of Light Opening Reception

April 6, 2017, 5:00 – 8:00pm
Herringer Kiss Gallery (709A 11th Ave. SW)
Free

With two new shows opening this week at the Herringer Kiss Gallery, it’s the perfect time to swing by and see pieces from Dennis Ekstedt and Pilar Mehlis.
herringerkissgallery.com

Free First Thursday Nights

April 6, 2017, 5:00 – 9:00pm
Glenbow (130 9th Ave. SE)
Free

Awesome weather and longer days means it’s a great time for the April edition of Free First Thursday Night at Glenbow. Make sure you swing by and check out the first in the new three-part exhibition series, Artefacts: Contemporary Moving Images.
facebook.com

Circle of Philosophical Aesthetics

April 6, 2017, 6:30pm
The New Gallery’s Resource Centre, Ng Tower (115, 115 2nd Ave. SW)
Free

A group focused on reading and discussing selections from major works by both classical and contemporary philosophers, the next meeting features essays Cezanne’s Doubt and Eye and Mind by Maurice Merleau-Ponty. Interested in joining the discussion? Join the Facebook group and download the readings.
facebook.com

Where I Live Now

April 6, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free

Spend the evening at this book launch from award-winning author Sharon Butala. Where I Live Now is a profound story about one woman’s journey through death and grief to renewal and hope.
facebook.com

Being Human & Healing Ointment Opening Reception

April 6, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
Free

Two shows part of This is My City Festival, head to Loft 112 and check out this celebration of art from the margins. Being Human: An Exhibit is an extension of the TMC exhibit at the Central Library and is curated by TMC artist mentors Eveline Kolijn and Patricia Lortie. And Healing Ointment: Stories are the Salve of our Times is a puppet infused show inspired by, and in response to, WP Puppet Theatre’s View from the Inside: Courage Journey.
facebook.com

Bring The Baby Art Tour

April 7, 2017, 12:00 – 12:30pm
Esker Foundation (1011 9th Ave. SE)
Free, registration recommended

Bring your baby to Esker Foundation for a tot-friendly discussion on this relaxed, social tour.
eventbrite.ca

Inner City Stories

April 7, 2017, 5:00 – 7:00pm
Loft 112 (112, 535 8th Ave. SE)
Free

A bi-monthly literary happy hour, come for a reading, refreshments, and go home full of story. Join Rona Altrows for her reading of This Drunk was Lyin’ in the Tracks, a short story set in Sunnyside.
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Bill’s Book Café

April 7, 2017, 6:30 – 8:00pm
Louise Riley Library (1904 14th Ave. NW)
Free, register online

Join Calgary Public Library CEO Bill Ptacek and Mike’s Bloggity Blog creator Mike Morrison for a discussion of Your Your Inner Critic Is A Big Jerk by Danielle Krysa.
calgarylibrary.ca

Mingling with flowers panthers’ eyes Opening Reception

April 7, 2017, 8:00pm
The New Gallery (208 Centre St. SE)
Free

The New Gallery presents geetha thurairajah’s new solo show that moves digital paintings into the physical realm. Mingling with flowers panthers’ eyes showcases a series of paintings that reflect complex and contradictory emotions that result from diaspora.
thenewgallery.org

Foothills Art Club Spring Show & Sale

April 8, 2017, 10:00am – 4:00pm
St. Andrews United Church (128 1st St. E, Cochrane)
Free

Go for a Saturday drive and check out this spring show and sale from the Foothills Art Club. With free admission and a chance to win a door prize, it’s a perfect art adventure.
foothillsartclub.com

Bee Kingdom Easter Sale

April 8 & 9, 2017, 12:00 – 5:00pm
Bee Kingdom (427 22nd Ave. NW)
Free, family-friendly

Bee Kingdom’s Easter event is a great time to check out this glassblowing studio. With demonstrations and a sale, you can experience the heat of the glass studio first-hand and see Phillip and Ryan turn molten glass into whimsical creations.
beekingdomglass.com

Self Portrait: Drop-In Workshop

April 8, 2017, 10:30am – 1:00pm
Central Library, Calgary Public Library (616 Macleod Trail SE)
Free, family-friendly

Drop by and join WP Puppet Workshop to make a self-portrait puppet using a wooden spoon and other creative bits and pieces. Presented as part of the This is My City Festival.
facebook.com

An Artful Community: Pop-Up Activity

April 8, 2017, 1:30 – 3:30pm
Louise Riley Library (1904 14th Ave. NW)
Free

One of three pop-ups in this series, join This is My City artist-mentor Bill and add your own designs to a colourful wooden mosaic in the making.
facebook.com

Diverse Synergy Opening Reception

April 8, 2017, 4:00 – 7:00pm
The Peanut Gallery, Fluevog Shoes (207 8th Ave. SW)
Free

Caprices Fine Arts heads to The Peanut Gallery for this Canada 150 celebration featuring contemporary artists illustrating how individual, unique perspectives can combine to create a synergetic event.
facebook.com

Hand-Built Sculpture Workshop

April 9, 2017, 9:30am – 12:00pm or 1:00 – 3:00pm
North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre (523 27th Ave. NW)
Free, registration essential

The Esker Foundation goes off-site for this special workshop. Join a North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre instructor in a professional ceramic studio to learn basic hand-building techniques, and experience the unique qualities of clay. Each participant gets to create a small sculpture that will be glazed and available for pick up at Esker Foundation after the workshop. No experience is required and all materials will be provided. Participants must be over the age of 16 to participate.
eventbrite.ca

Paper Cities

April 9, 2017, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Contemporary Calgary (117 8th Ave. SW)
Free, registration required

Join Contemporary Kids for Paper Cities, a workshop that has children cut, colour, and arrange reproductions of well-known monuments, linking to exhibiting artist Kotama Bouabane’s photography.
eventbrite.ca

Walter Hildebrandt & Charles Noble Double Book Launch

April 9, 2017, 2:00 – 4:00pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free

This Sunday head to Shelf Life Books for the double launch of Walter Hildebrandt’s Documentaries and Charles Noble’s Mack the Naïf.
facebook.com

Flood Stories Edition 2: Book Launch

April 11, 2017, 7:00 – 9:00pm
Shelf Life Books (1302 4th St. SW)
Free to attend, all proceeds from book sales to support festival programming

Celebrate the launch of the second edition of Flood Stories, a collection of writing and images from the 2013 flood created by program participants from Alpha House, the Calgary Drop-In Centre, Inn From the Cold, and the Alex. Presented as part of the This is My City Festival.
facebook.com