Marianne Elder
As an artist, covering medical costs or seeing yourself through a life-altering event can sometimes mean the difference between getting by and falling through the cracks financially. Elephant Artist Relief Society was founded in 2007 to assist artists who find themselves in these situations, and when Marianne Elder joined its team as a manager, being a community builder and artist herself, she saw an opportunity to help build up the arts community here in Calgary.
“Not only do we (EAR) serve visual arts, we serve dancers and musicians and writers and poets and performance artists and spoken word and puppetry and anything within the creative arts, we support,” she says. “When people reach out, it’s because they’ve had some catastrophic thing happen. Often it’s a layoff or… they’ve been in an accident … something happened that’s gotten to them to a place where they just can’t quite make it. And they need that bridge just to get back on their feet to start going again.”
Marianne is proud that Elephant Artist Relief is helping to make a difference in artists’ lives by providing relief as well as financial, career and personal development programs. “There’s no other organization in Calgary that offers that type of support, and we feel it’s incredibly important. We’ve seen people who have access to our programs go on to do such incredible things.
“The number one difference that that program is making is that every single artist that’s part of that is seeing that their practice has been impacted, that they are now able to create work, disseminate their works, share it with the community, and it’s making them feel like they actually belong.”
For Marianne, it’s the arts community in Calgary that inspires and roots her to this city. “There’s a spirit here that people are willing to take chances, they’re willing to do things differently… it’s really at the core of what Calgary artists do. And honestly, having been here now for 14 years, I don’t know if people realize how special it is. And that’s what keeps me here.”
Tune into this week’s Storytelling Podcast to hear more about Marianne Elder’s work with Elephant Artist Relief Society, the impact it’s had on the community and the origin of the organization’s name.
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.
