The Program
Open Spaces: Windows to a View provides exhibition space to local and regional artists while enlivening the Centre Street LRT platform. Since 2023, the program has partnered with different organizations that work with underserved artists in Calgary. The current partner is the Women’s Centre of Calgary.
May to August 2026 Exhibition
East Window Space
My Artistic Journey
Artist: Ling Zhou
As a self-taught multidisciplinary artist, I explore connections between nature and self, past and present and across cultural perspectives. Drawn to vibrant colour, layered texture and symbolic imagery, I work intuitively, letting materials and process guide each piece.
My practice moves freely between mediums and ideas, shaped by a deep passion for art and cultural diversity. Playfulness and depth coexist in my work, where traditional motifs meet contemporary experimentation. Whether through bold acrylic landscapes or intricately crafted masks, I invite viewers into a space where imagination, memory and cultural dialogue intersect.
Engaging actively with both Eastern and Western frameworks, I allow these influences to collide, merge and transform. Honouring my roots while working across boundaries, I embrace the role of a cross-cultural artistic ambassador.
Ling Zhou is a self-taught, multidisciplinary artist based in Calgary who works in painting, mixed media and mask-making. Her work is deeply inspired by nature, symbolism and storytelling — blending landscapes, animals and expressive forms into vibrant visual narratives. Through intuitive use of colour, texture and found materials, she explores themes of identity, transformation and emotional connection.
Since 2018, Ling’s primary medium has been acrylic, and she also works with ceramics, laser cutting, and wood engraving. Recently, she was a Winter 2026 artist-in-residence recipient at the International Avenue Arts and Culture Centre, where she created her first wooden horse artwork using laser cutting and engraving.
West Window Space
Peaces of Me
Artist: Carrie Cuthbert
Peaces of Me — the quiet moments where I found my way back to myself.
I have always turned to nature for grounding, for perspective and to connect to something larger than myself. Years ago, a single phone call changed the direction of my life. A stranger’s voice on a crisis line reflected something back to me that I had never allowed myself to see. In that moment, I realized I had been living inside a story that wasn’t mine to carry.
I am a survivor, a label I now wear with pride, not because of what happened, but because of everything I built after. What followed was nature, then painting, then the understanding that beauty doesn’t exist in spite of change, it emerges from it.
Each painting in this exhibition holds a chapter of that journey.
Beauty of Change: The first place I felt safe enough to be fully myself.
Reconnection: Created after losing my mother. It reflects what I found when I was quiet enough to truly see.
Change in Perspective: A moment that brought me fully into the present and reminded me how far I had come.
Each piece includes a QR code linked to a narrated story in my voice, drawn from the moment it came from. The painting is only half of the work. The other half is you, recognizing something of your own within it.
This is not just a collection of paintings. This is a living archive of finding your way back to yourself.
Carrie Cuthbert paints landscapes as they are remembered and felt, where emotion settles into colour, and atmosphere carries the weight of experience. Working in acrylic and found materials, she creates nature-inspired pieces that hold traces of real moments, embedding elements from the environments she evokes, including moss, stone and vinyl records sourced from specific places.
Her work extends beyond the visual. Each painting includes a QR code linking to a narrated audio story, inviting viewers into the lived experience behind the piece. For collectors, this becomes something more intimate. Original works evolve over time, allowing owners to contribute their own voice and become part of a growing, layered archive of memory.
Based in Calgary, Carrie is a paramedic, writer and artist whose practice lives at the intersection of nature, narrative and healing. Peaces of Me is her debut exhibition and the three featured works mark the first public expression of this approach.
Women’s Centre of Calgary
The Women’s Centre of Calgary is guided by a commitment to equity, inclusion and the belief that every woman has the right to thrive in a safe and supportive community. Our work is rooted in three core values: choice, ensuring women can access resources and make decisions that are right for them; inclusion, creating spaces where all women feel welcome and respected; and community, fostering connection, leadership and collective action.
For nearly three decades, the Women’s Centre has contributed to Calgary’s social fabric by offering essential supports, advocacy and opportunities for women to build confidence, skills and community. Through programs ranging from basic needs assistance to peer support, leadership development and education, we strive to reduce barriers and amplify women’s voices across the city.
We are proud to partner with Calgary Arts Development on this exhibition. This collaboration reflects our shared belief in the power of arts and culture to spark dialogue, strengthen community and elevate diverse perspectives. Together, we aim to create a platform that highlights women’s experiences, celebrates their creativity and encourages meaningful engagement across Calgary’s arts ecosystem.
The selected artists are part of the Women’s Centre of Calgary’s artist-in-residence program, a free opportunity for women and gender diverse folks to learn new art skills, connect with others in the community and have their own project to take with them.
The Women’s Centre of Calgary looks forward to working with Calgary Arts Development to foster connection, inspire conversation and support a more equitable and vibrant cultural landscape.