Calgary is having a cultural renaissance

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Entrepreneur, where we talk to the entrepreneurs who are making it happen
[00:05] SPEAKER_01: across Canada and deliver the news, trends, knowledge and opinions from entrepreneurs and business
[00:13] SPEAKER_02: influences across the country. Oh, I'm Mario Taniguchi, managing editor of Canada's Entrepreneur.
[00:21] SPEAKER_02: Joining me today on Calgary's podcast is David Lister, who is CEO of Contemporary Calgary.
[00:28] SPEAKER_02: Thanks David for joining us today. Thanks for having me Mario.
[00:32] SPEAKER_02: Let me just a little bit about Contemporary Calgary, what it is and what you folks do.
[00:37] SPEAKER_00: Contemporary Calgary is housed in the historic Centennial Planetarium where Calgary's major
[00:44] SPEAKER_00: modern and contemporary art gallery. We took occupancy of this building in 2020 and we've been
[00:51] SPEAKER_00: around since 2014 when the city put an expression of interest as to a community group or partner
[00:58] SPEAKER_00: who wanted to do something here in this building that's that vacant for a decade. So yeah, our focus
[01:04] SPEAKER_00: is Contemporary Art and we have incredible exhibitions, public programs and I think Mario
[01:09] SPEAKER_00: the thing that people maybe don't realize about Contemporary Calgary is we're not like a museum.
[01:13] SPEAKER_00: So we don't actually have a collection. You don't come and see the same things over and over as
[01:17] SPEAKER_00: nice as that is to sort of develop relationships with art in the community but our exhibitions change
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: every five months and so you end up seeing between 10 and 15 different exhibitions and it's
[01:28] SPEAKER_00: always different and I think that's what's so exciting about what our model is.
[01:36] SPEAKER_02: When you're talking about the art itself, is it like all over the place in terms of the type of art?
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: Can you maybe talk a little bit about that? Yeah, so I would say that like our focus really is on
[01:49] SPEAKER_00: local, national and international art and so that's maybe the first way that I'd
[01:53] SPEAKER_00: answer that question that it's really important to us that we give exposure to the artists in our
[01:58] SPEAKER_00: community in surrounding area in Western Canada and also with artists across the country and then
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: international dialogue. You know, it's important that people know that Calgary has this incredible
[02:09] SPEAKER_00: network and community of artists who live and work here and it's also important to think about
[02:15] SPEAKER_00: like Canadian art in an international context and so the cross-pollination of artists from different
[02:20] SPEAKER_00: places is important and I think yeah, like as a contemporary art gallery, you know, some people
[02:25] SPEAKER_00: get stuck in the weeds of definition of what is modern and what is contemporary. I mean,
[02:29] SPEAKER_00: generally contemporary art really talks about the artists that are living and working today, you know,
[02:35] SPEAKER_00: and they're working in many different mediums and painting and sculpture, new media, video,
[02:41] SPEAKER_00: film, performance and we work with artists that are doing all of these things and some of the many
[02:47] SPEAKER_00: of these things, you know, we have an installation in the dome that opens on June 26 and it is a
[02:53] SPEAKER_00: projection, it's sound, it's sculpture, it's ceramics, all in the historic Centennial planetary
[03:01] SPEAKER_00: and dome and so what's great about the gallery is that it's always different, it's always changing
[03:07] SPEAKER_00: and yeah, we're really excited to bring about all these different conversations that these artists
[03:12] SPEAKER_02: put in their practice. What plans do you have for the space there and I guess the whole organization
[03:20] SPEAKER_00: and business? Yeah, like I would say that the thing we're working on now that really deals a lot
[03:27] SPEAKER_00: with the future is we were given a major capital funding announcement from the government of
[03:33] SPEAKER_00: Alberta, so a $40 million commitment and that adds to a $30 million commitment from the federal
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: government back in 2019 and significant investments from the city. So we're about $100 million invested
[03:45] SPEAKER_00: and committed into a $170 million capital campaign to bring about additional changes and expansions
[03:53] SPEAKER_00: to this site, you know, I think as the Calgaryen's would know, this building has a huge history,
[03:58] SPEAKER_00: it's been around since 67, it's a Centennial project, it was a planetarium, then it was the
[04:03] SPEAKER_00: science center from 1984 until it closed in 2011 and so this is its third major kind of shift
[04:10] SPEAKER_00: and in terms of who is in the building and what's happening and I'm confident it will be its last,
[04:17] SPEAKER_00: you know, like when you come into the building and see it as an art gallery, of course it wasn't
[04:20] SPEAKER_00: built as one, but it's hard to disassociate it now with anything other than a space to celebrate
[04:26] SPEAKER_00: the arts, but you know, we're going to renovate the dome into Canada's first LED dome experience,
[04:31] SPEAKER_00: so think sphere lost Vegas, north, the inside of our dome uses similar technology and LED technology
[04:38] SPEAKER_00: rather than a projection and that's that will be a really important kind of really leading activity
[04:45] SPEAKER_00: that we do in the ways in which artists are working in digital media and immersive technology,
[04:49] SPEAKER_00: but also the expansion of gallery spaces, building a new front entrance to the building that
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: could maybe have some of the amenities that people love to have when they go to an art gallery,
[04:59] SPEAKER_00: you know, I want to have a coffee or have a lunch, see some arts sit down and talk with my friends
[05:04] SPEAKER_00: about it and have a bit of a gallery space and then I would I would say that those those changes
[05:10] SPEAKER_00: are important because this building has had many changes and I think as our architect Bruce
[05:17] SPEAKER_00: Kuhabara at Keeping B Toronto, he said, you know, this part project is one part archaeology,
[05:22] SPEAKER_00: you know, going around and finding all the original concrete around the building you see behind me,
[05:26] SPEAKER_00: it's one part plastic surgery, maybe removing some of the additions over time that don't
[05:31] SPEAKER_00: search our purposes super well and then one part new construction, so lots is changing.
[05:36] SPEAKER_02: So let's let's talk a little bit in more general terms about art and specifically in
[05:42] SPEAKER_02: Calgary. You know, I don't, you know, I'm not sure where you're from originally,
[05:49] SPEAKER_02: I reckon, but you know, the impression is, you know, Calgary is not as cosmopolitan as say
[05:56] SPEAKER_02: a Montreal or a Vancouver or a Toronto, can you speak about that and where we're at, especially when
[06:04] SPEAKER_02: it comes to the art scene in Calgary, today is as opposed to maybe 20 years ago, even 10 years ago.
[06:12] SPEAKER_00: Sure, I think he's a great question and I think, you know, Calgary has always been a cosmopolitan city.
[06:20] SPEAKER_00: I think we have a branding problem, not so much our own branding problem, but I think we have
[06:26] SPEAKER_00: been branded and we have a being branded problem that, you know, we're this little town in the
[06:32] SPEAKER_00: prairies and, you know, I'm sure there are some people perhaps in other parts of the country who
[06:38] SPEAKER_00: are wondering whether or not we have McDonald's yet, but I think the reality is that we have been
[06:43] SPEAKER_00: this amazing contemporary city. I mean, give consideration to this. The Alberta University of
[06:48] SPEAKER_00: the Arts is celebrating their 100th anniversary. So for 100 years, we've had an art college and
[06:54] SPEAKER_00: university in this community. We have incredible galleries, the Esker Foundation, we have the
[06:59] SPEAKER_00: Glumbo Museum, who's been around for quite a long time. We have the Art Gallery of Alberta, which
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: is also just celebrating their 100th anniversary. And so, you know, I think it's interesting when people
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: think that somehow Calgary is not contemporary or there's somewhat surprise, I think that has a
[07:17] SPEAKER_00: lot to do with like an unknowing and ignorance in the best sense. They just don't know what's
[07:24] SPEAKER_00: out here. And so I would invite all of us people to get on a plane or train or drive across the
[07:30] SPEAKER_00: mountain. I think if I were to think about this, I was born in Ontario, grew up in the Maritime,
[07:36] SPEAKER_00: moved here in 2005. So I've lived here longer than anywhere. And in the past 15 years, I think the
[07:44] SPEAKER_00: big shifts that I've seen have mostly come from like architecture. You know, you have the Norman
[07:48] SPEAKER_00: Foster building with the Yomplens sculpture in the front. You have the the Teleski building,
[07:57] SPEAKER_00: Bjarke Ingalls. You have incredible public art everywhere in the city. In one of the cities with
[08:03] SPEAKER_00: the most public art, I think we have this Snow-Eda library. We've got the National Music Center. So
[08:08] SPEAKER_00: I think architecture for me, in my own experience in the last 15 years, has signaled that we're a city
[08:14] SPEAKER_00: that has big ideas and we invest in like really great design and architecture and that's supported by
[08:19] SPEAKER_00: like so many different industries. So it's a really exciting place, you know, and I think that
[08:24] SPEAKER_00: people are starting to figure this out. And in conversations that I have in, you know, national
[08:30] SPEAKER_00: events like, you know, the Canadian Arts Summit and other places, the amount of conversation that's
[08:35] SPEAKER_00: being directed and saying, what's happening in Calgary? You know, there's the largest arts and cultural
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: infrastructure project at arts. Commons happening, the Glenville rematch, the Imagine Project is underway.
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: Our project just got funded and is about to start construction. And so that's a lot of investment
[08:51] SPEAKER_00: in the arts. And it's so heartwarming to see because I think these types of experience that drive
[08:58] SPEAKER_00: like the quality of life that you and I may experience in a community, they're driven by these
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: experiences, you know, you want to live in a city with a great ballet, a great opera, you know,
[09:07] SPEAKER_00: you want to go to galleries, you want to go to museums, you want to have all of these experiences.
[09:12] SPEAKER_00: It's what draws people here, it's what keeps them here. And Calgary has got a lot to say right now.
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: And it's really exciting.
[09:21] SPEAKER_02: Personally, I agree with what you're saying. I think it's come down to more of a branding problem
[09:29] SPEAKER_02: and a storytelling problem is that I think, you know, and not to knock this, but, you know,
[09:36] SPEAKER_02: every year that we have the stampede and everybody goes, yeah, that's what this city is known about.
[09:43] SPEAKER_02: But I think as a city itself, I think we need to tell the story or of the other things that we
[09:51] SPEAKER_02: have out there, and especially the art and see. And even sorry, just to maybe to touch
[09:57] SPEAKER_00: with them, or even the stampede has become quite contemporary. I mean, they have one of the largest
[10:01] SPEAKER_00: drag festivals, you know, drag me to drag me to brunch. We have, you know, they had the
[10:07] SPEAKER_00: pink shirt campaign, they have all of this activity, they're having new activations from brands
[10:12] SPEAKER_00: like Holt Renfru. I mean, you never have would have thought that Holt Renfru would sponsor
[10:16] SPEAKER_00: this stampede. But that's just talking about the ways in which this really important event that
[10:21] SPEAKER_00: happens in Calgary that perhaps has has to singular a definition of what it is. It's really a
[10:26] SPEAKER_00: celebration of all that is exciting. And that I think connects us as a community that really,
[10:31] SPEAKER_00: you know, those, those things about Western hospitality, they're not really buzzwords. Like,
[10:35] SPEAKER_00: I really feel them, you know, and I don't feel them because my family homesteaded here. I feel
[10:40] SPEAKER_00: them because it's like, you know, I'm sure maybe you feel the same way that there's just a generosity
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: to people and community. And that is in every aspect of any job or volunteer opportunity I've ever
[10:52] SPEAKER_02: had. You think we're from the art perspective. And you mentioned a lot of the projects that are
[10:59] SPEAKER_02: going on. And again, it goes beyond just straight art, art and entertainment and culture and all that.
[11:06] SPEAKER_02: But do you think we're just on the kind of the beginning of an explosion here? Like,
[11:12] SPEAKER_02: when everything comes together, like, you know, what is this city going to look like in five,
[11:18] SPEAKER_00: 10 years? Yeah, I think so. Like a lot of my colleagues and friends, you know, whether it's Alex
[11:22] SPEAKER_00: at Arts Commons or Andrew at the National Music Center. I think what we talk about is that
[11:27] SPEAKER_00: Calgary's really having like a cultural remissons. And is it new and Cuspic? No, I mean, there's
[11:32] SPEAKER_00: people like Jean-Greau Mait who were bringing contemporary ballets to this community 20 years ago
[11:37] SPEAKER_00: that became international acclaim of these performances and these contemporary works in a
[11:45] SPEAKER_00: traditional, in a traditional art form. There have been trailblazers for many, many, many decades here.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: But I think like that, that's like how you throw stone and water in the ripples, you know, go. So
[12:00] SPEAKER_00: it gives permission and space for all of us to say like, no, let's keep this, let's keep this going.
[12:05] SPEAKER_00: And I think it's that spirit, that push. So I would, I would feel, how would I say this? I feel
[12:10] SPEAKER_00: like this is a renaissance that's happening right now. Like, it's this swell. And people are
[12:15] SPEAKER_00: recognizing that the investment in the, in experiences, investments in culture and community,
[12:20] SPEAKER_00: they make this a city that people want to be around and they want to invest in. And, and I think
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: finally, that is really being understood at all levels of government, right? And locally,
[12:31] SPEAKER_00: provincially, nationally. And, and it feels like, it feels, it feels like, I guess, sometimes like
[12:36] SPEAKER_02: overdue recognition, but we'll take it. You think that, from that, you just mentioned a little
[12:43] SPEAKER_02: bit about that. And just maybe explore this a little bit more, but the fact that the arts and
[12:50] SPEAKER_02: cultures, the investment into that is a bigger investment, right? Because it attracts people,
[12:56] SPEAKER_02: attracts tourists, it attracts, they may be companies that come here that, oh, this is a whole
[13:04] SPEAKER_02: cosmopolitan city. It attracts people coming downtown, say, for instance, like Calgaryans or
[13:12] SPEAKER_00: Albertans, right? Yeah, I mean, I think that's all true. And if you look at like the investments in
[13:16] SPEAKER_00: Calgary in terms of downtown revitalization strategy, which is all about like supporting
[13:21] SPEAKER_00: tax base and supporting services that can be delivered, well, there are many reasons to come
[13:26] SPEAKER_00: downtown. We're one of them, right? Like these downtowns of cities are important. They, they,
[13:32] SPEAKER_00: they represent something that that defines a community more broadly. And they unite us in certain
[13:38] SPEAKER_00: aspects and ways. And I think that those investments have been really deliberate and important,
[13:44] SPEAKER_00: important things to sort of signal toward. And you know, you see it there. There's also this
[13:50] SPEAKER_00: discussion about like, you know, okay, well, arts are a nice to have. No, they're not. They're a need
[13:54] SPEAKER_00: to have. And, and I think that's emphasized in so many different ways. I mean, the, think about
[14:01] SPEAKER_00: it even strictly from like an economic standpoint, like a dollar invested in the arts has tremendous
[14:05] SPEAKER_00: return from a GDP from a growth. There's, I think the statistics are like over 600,000 people
[14:12] SPEAKER_00: work in the creative sector in Canada. It's like larger than forestry and lumber and fishing and
[14:19] SPEAKER_00: all these types of industries combined. Like there's, there's statistics to look at through
[14:22] SPEAKER_00: organizations like the arts coalition and others or even looking at our Calgary zone,
[14:27] SPEAKER_00: Calgary its development. They do tremendous work and trying to just articulate that, that investing
[14:32] SPEAKER_00: in these things is actually great for our local economy. You know, they, they are not just like
[14:37] SPEAKER_00: these fringe things that are just nice to have, you know, occasionally when I'm feeling bored.
[14:42] SPEAKER_00: No, they're super foundational. And more and more Calgaryans are, I know, are feeling that because
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: our attendance is skyrocketing. The attendance at theater and festivals and events are skyrocketing.
[14:56] SPEAKER_00: The proof is in the pudding, you know, and we're just so thrilled, Mike, because it's,
[15:01] SPEAKER_00: it just feels good when you have the community support and backing and you see new people coming
[15:05] SPEAKER_00: all the time. How long have you been there? I have been here, complicated question. I have been
[15:12] SPEAKER_00: employed in my role since 2018 when I was appointed CEO of Contemporary Calgary, but working on
[15:20] SPEAKER_00: this file dates back to what I first arrived in Calgary in 2005. So I'm an advertising person by
[15:26] SPEAKER_00: background. And so one of my earliest clients was the Institute for Modern and Contemporary Art
[15:33] SPEAKER_00: and my client Darcy LeVac, who's a good mentor and friend in a huge champion of the arts and Calgary
[15:39] SPEAKER_00: for so many decades. He was working on some revised stationery and branding for, for Imca's work,
[15:47] SPEAKER_00: which was really one of the driving forces trying to understand, like, why is it that Calgary does not
[15:53] SPEAKER_00: have a major destination dedicated to Contemporary Art? At the time, we were like the only ones,
[15:59] SPEAKER_00: the only city in North America with a population over a million without this scale of gallery
[16:05] SPEAKER_00: experience. And that's, I must say, when I say that, to say that, it's not that we're without
[16:10] SPEAKER_00: Contemporary Art. Like, the Oscar is an incredible, like, nationally leading organization
[16:15] SPEAKER_00: and foundation in our community. We have tremendous artist-run centers and galleries and commercial
[16:22] SPEAKER_00: commercial opportunities to engage with art. But, you know, like Edmonton has the AGA, like,
[16:29] SPEAKER_00: you know, Vancouver has the Vancouver art gallery. That was the type of thing that Calgary didn't have
[16:33] SPEAKER_00: for some strange reason. And so I started working on some branding projects for that organization.
[16:39] SPEAKER_00: And then I was a volunteer from then all the way through to being one of the people who was
[16:45] SPEAKER_00: asked to help coordinate this submission to the city to pitch the planetarium. So I have been
[16:50] SPEAKER_00: involved as a volunteer from this organization between 2005 and 2018. And part of the reason of
[16:58] SPEAKER_00: sort of taking a really interesting career shift was that I've never actually felt more connected
[17:02] SPEAKER_00: to something when you give back and you care deeply and passionately about Contemporary Art as I
[17:08] SPEAKER_00: do personally. And you have, through the benefit of being mentored and guided by many amazing
[17:15] SPEAKER_00: Calgaryans who have led me in different career capacities that I felt like it was such a wonderful
[17:20] SPEAKER_00: opportunity to apply those skills in a way that I knew that I could make a difference and help
[17:26] SPEAKER_00: take this thing from like concept into a reality. So I'm really proud about what this entire
[17:32] SPEAKER_00: team has accomplished. I was employee three at the time and I was hired and we now have a team of 20
[17:37] SPEAKER_00: people. I think my first budget was a little less than a million dollars. It's now a five million
[17:42] SPEAKER_00: dollar organization. So there's a tremendous amount to be proud of. And the more ideas and
[17:49] SPEAKER_00: interest and investment that people put their time and energy into centering the arts as a
[17:55] SPEAKER_00: defining characteristic of what Calgary is. It's a worthy cause. It's a project of passion. It's
[18:02] SPEAKER_00: a huge privilege for me to hold this position. And I know the whole team here feels the same way
[18:06] SPEAKER_02: about the work we do. All right, super. Thanks so much, David, for joining us today.
[18:11] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for having me. This is a lot of fun. That was David Lentster, who was CEO of Contemporary
[18:16] SPEAKER_02: Calgary. I'm Mario Taniguchi managing editor of Canada's Entrepreneur. Thanks for joining us today.