All in TD Incubator
Wakefield Brewster Presents, Pt. 3 sends a passionate invitation from four beloved local female artists to relish in the power of wellness and art. Soul-affirming Indigenous songs swirl with sculptures made of newspapers, joyfully brought to life with performance, poetry, and the beating hearts of ideas beautifully in-sync.
When people talk about Calgary and its arts scene, the story that often gets told is that emerging artists usually leave our city; they don’t choose to stay or move here to practice their art. There’s no support; they can’t make a living.
While that story may have had some truth to it at one time, it’s no longer accurate. Assistance for these artists has expanded significantly. Local organizations such as Arts Commons have created programs to provide educational and mentoring opportunities to accelerate emerging artists’ careers.
This past November, if you had ventured into the Engineered Air Theatre, tucked away in the lower levels of Arts Commons, you would have encountered something special. Under the simple name of Wakefield Brewster Presents, Pt. 1, Calgary’s Poet Laureate went about creating artistic collaboration on stage with some of Calgary’s most exciting interdisciplinary artists. Patrons walked away from this first presentation of the TD Amplify season saying that “the show was beyond expectations” and featured an “outstanding selection of new artists” even going as far to say that they’d “love to see more creations like this in Calgary.”
It's the time of year when trees start to glow, the mountains turn white, and we take time to reflect on another year at Arts Commons. From captivating performances to inspiring exhibitions, this year has been filled with creativity, community, and connection. Join us as we reflect on 12 highlights that made the 2022-23 season at Arts Commons truly unforgettable.
Poet Laureate Wakefield Brewster is not a fresh face in the artistic community. Since moving to Calgary 18 years ago, he has been racking up awards and recognition for his outstanding spoken word and poetry pieces and has had no desire to move to the traditional artistic epicentres of Canada, like Toronto or Montreal: “I couldn’t have done this anywhere else,” he says, “there is something very special about Calgary.” And now, as Arts Commons’ newest Incubator Fellow, Wakefield aims to encourage Calgary’s budding artists to grow where they are planted.
In a parallel universe, humanity calls the strange and unforgiving planet Mars home. Meals come in pill form and flying cars are a ubiquitous part of our lives. In this odd mirror world, a talk show flickers to life on a low-resolution television. This is vision of a lo-fi future from the creative genius of Sargeant x Comrade, TD Incubator Fellows and the artistic leaders of the 22-23 season of the TD Amplify Cabaret series.
