With the Calgary civic election on the horizon, three theatre companies have come together to host a Mayoral Candidates Forum on the Arts. Spearheaded by Theatre Junction Grand with One Yellow Rabbit Theatre and Alberta Theatre Projects, the forum will take place on August 28th, at 6pm, at Theatre Junction Grand.
“The arts needs to engage more in civic discourse,” Guy de Carteret, Executive Director at Theatre Junction Grand says. “We believe that a healthy arts sector is essential to a healthy and vibrant city.”
All the mayoral candidates are confirmed and this includes: Shawn Baldwin, Andre Chabot, Paul Hughes, David Lapp, Naheed Nenshi, Bill Smith, David Tremblay, and Dr. Emile Gabriel. The organizers have collated questions around the arts that will bring out the issues. Some of the questions coming from sector include “funding for the arts, the role of arts in the city and public art,” de Carteret explains. The event will also include questions from the audience in the second half, with the event being moderated by Wordfest’s CEO Shelley Youngblut.
De Carteret with the support of the ten cornerstone arts organizations are hoping to get “a full mixture of the city coming together around the arts.”
The forum is free but tickets can be reserved at Theatre Junction Grand‘s website. There will be a reception after the forum sponsored by Creative Calgary to try and promote more discussion with the candidates.
More information can be found online.