Artist Tom Jonsson’s performance project On the Road Again addresses cultural workers’ response to Calgary’s growth

It is obvious that Calgary’s rapid growth in the last couple of years has had serious impacts on the physical, cultural and social landscape of the city. Artists and arts organizations in Calgary have not been immune to these changes, with many of the smaller non-profit galleries facing rising rents and/or imminent eviction.
    Earlier this year, The New Gallery was forced to leave its former home on Ninth Ave. S.W. when its building was slated for demolition (along with the Penny Lane complex). The New Gallery has since relocated to Eau Claire Market, but may soon need to search for another space, as there are plans in the works to tear down the market in the coming year.
    Out of all this change comes the opportunity (and the urgent need) for cultural workers to evaluate and respond to the city’s growth. Artist Tom Jonsson will be doing exactly this in his upcoming performance project On the Road Again. Presented by The New Gallery and the Calgary Housing Action Initiative (CHAI), and sponsored by Calgary Dollars, the week-long project is open to the public. The first is the Furniture Mobilizing Workshop that will take place from September 9 to 13 at Eau Claire Market. Participants are invited to attach wheels to various pieces of donated and used furniture that will then be used in a procession on September 15. The event will begin at the former site of The Brick (16th Ave. and Centre St. N.) and end at the former site of The New Gallery, with stops along the way.
    Jonsson will also host an open forum discussion in Riley Park on September 16 along with Jennifer McVeigh and Grant Neufeld of CHAI. The collaboration between these three groups represents an important connection between artist and activist communities, which, according to McVeigh, “are often affected by similar economic pressures, especially in Calgary today, where survival is difficult for any non-profit group.”
    Jonsson (a born-and-bred Calgarian, now living in Toronto) recently discussed the inspiration for his project and his impressions of the city’s growth with Fast Forward.
    Fast Forward: Having lived in Toronto for the last year, you must have experienced the shock of returning to find that Calgary has changed drastically in the time you’ve been away.
    Tom Jonsson: On one hand, it isn't a shock — the city as I've known it has always been expanding, but it's true that when you are away, you notice it all at once, rather than little by little. This is also not a unique situation to Calgary — Toronto is in a huge development boom right now. What I'm seeing (in Toronto) is a more co-ordinated and entrenched resistance to some developments, in part drawn on the evidence of past development disasters, but also recognizing the disconnect between the profit motive and neighbourhood vitality.
    What changes have you noticed in Calgary? How has this inspired your project?
    Recently, this development has been really close to home. A new road is being built along the side of my parents’ inner-city home, and the land around them is being subdivided and will soon be full of new monster homes. All of this development is quite clearly based on profit, of securing and expanding property values.
    I think that what is happening now is something that's happened over and over again in the city's history, but that history is often lost, or at least hidden. That is part of what I wanted to do with this project: to draw connections to these processes of change, both on a geographical level, but also over time.
    What is the significance of the sites you’ve chosen for your project?
    When living in Halifax, I heard that The Brick on Centre Street had been converted into a homeless shelter. Obviously, the city didn't have a plan to accommodate (its) sudden growth, and the current infrastructure couldn't handle it. Also, where are these people now? I really hope some can come on the walk and share their experiences.
    Then came the further transition of this site to accommodate for the expansion of the Trans-Canada Highway. The connection between furniture and wheels came from that. I wanted to commemorate these two moments in the history of the site, and to demonstrate how they were connected.
    For The New Gallery, and for arts organizations across the city, there is a similar issue around mobility and precariousness. They are constantly being forced out of locations due to rising rental costs, often as a result of the economic benefits they engender but don't necessarily benefit from. So the mobile furniture fits here, too, because in both cases, having to be on the go all the time, it helps if your furniture can come with you.
    More information about the project is available at http://ontheroadcalgary.blogspot.com.