Re: Mass Artistic Exodus? Julie Bevan and Anthea Black, Aug. 6-Aug.12, 2009.

This article summed up what I fear for the arts community and Calgary in general. The subsequent online commentary is also thought provoking and reflects a need for critical discourse as well as the necessary community support for a flourishing arts scene.

Last Thursday – on First Thursdays – sitting in the window of the upper level of Arts Central, my colleague and I watched as hundreds of downtown office workers were scurrying to the C-Train, retreating to the suburbs and away from this dynamic monthly cultural event. How do we motivate those Calgarians to stay downtown and take in a positive, creative, inspiring part of their city?

Ironically, I read this Fast Forward Weekly article on my way to the last day of exhibit Celebrating Calgary at the Nickle Arts Museum, formed around recent purchases of major works by Calgary artists Ron Moppett, Greg Payce, Walter May, Katie Ohe, Shelley Ouellet, Wendy Toogood, Chris Cran and John Will to name a few.

While this exhibit is now over, Backstory: Connections and Circumstance in Calgary is on until September 18, featuring the artists who built this city — Marion Nicholl, Illingworth Kerr, Walter Philips, Luke Lindoe, Maxwell Bates et al.

Congratulations to the Nickle for the purchase and exhibit program. Get out and see this exhibit in spite of it being under-publicized, under-budgeted and relegated to the slow summer months. You’ll catch the MFA exhibit as well. Bring your cousins from the suburbs.

SHARON STEVENS,

CALGARY