#yegfestivals
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Edmonton Heritage Festival 2022 by Paula Kirman
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Palestine
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I enjoyed visiting the Palestine pavilion at the Heritage Festival yesterday. It was my first time getting a chance to experience the energetic Dabke dancing, which included the audience. It also started to pour towards the end of the performance! -- #yeg #HeritageFestival #Palestine #yegfestivals #dabke #edmonton #alberta #canada #yegphotographer https://www.instagram.com/p/CguUU9ZlHEf/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Edmonton Blues Festival 2022 - Day Three by Paula Kirman
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#edmonton#edmonton blues festival#blues festival#blues music#blues#yegphotographer#yeg#yegevents#yegfestivals#music photography#event photography#flickr
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“I Am YEG Arts” Series: Amber Rooke
Photo by Manpreet Singh
Help and do good work. It’s a hard philosophy to beat. Fortunately for fans of The Works Art & Design Festival, it’s also the mindset of its Executive Artistic Director, Amber Rooke. Besides being known locally as the unofficial start of summer in Edmonton’s downtown core, The Works is recognized internationally as North America’s largest free outdoor festival dedicated to visual arts. And that’s something Rooke is proud to be part of—and grow. Her motivation? Ensuring that resources are put toward increasing access to participate in and experience the arts. Her path to success? Showing up, helping out, and getting involved. This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Amber Rooke.
Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and why you’ve made it your home.
I was born here. I grew up in BC but returned for school, then moved away and came back for work, like a lot of Edmontonians do. Right now it’s my home because there are a lot of opportunities to make things happen, and that’s exciting.
How did you get your start in arts advocacy, and what it was about the arts community that made you feel like you might belong there?
I was part of a group of U of A students who were looking for a place to show student artwork. It turned out the best way to do that was outside the university at the time, so we started the Society of Student Artists (SoSA), and I ended up devoting a lot of my time to supporting student and emerging artists. We had a basement gallery space in the downtown and hosted events to bring Edmonton artists together. From that, I got into festivals, where the work is so varied that I’m learning new things all the time. There are also so many opportunities to help and do good work. It’s really kept my attention and imagination for all this time.
What makes The Works special to you and the city, and what’s one thing you want people to know that they won’t find on the Works’ website.
The Works is a very unique organization, and The Works festival is a very unique event. It’s hard for Edmontonians to understand because it’s been around for so long, but a festival that is focused on visual art is not common, even now. What is special to me though is the blending of arts presentation, community development, mentorship, public art education, and artist support.
What does community mean to you, and where do you find it?
Community is a tricky word. I use it often, but rarely to describe the same thing. For me, it’s not so much a space or a group of people, but a feeling that whoever is there can be themselves. I interact with a lot of groups of people, and the ones that feel like a community are the ones where folks trust that a space has enough good intention in it that there can be rupture and it can be mended. I often find community through a shared project, like a big event, some committee, or helping with a renovation or something, but the work is just a vehicle to get to know people. I try to be a person that helps to make spaces more about connection and, hopefully, some sense of community or relationship will come from that. That said, ‘Community’ can feel like a sort of romantic idealization of complete belonging and security, but it can be good just to spend time with people and find a way to get along.
Artist Sowl paints The Works giant gateway murals. Photo by Stephanie Craig.
What’s one piece of advice someone gave you growing up that turned out to be true. What’s one piece that didn’t hold up?
An idea that I unlearned pretty quickly is that you have to choose a career path and that it’s a straight line with your choice at the goal post. Most people I know are on very wandering roads to their careers or current endeavors.
Something that definitely held up is the importance of showing up, helping out, and getting involved. This is really how I was able to figure out where I wanted to focus my efforts.
Tell us about someone who mentored you or helped set you on your path.
The entire sculpture department at the U of A, circa 2001, both students and staff. This was the core group who started the Society of Student Artists (SoSA), and the staff were extremely helpful in giving advice and energy to those projects. Royden Mills, Dawn McLean, John McGie, and Neil Fiertel were all extremely supportive.
Who’s someone inspiring you right now?
Right now, I am most inspired by a couple of really enthusiastic emerging artists that I work with. These are folks who are making art bravely and openly looking to grow both themselves, their practice, and society in a really authentic and optimistic way. The last few years have been really hard on optimism, and I think it’s been really important to be open about challenges, but also not to be mired in them. Artists making work out of the joy of making work is just the best antidote to late COVID “stuckness.”
What are you looking forward to most at this year’s Works Festival (July 8–17)?
This year’s event is the first time since 2017 that we will be producing a full festival on Churchill Square. I am really enjoying the collaboration with Edmonton International Street Performers Festival. It has been a lot of fun, and I am learning a lot. So I am really excited to just be back and have an opportunity to see people again in that context. I am also loving the late-stage pandemic reflections and responses coming from our artists. There is a strong theme of reflection and relationship, both across human kind and between human and non-human life. Obviously these are complex-but-timely themes, and the exhibits offer a range of challenging and joyful ways to engage with those themes.
What excites you most about the YEG art scene right now?
There is a lot of energy for new initiatives, like small venues and popup events. There are some really community-focused things happening right now, and I feel like there really is room to be part of something, no matter where you’re coming from. There’s also a readiness and openness from established presenters and granting agencies to take small things seriously and make space for development. It’s so great to see that there is a big enough and supportive enough arts ecology to raise up all these initiatives.
Describe your perfect day in Edmonton. How do you spend it?
This is a really hard question because I have had many types of great days. I enjoy talk radio, so if I’m spending a quiet day, it’s going to be admiring the facilitation skills of a call-in-radio host or catching up on politics while walking. If it’s a day to go out, then the perfect weather is 22˚C with some clouds, and I want to walk to at least 3 places: a farmers’ market, a gallery, and something outdoors and full of people. I honestly really like a work day though—a long-but-doable list of things to do, people to talk to, and problems to dig into—that really works for me.
Performance of Something Nothing on Churchill Square, 2022. Photo by Stephanie Craig.
Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along!
Click here to learn more about The Works and this year’s Festival, July 8 to 17, Churchill Square.
About Amber Rooke
Amber Rooke has been with The Works Art & Design Festival Since 2005, moving from a curatorial role to Executive Artistic Director. She has engaged local, national and international artists to bring impactful arts programming to Edmonton, with a focus on temporary installation that provides one of a kind experiences to audiences, as well as invaluable mentorship opportunities for emerging artists. Amber sits on engagement and advisory committees for the City of Edmonton, Edmonton Chamber of Commerce, and the Edmonton Community Foundation.
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Great time at the @yegcanoevolant last night! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . #flyingcanoevolant #exploreedmonton #yegfestivals #igyeg #urbanyeg #yegcommunity #yeggers #yeglife #edmontonviews #edmonton #edmontonalberta #nightphotos #nightphotographer #nightphotographypros #nightphotograph #photonight #exploreyeg #edmontonphotography #edmontonphoto #photoofthenight #sonyalphagang #sonyalphaphotos #sonyalphaphotography #sonyalphaphoto #sonylens #sony18105 #sonylenses (at Edmonton, Alberta) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8Fy781AaLy/?igshid=1vkzyt1ic2qpf
#flyingcanoevolant#exploreedmonton#yegfestivals#igyeg#urbanyeg#yegcommunity#yeggers#yeglife#edmontonviews#edmonton#edmontonalberta#nightphotos#nightphotographer#nightphotographypros#nightphotograph#photonight#exploreyeg#edmontonphotography#edmontonphoto#photoofthenight#sonyalphagang#sonyalphaphotos#sonyalphaphotography#sonyalphaphoto#sonylens#sony18105#sonylenses
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Some more lovely glowing art from the weekend! Skull candy inspired! 💀💀💀 #faceandbodypainting #bodypainting #facenbodypainting #blacklightpaint #blacklightpainting #uvreactive #uvreactivepaint #uvreactivepainting #uvreactivepaintings #blacklightreactive #blacklightreactiveart #blacklightreactivepaint #blacklightreactivepainting #blacklightreactivepaintings #paintedbones #skeletonpaint #skeletonpainting #paintingbones #paintingbonesoneverything #glowingbones #skullcandy #glowingskullcandy #skullcandies https://www.instagram.com/p/Bzv-uAWgMnZ/?igshid=j5mz7p8fa36g
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I saw this post on Facebook and thought it was timely as we head into #yegfestivals and #canadaday🇨🇦 celebrations. #petsafety #safetytips https://www.instagram.com/p/BzZoE_vpzjZ/?igshid=tdkss8gg348b
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REPOST • @yegpinoyfiesta Day 1 of the Fiesta brought out sun and so many smiling faces. Let’s do it again today!! TARA NA!! 🇵🇭🙌🏼❤️ Sunday June 23 @ 10 to 5 pm. #yeg #yegfood #yegpinoy #yegfilipino #yegfilipino #yeggers #yegfilipinofood #yegfestivals #yegfestival #yegsummer #edmonton #alberta #proudtobepinoy https://www.instagram.com/p/BzDyfmqA8xb/?igshid=xhg5yzm1viu4
#yeg#yegfood#yegpinoy#yegfilipino#yeggers#yegfilipinofood#yegfestivals#yegfestival#yegsummer#edmonton#alberta#proudtobepinoy
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Pikaaa; #heritagefestival #yegfestivals #pikachu #pokemon #yeg (at Edmonton Heritage Festival Association)
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TRAVEL - Edmonton, Alberta - Cariwest 2017 http://www.gaycalgary.com/pa1789
#gaytravel#travel#gayyeg#yeg#edmonton#Cariwestyeg#Trinidad#Caribbean#Carnival#yegfestival#festival#Cariwest
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Had an excellent time @edmfolkfest the bands were fantastic and I was super happy to see my favourite musician @hozier welcome to Canada! Plz come back soon!!! ♥️ . . . #edmfolkfest #music #onthehill #hozier #datenight #withmyhubs #yeg #yegfestival #yegfolkfest2019 (at Gallagher Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/B088FTeAMsP/?igshid=16wszvyddsb0p
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Edmonton Heritage Festival 2022 by Paula Kirman
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Palestine
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On Sunday, I had to flee Hawrelak Park right after the Palestine pavilion's exciting Dabke dance performance, because of a sudden downpour. I returned on Monday to witness another performance (and if you look closely, there's @rachelnotleyab dancing in the first photo), and had a chance to go inside the cultural tent. -- #yeg #HeritageFestival #yegheritagefest #Palestine #yegfestivals #yegevents #yegphotographer https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgw4AP8LgPd/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
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Edmonton Blues Festival 2022 - Day Three by Paula Kirman
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Kat Danser & The Tall Tales
#edmonton#edmonton blues festival#blues festival#blues music#blues#yegphotographer#yeg#yegevents#yegfestivals#music photography#event photography#flickr
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“I Am YEG Arts” Series: Whittyn Jason
Photo by Liam Makenzie
Scenographer, lighting designer, and the director of Found Festival—Whittyn Jason has their very creative, and ridiculously talented, hands full. If you’re new to Found Fest, get ready for a treat: four inspired days of theatre, dance, film, poetry, music, sound art, and more—all celebrated in unconventional places and spaces. Intrigued? Excellent. That’s exactly what Jason was hoping for. Also on their list? That being there will challenge your ideas about traditional performance spaces, your accessibility to them, and your home in the arts community—a place to collaborate, support, and belong. This week’s “I Am YEG Arts” story belongs to Whittyn Jason.
Tell us about your connection to Edmonton and why you’ve made it your home.
I was born, raised, and educated in Edmonton, and I’m glad to continue calling it my home! My dad immigrated here from South Africa via the UK, and my mom is from Edmonton’s surrounding area. I’ve been really grateful to grow up here with a support system that’s excited about the arts, and I continue to live here because I think it’s a great place to grow your practice and experiment with your artistic identity, while making a living wage. It’s a great home base.
How did you become a scenographer/lighting designer? Had it always interested you, or was it a detour on another path?
When I was in high school, I had a really incredible drama teacher (Vern Slipetz), who allowed me to really explore all of these niche, technical interests I had. He encouraged me to continue exploring my love of lights in post-secondary, even though I was initially accepted to school for History/Anthropology. But theatre is all about examining how people live and interact, which is what interested me about those fields in the first place, so it works out. I’ve always had a fascination for installation art and environmental design, so working as a scenographer/lighting designer is my own way into that world.
Tell us a little about what makes Found Festival (Common Ground Arts Society) special to you and the city.
I think my love of it all goes back to the design concept of ‘truth in materials.’ Found Festival is an embodiment of that tenet—it explores how we understand that traditional framework of performance and art and challenges the audience to reconsider and recontextualize how the environment around us influences the way we participate and create art. If you want to do a living-room drama, why not do it in someone’s real-life living room.
What has you most excited about this year’s lineup (July 7–10)?
I can’t pick one—I’m just excited to actually get the festival on its feet! It’s like picking your favourite kid, I think. I will say that I am really excited that our lineup features artists from Edmonton, as well as Calgary and Vancouver. We also have a couple of projects that use projection heavily (003_playback and BASK), which is a field of design and performance I’m really fascinated with in my own work. Plus some homegrown heroes, like Salem Zurch, Ryan ‘SomeSum’ Summers, and Thou Art Here Theatre.
What advice would you give artists wanting to live and work here?
This is sort of self-serving, but go to festivals! Participate! Edmonton has no shortage of festivals that you can volunteer at, be a patron of, or have open calls you can submit to. I’ve made a lot of connections through volunteering and working PA gigs, that aren’t necessarily in my specific field, that have cropped up again down the road. If you try everything at first, you can get more specific later—plus you end up with a really broad skill set.
Tell us about a lesson you’ve had to learn more than once.
Don’t overschedule yourself. I’m still working on this one. I think often about something one of my professors told me when I was graduating, which was “Don’t say ‘yes’ when you really mean ‘no’,” and I come back to it a lot when I’m trying to mitigate burnout. More work will come, which is really hard to internalize when you’re young and starting out in a gig economy. If someone wants to work with you, they’ll probably ask you again. That’s why they asked you in the first place.
What does community mean to you, and where do you find it?
I think community is who you share an affinity with and who you consciously choose to be around, continually. And that sounds kind of broad, but there are a million tiny little intersections of community—you can have as many communities as you have interests. I have my design community, my queer theatre community, my BIPOC artists community, my tattoo-enthusiast community, etc. At the end of the day though, I believe you build it by just showing up and letting people know you support them and you’re interested in their work.
Who’s someone inspiring you right now?
It’s two people: Salem Zurch and Beth Dart. Salem is such a force of nature, and every time I get to work with them I thoroughly enjoy it. They’re so creative and resourceful, and I think one day they’re going to take over the world. Beth Dart has been a mentor of mine for over half a decade, and every time I work with her it’s like I unlock a new level of understanding of performance. It’s really an honour to be following in her footsteps with Found Festival. Without her, I think I would have had a totally different career trajectory.
When you think YEG arts, what are the first three things, people, or places that come to mind?
Mac Brock—champion of the arts and the co-producer of Found Festival. He’s originally from Regina, but I’ve worked with him so closely over the last ~5 years that I can’t imagine making art in Edmonton without him.
Non-stop summer festivals—Folk Fest, Fringe, Found Fest, Next Fest, the Works, Taste of Edmonton, you name it.
The City’s love of murals and public art—I have a soft spot for the Talus balls, and love this surge of murals in the nooks and crannies of Edmonton. My current favourite is the Chi Pig memorial painting on the side of the Buckingham.
What makes you hopeful these days?
My friends. I don’t know what I would do without them. Every day I’m thankful for all of them. There’s obviously been a lot of changes and moves over the last couple of years, and I’m grateful to have a solid group of pals who have been a constant through it all. Having friends from different roles or proximities within the arts has also been such an eye-opener for me because I get to stop looking at my job through a microscope. It’s really helped me recontextualize my workaholic nature and has helped me start to return to feel like more of a balanced person again.
Want more YEG Arts Stories? We’ll be sharing them here all year and on social media using the hashtag #IamYegArts. Follow along!
Click here for all the latest details and updates about this year’s Found Festival lineup and schedule.
About Whittyn Jason
Whittyn Jason (they/them/theirs) is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race artist of South African and Ukrainian descent. They live and primarily create in amiskwacîwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton), where they work as a scenographer/lighting designer and Festival Director for Found Fest (Common Ground Arts Society). Whittyn is a member of the ADC, and holds a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Alberta.
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Big shoutout to the guys at @lucky_strike_tattoo , Make sure you visit them at the @Tattoo & Art Festival this weekend @edmontonexpocentre @yeg_tattoo #tattoos #artist #yegfestival #creativity #yegbiz #stickers #buylocalyeg #stickerbeaver #casadebeaver #madeincanada🇨🇦 #supportlocalart https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwp13VDA8e7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=156nqhxfv8w54
#tattoos#artist#yegfestival#creativity#yegbiz#stickers#buylocalyeg#stickerbeaver#casadebeaver#madeincanada🇨🇦#supportlocalart
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