Sam Brown Guest Blog
Happy Monday YYC!
Tonight we have a very special guest blog treat from our pal Sam Brown! Read & enjoy!
I love art. Ever since I was little I wanted to be an artist. My medium of choice constantly changes, but even during my brief stint as a scientist, I was throwing art into it. Although it may not be the first thing to come to people’s minds when thinking about what makes Calgary great, the art scene is a big one for me. We have an astonishing amount of amazing local artists, many of whom are just breaking out. You’ll find a new gallery show opening almost weekly in the city, because Calgary’s art flow never sleeps.
The Glenbow Museum’s Launch Party typically takes place on the weekend of my birthday, so for the past two years I have dragged my friends along with me to go look at latest galleries. The people attending the opening are arguably more interesting than the art itself, so even if you aren’t into art (like most of my friends), you’re guaranteed an enjoyable experience.
This year, the revival of The Factory Party also took place that same weekend and I don’t think you can comprehend the amount of pure joy this brought me. I teared up four separate times. It was honestly my dream event: art, live music, cool people, located at the old science centre (Centennial Planetarium). It was kind of surreal. 14 years ago, I was in the same building competing in Invent An Alien (her name was Diona, she lived on one of Jupiter’s moons, she had blue skin, we won 5th overall, it was great), and now here I am standing in the same spot with blue hair and a beer. It was truly a magical evening.
My list of local art obsessions would not be complete without Wreck City. Wreck City is the definition of local love. Back in 2013, there was a block of houses in Sunnyside that were going to be torn down, but before that, groups of artists took over the houses and created the most legit set of art installations I have ever experienced. There were ladders, slides, poetry, bridges between houses, and at one point a lot of body parts. I am still obsessed with it. I went to their subsequent project, Demo Tape, two summers ago, which was highly enjoyable. I’m patiently waiting on their next event.
One of the beautiful things about Calgarian entrepreneurs is how passionate they are about helping other entrepreneurs. Take Market Collective for example, a group of people got together, created a business plan, marketed the event, and now have a thriving organization that helps local entrepreneurs, artists, and makers share their passions with the community. There’s always going to be competition, but more often than not, people in the same field are eager to collaborate.
A big takeaway from studying art is that as an artist, you are an entrepreneur. This seems obvious now, but it didn’t sink in for me until I was in front of a group of people defending the value of my work. You are creating a product or offering a service that others desire. Don’t hold back on marketing yourself and don’t undervalue your work. It’s seriously amazing that our city has so many opportunities for local artists. At some point, I may get back out there and regularly make physical art, but for now I shall continue to tweet about my feelings.
You can follow my adventures around the interweb on Instagram and twitter as @serving0fnerd.
If you are someone you know would like to be a guest blogger on our blog drop us a line! Chat at chaaa next week Calgary - stay local!
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