As Calgary’s population grows, so does both diversity and sprawl. Our weekly Countdown to 2 Million special series continues.<\/p>\n
Published Mar 11, 2026 \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 Last updated 1\u00a0hour ago \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 11 minute read<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n You can save this article by registering for free here<\/a>. Or sign-in<\/a> if you have an account.<\/p>\n In early February, the Exposure Photography Festival opened at Contemporary Calgary.<\/p>\n Logistically, Exposure is a unique event that spreads out across Calgary and into other cities across the province. What it offers is a succinct glimpse of a growing city\u2019s interconnected ecosystem that links venues with audiences, artists and organizations.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Featuring hundreds of local artists and international photographers, the festival partners with 30 venues of all sizes, from major institutions such as Contemporary Calgary to small galleries, coffee shops and artist-run collectives. The art runs the gamut from traditional wildlife photography to edgy and surreal experimental work.<\/p>\n Advertisement 2<\/p>\n This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.<\/p>\n THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.<\/p>\n Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account.Get exclusive access to the Calgary Herald ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on.Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists.Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.<\/p>\n REGISTER \/ SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.<\/p>\n THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.<\/p>\n Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.<\/p>\n Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Account<\/p>\n or<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n On Feb. 5, Contemporary Calgary opened its doors as a partner and host of the festival\u2019s four central exhibitions with a big-city gala that suggested the city had come of age as one of Canada\u2019s artistic hubs.<\/p>\n Noon News Roundup<\/p>\n Thanks for signing up!<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cIt actually broke our single-evening record,\u201d says Contemporary Calgary CEO David Leinster. \u201cBetween 5 o\u2019clock and 9 o\u2019clock we had almost 1,300 people through the building. When you look at some other cities and communities in this country and others, they are shocked: Getting 1,300 people to an opening in an evening is not common.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a recurring theme when talking to leaders of Calgary\u2019s major cultural institutions. The city has become the envy of others, particularly when it comes to investment in the redevelopment of a number of major arts organizations in and around the downtown core.<\/p>\n This rise began to take shape 10 years ago, when the $191-million National Music Centre opened in East Village. Two years later, the $245-million, five-level Central Library opened a few blocks away.<\/p>\n By 2029, when Calgary is estimated to approach a population of two million people, the final stages of renovations will be complete at the Werklund Centre (formerly Arts Commons), Contemporary Calgary, The Glenbow Museum and Olympic Plaza, representing a total investment of nearly $990 million from all three levels of government, philanthropists and fundraising campaigns.<\/p>\n Scotia Place, the $926-million future home of the Calgary Flames<\/a>, is scheduled to open in 2027. The centrepiece of the developing Culture and Entertainment District is expected to host concerts that can seat up to 20,000 people, which should mean major artists that have skipped Calgary in the past \u2014 given the limitations of the Saddledome \u2014 will bring their tours here.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n It all makes for an unprecedented investment in infrastructure that certainly gives the appearance Calgary\u2019s cultural scene \u2014 at least in terms of the brick, mortar and concrete of our major downtown institutions \u2014 will look significantly different by the time the city welcomes its two-millionth resident.<\/p>\n Of course, venues are only one aspect of maintaining and nourishing an arts scene for a growing population. Changes to programming and the need to support a foundational base of artists are also critical.<\/p>\n As Calgary\u2019s population grows, so does both diversity and sprawl.<\/p>\n While world-class galleries may attract tourists, programming needs to reflect the tastes of the city\u2019s population. That requires organizations to reach out to cultural communities and offer them a say in their programming.<\/p>\n Glenbow, for one, is undergoing a philosophical shift in what it will present.<\/p>\n While it undergoes a $205-million physical transformation, the new space will house up to 36 exhibits at a time that will be constantly renewed. Some will be travelling exhibits, but many will be fed by the museum\u2019s sprawling collection of artifacts.<\/p>\n The shift should end what outgoing CEO Nicholas Bell calls \u201cgenerational visiting\u201d by large swaths of the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Glenbow has traditionally featured permanent exhibits dedicated to everything from the history of Alberta to minerals. They didn\u2019t change, so while city residents may have attended once a decade or so, many didn\u2019t feel compelled to make it a regular stop.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Glenbow is addressing other barriers that have prevented certain segments of the population from visiting, including affordability. A $35-million donation from the family of Calgary philanthropist and businessman JR Shaw will allow the museum to offer free admission. Staff at Glenbow will also consult and partner with members of various cultural groups to develop exhibits and programs, rather than rely solely on in-house expertise.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Still, Calgary is already one of Canada\u2019s most diverse cities and healthy arts institutions began addressing this years ago. Hitting two million people won\u2019t suddenly bring major change to savvy organizations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there were organizations that were irrelevant in a city of 1.2 million, they will continue to be irrelevant in a city of two million people,\u201d said Alex Sarian, president and chief executive of the Werklund Centre. \u201cThe idea around programming and this idea of exploring the question \u2018who are we in service to, and who are we doing this work for?\u2019 is a question that transcends city size and the scalability.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarian wrote about the need for arts organizations to better tailor programming to the populations they serve in the 2024 book The Audacity of Relevance. He uses the metaphor of hardware and software. The former is the building and infrastructure needed to house the latter, which is made up of artists, smaller arts organizations and audiences.<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest fear is that people spend too much time and resources and energy on the hardware and the infrastructure without giving proper attention to the software: the actual programming and the people that are meant to be filling it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cMy biggest fear is that 20, 30 years from now, Canada will have these beautiful facilities that nobody knows what to do with because we spent too much time investing in the hardware and not the software. So I\u2019m excited about Calgary, because we have the right business case to invest in the hardware: The city is growing and hopefully still taking care of the people of Calgary, including the artist community.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that 20 years from now, 30 years from now, Werklund Centre is thriving not because it\u2019s a beautiful facility but because Calgarians feel like they want to breathe life into it.\u201d<\/p>\n Key to this is a thriving local community of artists who feel they are contributing to the city\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n While the new event centre may mean major acts such as Taylor Swift will no longer skip Calgary and Tate McRae might include a hometown show on her next stadium tour, our culture can\u2019t be defined by popular visiting artists.<\/p>\n Calgary needs to be a place where local artists can live and, in the best case scenario, make some sort of living through their art.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not an arts thing, but the biggest variable is ensuring that Calgary remains competitive related to other major cities,\u201d said Sarian.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how beautiful the Werklund Centre is, if Calgary becomes too unaffordable for the artist community then we have lost because all our venues become just places where touring artists will perform as they helicopter through town as opposed to being local hubs where people are creating with and for each other.\u201d<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n One strategy aimed at strengthening Calgary\u2019s arts scene is to have it branded a \u201cmusic city,\u201d not unlike Nashville or Austin, Texas.<\/p>\n In 2024, a report from the advocacy group West Anthem suggested ideas to improve the lives of musicians and health of music venues. They included repurposing city or provincially owned spaces for arts activities, increasing funding for artists and organizations, addressing housing issues for musicians, creating mentoring opportunities between new and established musicians and promoting diversity within the music industry.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n There have been some significant challenges when it comes to supporting live venues.<\/p>\n In 2010, there were 67 multi-purpose venues programming music, and 75 bars, cafes or restaurants with live music performances in 2010, the report found. In 2023, the numbers were 58 and 53, respectively.<\/p>\n In England, a registered charity called Music Venue Trust is designed to prevent grassroots venues from closing, something that has been a concern in Calgary as development forced venues such as The Blues Can and Mikey\u2019s on 12th to relocate.<\/p>\n Mikey\u2019s closed just over a year after opening<\/a> a new location in Bowness. Currently there is anxiety over the future of the Ship and Anchor<\/a> due to a proposed development that would include residential units above the bar.<\/p>\n Despite these struggles, there is a growing awareness that creating spaces and opportunities for musicians is long overdue.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve seen more conversations around being a music-friendly city than we\u2019ve ever had in the history of this province,\u201d said Andrew Mosker, co-founder and chair of West Anthem and president and CEO of the National Music Centre.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been friendly to film and television. Music has not been at the table for those conversations and it is now.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be prepared for a city of two million people, there\u2019s opportunity there, so let\u2019s get ready. I always think we are preparing and we can be ready and we can deliver with the right partners and supporters and advocacy and funding.\u201d<\/p>\n Determining the type of artists and how many contribute to the scene in Calgary is a bit of a challenge.<\/p>\n A 2025 report by Hill Strategies, using census data, determined there were 33,300 workers in arts, culture, and heritage occupations in Calgary, as of 2021. That figure included 7,020 professional artists and 1,420 people who work in five occupation groups classified as arts leaders.<\/p>\n It acknowledged those estimates might be low, due to so-called gig work and the uneven workflow of certain artists. A 2023 Arts Professional Survey by Calgary Arts Development found only nine per cent of professional artists in the city relied on their artistic practice for 100 per cent of their income, meaning many would not be counted in national data because it would not be considered their primary source of income.<\/p>\n Eighty-three per cent of those who identified as artists in the Calgary Arts Development Survey were self-employed and just seven per cent were employed full-time as an artist, meaning many do not receive benefits provided by traditional full-time employment.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Patti Pon, president and CEO of Calgary Arts Development, said the artist\u2019s role in a growing city is to be \u201cour storytellers, meaning-makers and our sense-makers\u201d who reflect on a changing population in a way \u201cthat can make us all feel we are a part of that change.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a role she sees as more important than ever in the past decade \u201cwhen nothing appears to make sense. When it\u2019s really hard to find meaning. When the rates of loneliness and depression have gone through the roof and skyrocketed.\u201d<\/p>\n Pon said the city\u2019s arts community needs to be included in broader discussions about income and affordability moving forward.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the bigger conversation about affordability and jobs, artists are right there in it. They feel it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we make our way to two million, there\u2019s the 35,000-foot level where the role for artists to play is quite significant and very much needed. That\u2019s more on the philosophical side: Why arts are a must-have, not a nice-to-have, in my opinion.<\/p>\n \u201cThen there\u2019s the practicality part, which is about affordability when you are talking about (artists and organizations) outside of these large institutions that are receiving record-breaking donations and recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2024, Calgary Arts Development invested or supported 41,000 arts experiences that attracted 5.3 million attendees.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no point building those big institutions if there is nothing underneath to support it. I\u2019m very conscious of that right now,\u201d Pon said.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Calgary visual artists Caitlind r.c. Brown and Wayne Garrett are renting a house in Ramsay in a neighbourhood full of artists. They have found a landlord who is flexible about rent. But not all are as understanding. When they applied for the house eight years ago, it was the first time the couple didn\u2019t have to lie about their full-time profession when looking for housing.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery other time we had to lie and say, \u2018Oh I\u2019m a teacher,’\u201d said Brown. \u201cWayne is a Red Seal machinist and can say, \u2018Oh, I\u2019m a machinist,\u2019 which is not technically a lie, but it\u2019s not what he does for a living.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we are sort of successful artists in our own way, so to have to lie to every landlord in the city except for these ones I think says a lot about how people see artists.\u201d<\/p>\n She said they\u2019ll stay where they are as long as they can but there is always some anxiety as their neighbourhood goes through \u201ca second or third wave of gentrification.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes boom time means rent goes up and everything gets really expensive,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI think it can be a fairly difficult city for artists. The flipside of this is that boom-time means there is more opportunities for arts and culture.<\/p>\n \u201cCalgary can be pretty tough. With the boom-bust cycle, artists are really good at adapting to quick change. But it can be exhausting.\u201d<\/p>\n Brown and Garrett are known for immersive art installations that have been shown around the world. They are behind some of the city\u2019s unique public art installations, including Fisher Ladder at the gateway to Elbow Island Park and Delta Garden + City Unseen, which is made up of 12,000 survey monuments embedded in the concrete near the Peace Bridge.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Each one contained messages from Calgarians who were asked through a survey to answer questions \u201cWhere are you going?\u201d and \u201cWhere do you want to be?\u201d Calgary\u2019s hopes and dreams were literally embedded in a piece of public art.<\/p>\n The couple was also behind the multi-artist project Idle Worship last May, which featured a convoy of 11 mobile exhibits housed in cars, trucks and minivans that arrived unannounced in parking lots and other public spaces in all four of the city\u2019s quadrants.<\/p>\n It was meant to be commentary on Calgary sprawl, its car-centric nature and its role as the hub of Canada\u2019s oil and gas economy. It\u2019s a timely topic for a city that continues to grow and spread, even if it\u2019s not necessarily what everyone wants to hear.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the most wonderful things of being able to be an artist is that you get to be a storyteller that tells a story that no one is charged with looking at or acknowledging,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n \u201cSometimes it can be really critical. I think it\u2019s easy for people to think of public art as being municipally funded and an expensive object. Sometimes that\u2019s true and you need that within the ecology of art in a public space. (Idle Worship) did the same thing. It reflects the city back on itself and critiques the way that we think about and develop our shared amenities.<\/p>\n \u201cYou really need artists to do that, because who else is going to?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2022 Already strained health-care system hard-pressed to meet growing population demands<\/a> Go to calgaryherald.com\/countdown-to-2-million<\/a> to see more.<\/p>\n Bookmark this website and support our journalism: Subscribe now<\/a> so you don\u2019t miss the news you need to know and sign up for our free newsletters<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article content<\/p>\n Share this article in your social network<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Breadcrumb Trail Links Local ArtsNewsLocal News As Calgary’s population grows, so does both diversity and sprawl. Our weekly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":529069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194293],"tags":[49,2798,48],"class_list":{"0":"post-529068","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-calgary","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-calgary","10":"tag-canada"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=529068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/529068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=529068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=529068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=529068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Werklund-Centre-Longform\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Werklund-Centre-Longform.jpg\")
The construction site for the Werklund Centre (Arts Commons) expansion is shown near Calgary’s Old City Hall on Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. Photo by Brent Calver\/PostmediaArticle content<\/p>\n![\"Calgary](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/identity\/logo-identity-ch-new.svg\"){kind=logo}
<\/p>\n![\"Calgary](\"https:\/\/dcs-static.gprod.postmedia.digital\/20.7.1\/websites\/images\/newsletters\/icon-ch-noonNewsRoundup.svg\"\/){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n![\"Scotia-Place-Longform\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Scotia-Place-Longform.jpg\")
Work continued on the new Scotia Place project in Calgary on March 2, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Nicholas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Nicholas-R.-Bell-Glenbow-Longform.jpg\")
Glenbow president and CEO Nicholas R. Bell shows off one of the new collection storage areas at the museum on April 15, 2025. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"031026-Arts_Commons_Alex_Sarian\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/arts-commons-alex-sarian_293935824.jpg\")
Arts Commons President and CEO Alex Sarian poses with the construction site around Olympic Plaza in Calgary on March 11, 2025. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Werklund-Centre-LongformIN\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Werklund-Centre-LongformIN.jpg\")
Framed with the Calgary Tower, construction workers install rebar while working on the Werklund Centre project on Feb. 24, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Calgary](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0311-arts-development2.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"031026-National_Music_Centre_CEO\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/national-music-centre-ceo_301851344.jpg\")
Andrew Mosker, founding President and CEO of the National Music Centre, was photographed in the Calgary building\u2019s Synth Lab on March 5, 2026. Photo by Brent Calver\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"031026-music_calgary-052824-gya-12\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/music-calgary-052824-gya-12_286426584.jpg\")
Calgary Arts Development president and CEO Patti Pon speaks on May 28, 2024. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Caitlind](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Caitlind-Brown-Longfrom2.jpg\")
Calgary artist Caitlind Brown was photographed with one of her creations that uses discarded eyeglass lenses on March 7, 2026. Photo by Gavin Young\/Postmedia<\/p>\n![\"Countdown](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1773232454_88_0000-countdown-logo.png\"){kind=logo}
ADDITIONAL COVERAGE<\/p>\n
\u2022 Varcoe: Calgary building more diverse economy to support population boom<\/a>
\u2022 Making their move: Population boom builds Calgary business<\/a>
\u2022 Answering Calgary\u2019s call: Newcomers find their way to feeling at home in city<\/a>
\u2022 Doing the math: Why the counting of Calgarians doesn\u2019t always add up<\/a>
\u2022 Humble Calgarian holds one-in-a-million place in city\u2019s history<\/a>
\u2022 Calgary is fast approaching a population of two million people \u2014 will the city be ready?<\/a><\/p>\n