From August 27 until the September long weekend (aka "Labour Gay"), Calgary celebrated Pride with colourful parades, glamorous shows, impactful artwork and introspective panels. Even though Calgary Pride is over for 2021, you can still experience some amazing work geared toward celebrating sexual and gender diversity.
Every year, in-person events play an integral role in Pride: creating physical spaces where people can dance, sing and ultimately come together to recognize and celebrate their Queer identities. The disappearance of these spaces over the last year and a half has been a significant loss to the folk who found safety and community in them.
Last month, the city's 2SLGBTQ+ community was finally able to access in-person safe spaces as part of Calgary Pride.
One of these events is the Shaw Pride Marches On art walk. Created by Shaw Communications and in its second year, this event invited artists to create murals in support of Calgary Pride with the goal of increasing the visibility of the 2SLGBTQ+ community in the city.
The art walk, which can be found at Central Memorial Park, was unveiled on August 26 and will be available to see until October 3, giving families plenty of time to check out the four murals that were created by eight local artists:
- Liberation Now by Ash Adams (they/them) & Vanessa Toews (she/her)
- Pride In Solidarity by Wilmer Aburto (he/him), Colin Menzies (he/they) and Chishimba Matthew Kangombe (he/him)
- You Are Queer Enough by Mackenzie Bedford (she/her)
- Metamorph by Nicole Wolf (she/her) and Mike Hooves (they/them)
These murals gave each artist the chance to create artwork that will have a positive impact on the community. Narcity spoke to some of the artists involved about what Pride means to them and what they wanted to share through their mural.
"Art is a reflection of the times and the people that live through them. It's important to have representation like this to reflect the pride and resilience of queer people right now to make space for more representation in the future," Mackenzie Bedford, the artist of the mural titled You Are Queer Enough, told Narcity. "I hope viewers will feel seen, heard and validated in their queerness."
Courtesy of Shaw
Each mural that's part of the Pride Walk tells a unique story — one that can be interpreted in any way by the viewer. However, the inspiration behind every piece is close to each artist's heart.
Liberation Now, created by Ash Adams and Vanessa Toews, was inspired by Ash's relationship with their own body, by their friends in the Queer community, and by what it can feel like for members of the Queer community to exist in their bodies.
"Queerness and its many intersections create a complex web of histories, and we are all indebted to each other as we continue to exist in and move through a world that doesn't always accept us as the other," Ash and Vanessa told Narcity.
"For us, seeing fellow artists come with such diverse and meaningful works of art is really beautiful, and spoke to the complexity of the queer experience."
For Nicole Wolf and Mike Hooves, the artists of Metamorph, the image of the snake represents the ability to shed your skin and choose who you truly want to be in life.
"This mural is about transformation," they told Narcity. "As a snake sheds its skin, there's constant opportunities to morph, grow, and change toward a truer form. To be alive is to be in a constant state of transformation, and we have the power to choose who we will be.
Courtesy of Shaw
Shaw Pride Marches On is a valuable way for the public to experience Pride, and Wilmer Aburto told Narcity he hopes it will impact viewers by serving "as a reminder to us all to take a moment to breathe as we heal together from a difficult time globally."
While taking the time to visit the murals, artists Wilmer Aburto, Colin Menzies, and Chishimba Matthew Kangombe (artists of Pride In Solidarity) invite people to bring a sense of curiosity, suggesting viewers ask themselves what role pride and solidarity play in their lives.
Not only is each mural designed to send a powerful and heartwarming message to Calgary's Queer community, but the exhibition space itself is equally significant. Central Memorial Park was the location for Calgary's first pride rally in 1990.
What started as a small group of people fighting for equality 30 years ago has now grown into a city-wide celebration of love, diversity and Queerness with thousands of supporters.
"To have the art walk in such a central and visible space has many people, queer and allied, seeing and thinking about what pride means to them. And it's happening in a space with historical queer significance. It's special to be a part of that," Mike and Nicole shared.
While worldwide support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community has grown in recent decades, there's still a long way to go from here. As anti-LGBTQ sentiment and violence persist around the world, Shaw Pride Marches On hopes to send a powerful message of support and equality.
Calgarians can visit the art walk until October 3.
Shaw Pride Marches On Art Walk
Price: Free
When: Now until October 3
Address: Central Memorial Park, Calgary, AB
Why You Need To Go: There are four murals from eight artists available to check out, all inspired by different experiences from members and allies of the 2SLGBTQ+ community.