Every month, Creative Calgary will connect with a different City Councillor to learn more about their priorities for the arts in their ward, and how the arts in their ward are impacting Calgarians city-wide. This month, we connected with Councillor Jasmine Mian in Ward 3. Each month, we will ask City Councillors the following three questions:
What are your priorities for the arts in your Ward?
Tell a success story of the arts in your Ward.
How does the arts in your Ward impact Calgarians city-wide?
Here are Councillor Jasmine Mian's responses:
What are your priorities for the arts in your Ward?
My priorities are to enable more art in general, whether it’s community-driven or City-driven. I really want to push the City’s Northeast public art initiative, which will enable local artists and businesses while increasing the vibrancy of our neighbourhoods. That exciting project will kick off soon, so watch for it!
Tell us a success story of the arts in your Ward.
The Northern Hills Mural in Coventry Hills is probably the most well-known art project to date and I think it’s the most successful. To my knowledge, it’s the longest mural in Canada. The artist who organized it worked closely with the community to involve both professional artists as well as people who live in the community. It brought so many people together and created a sense of pride while also brightening up an otherwise unremarkable fence.
How does the arts in your Ward impact Calgarians city-wide?
As I mentioned, the sense of pride and community are probably the biggest impacts of art. Something as small as a sculpture on private property can spark wonder but then a large-scale project like Travelling Light can be a regular topic of conversation. I love to see how those conversations can evolve and bring people together.
