Final Thoughts

The word that stands out to my team the most with regards to the written and literary community in Calgary is accessibility. Now, more than ever, we can see the impact that isolation and inaccessibility has on a community and on individuals. Today, all Calgarians are facing the reality of isolation as we practice social distancing and self-quarantine but, for many in our community, these were already ordinary experiences. This could be for many reasons, from chronic illness to mobility issues. Or, it could be those experiencing poverty that can’t afford to take part in the community in the same way as others. Further still, those who don’t speak English might feel isolated, even in our busiest community hubs.

That is why my team wanted to look at the written and literary community through a lens of accessibility. Were we providing people the opportunity to engage with the written and literary works in a way that was fun and not intimidating? Were we able to facilitate interaction in multiple languages? How might we engage those who have learning disabilities or who are visually impaired or those whose cultures value oral traditions over written?

While we might not have been able to answer all of these questions, I believe we were able to answer a few. While our basic premise was to read a letter from a stranger and write one ourselves, we prototyped boxes for some of the most commonly spoken languages in Calgary, as well as indigenous languages. If the event was to go through, we would have also had a few hours each day where we had a person monitoring the experiment, and providing space for those who want to tell their story orally, or who might need assistance writing their story down.

Since our lives have been drastically changed by the COVID-19 pandemic, let’s take some time to consider how we might change our communities and societies for the better based on this experience. For me, I’ll be thinking about accessibility.

Literary Arts Community Panel Feedback

I was anxious as my group got ready to present to the community panel. Our idea, of little mailboxes encouraging strangers to write letters to each other, was something that our team had worked tirelessly on for weeks. None of us knew what to expect from the community panel, fueling nerves in all of us.

That being said, however, as soon as we started presenting, I felt the fear wash away. We had worked hard on our design and our prototypes and now we had the opportunity to show our work. Plus, the panel provided great feedback and encouraged us to take our work even further. It made us rethink our use of prompts for the letter-writing and to see how we could make an online element central to our experiment.

The future of our experiments is precarious at the moment, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but I am proud of my team for what we have created. I am also glad for the opportunity to share it with, at least a segment of, the community.

Centre West

The middle of January might strike most Calgarians as an odd time to take a long walk around downtown, and it would be hard to blame them. Temperatures might have plummeted to -40 degrees the week prior, but my classmates and I were excited to get outside and see our city in a new lens, especially in the current, relatively temperate weather conditions. 

Last week, myself and three of my classmates took a walk around the Centre West area of downtown as a part of a Jane’s Walk. We hoped to search out examples of art in the area and were excited by the many examples of public art we were able to find.The picture above of the sculpture Buffalo Trails by JoAnne Schachtel is one example that, I believe, all of us were taken by. The herd of buffalo seemed to be marching across a field by the Alberta Court of Appeals and gave us pause to reflect on the history of the land we were standing on. 

Walking through the downtown core and mindfully looking for art is something I have never thought of doing before. Usually, public art is something I may notice in passing as I rush to a meeting or to catch a bus. Within minutes, however, of starting our Jane’s Walk, excitement filled me as, within minutes, it began to feel like a scavenger hunt. It was a lot of fun to wander around a part of the city and to be able to discover artworks seemingly hidden in plain sight. To me, it seemed to give a new face to the city, one that I can explore and that has encouraged me to be more mindful as I move around my community. One of my group members noted the the new architecture and old buildings of downtown, as well as the art displays, has proven to her how picturesque Calgary is. Art appears to be ingrained in the infrastructure and architecture of the city. To another, the Jane’s Walk allowed her to enter an area of the city with little prior knowledge and to be mesmerized by the sights and examples of art.

It is my hope that more Calgarians realize the depth of art in our community. As we wandered around downtown and really looked at our city, I noticed many people, much as I usually am, in a rush to get somewhere and not noticing what was going on around them. It is very normal in many cities, as well as Calgary, to be hurried and busy. I do wonder, however, what our community and lives would look like if everyone was able to take a bit of time to wander a part of the city with new eyes, their only job being to discover what makes their neighbourhood great.