Everyone I've talked to hates this thing. Comments have ranged from, "Why would have this" too "its a what?" The city has to spend a certain amount of money from municipal projects on city art. The ring is free standing with small bars that hang off the side. It is suppose to be a engineering marvel in that it can stand with very little support. To me, it is part of our city and its growth. Of all the things to choose for a piece of public art, a ring, the most original of things to make. But, still, its creative in the sense of why not put it there?
Some of our classmates are participating in an amazing initiative along with the Mount Royal Inactus group. This initiative involved collecting one use paper coffee cups over the last few weeks. The purpose of doing this was to show Mount Royal students how many paper cups are thrown in the garbage every day. Looking at the large container filled with paper cups really made an impact on me because I realized how much waste is created by paper cups alone, which made me want to use reusable cups. BUT EVEN BETTER, Inactus has enlisted the help of some local artists to create a massive piece of art work out of all of the paper cups that have been collected. Not only will this create an amazing piece of art, but it will also act as a symbol of how important it is to conserve our planet and make a change.I miss being in elementary school sometimes, especially art class. I remember we always used to create cool things for holidays. With Easter coming up this weekend, I remember decorating Easter eggs with my mom and cousins when I was younger. I grew up in a Ukrainian household and Easter was always big for us. I remember how excited we got when my mom would pull out all the supplies for decorating and how excited we were to decorate those eggs. Thinking of this memory makes me want to decorate eggs right now. That's why I think that sometimes creativity can come from the child within. Have a egglicious Easter!
-DeAnna It is one of the busiest roads in Calgary. Glenmore trail bridges the city and connects everyone from the south to the north. As you drop down from blackfoot to the underpass, you are greeted with some of my favourite municipal art. As you drive by the fish seem to jump up and down of the water painted on the sides. As a child when I drove by I would be mesmerized by the effect. Now, as I am older and see it as art, Its important that we continue to have city art. Not just to break up the grey, but to make sure that we show the world we are not just the oil and gas giant of the world, but a place that fosters creativity.
To say we had a day would be an understatement. There were so many activities that if you had a favorite, it would have been a close race. The entire day really speaks to our ideas of creativity being alive and well in not only the university, but in Calgary. These clever, smart, creative people are members of the community and have nothing but good ideas to share and build. Inspiring these is how we can create a more colourful Calgary and avoid the Grey we are in danger of falling into.
I've been so compelled by Calgarian's endless forms of expression! Marissa Poirier, SAIT Polytechnic graduate, spends Monday to Friday behind a desk working on oil and gas land certificates. This is not her passion; this is her creative way of achieving her dreams.
Poirier's first job was as an international model. She was exposed to artistic culture and especially fashion. As her career as a model hit it's pinnacle, Poirier decided she had to find a way to fund her future artistic endeavours as a photographer, stylist, and singer. Returning to Calgary, she enrolled in SAIT and soon was working for small oil companies in downtown Calgary. Though it is a lot less exciting than the fashion industry, she now has a reliable income to start up her own business as a fashion and promotional photographer, along with a musical project. Under MAP Photography Poirier has been working with local fashion designers and restaurants building their businesses along with hers. Lira Rose is the name Marissa Poirier is known by in the music industry. Lira Rose has been working on a contagious musical project for two years known as Postmodern People. Poirier denies that Lira Rose is an alter ego. Lira Rose has more than just a memorable name: powerful creativity, musicianship and showmanship. While Postmodern People has just undergone some changes, they have no upcoming shows. Follow them on Facebook to find out when they do. http://www.nrtfashions.com Today was a wonderful day full of discovering creativity and being inspired by the creativity of others! As part of our class we were asked to give our classmates an experience which was congruent with what we have been working to achieve with our community partners. As our goal is to inspire creativity within our classmates and other Calgarians this made for a very fun task. We first started by asking our classmates to draw anything they wanted on a piece of paper. It was interesting to see how a lot of people looked around at each other because it was hard to think of something to draw when they were put on the spot! After thirty seconds we asked everyone to stop drawing and turn over their paper. On the clean page we asked everyone to draw a picture of a house which everyone found much easier to do. The purpose of doing that exercise was to show everyone that our environment does not usually support random creativity. So, it was our jobs to put some inspiration in their heads! To do this we created three different stations where our classmates could go to enjoy a creative experience. At the first station there was an array of toothpicks, skewers and of course a healthy selection of candy where people were asked to make a structure of their choice. At the second station we had a whole bunch of musical instruments and our classmates were asked to work together to try and create a song. At the third and final station we had finger painting where everyone could play around and be creative just like they might have when they were kids! To finish up the experience we asked everyone to once again draw anything they wanted on a fresh piece of paper. It was cool to see that everyone had a much easier time coming up with something to draw after we had taken the time to spark some creativity and get everyone out of their shell.
After attending Market Collective last Sunday, I was lucky enough to chat with Jacky Tang, the creator of a project called ThisIsCalgary. Tang started the project with a friend and set out to showcase what Calgary was all about by gathering insight and highlighting perspectives on local citizens. Tang considers himself an idea person and is inspired to be creative by having the ability to do it. He calls creativity "a form of social evolution."
At the start of the year, Tang and his friend started on the project with the goal of getting 10,000 Calgarians to fill out a mini background and take pictures in order to "create a portrait of who we are - our landscape and our people - and to show ourselves and the world This Is Calgary" (from their website). Two friends and I were lucky to be numbers 305, 306 and 307. When asked if he thought if Calgary nurtures creativity, he thinks that "seeds of creativity are germinating, but compared to other cities in Canada, Calgary is still like a lost teenager figuring themselves out and deciding what kind of place it wants to become." If you would like to be part of the 10,000 visit ThisIsCalgary at http://thisiscalgary.xyz/ Over the past three months a group that I (Bridgette) am a part of has worked hard to create an event for Mount Royal students to enjoy. The theme of this event was "Welcoming Spring" and last Thursday night I had the pleasure to watch all of the hard work come together in a wildly fun and successful event. As part of my contribution to the event I assisted with creating some of the decor elements. I felt this job was crucial to ensuring that the event had the right "springy" feel and am very pleased with how everything came together. One of the biggest contributions I made was creating these cool trees out of scrap twigs I found in my backyard, spray paint, christmas tree stands and of course zip ties. Zip ties really are a magical creation in themselves. I also took some ordinary plastic table cloths and transformed them into a cool backdrop. It was a really fun experience and I was excited to see how my brain overcame some of the obstacles I faced on this project. The main obstacle happened to be figuring out a way to get the trees to stand up straight!
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AuthorsWe are public relations students at Mount Royal University. Our current project focuses on spurring creativity and inducing innovation in our community. ArchivesCategories |