Opening event in Rotary Park on November 2^nd @ 4:30 p.m.

Artists from around the world promise “a lot of art in a little box” when they exhibit in Crescent Heights mini galleries in November and December.

Curated by the Immigrant Council for Arts Innovation (ICAI), the November/December exhibition will feature works by: Jimena Odetti, Lorianne Wigens, Samuel Obadero, and Cristiana Tercero. ICAI was founded in January 2019 to connect newcomer and immigrant artists and creative professionals to the existing arts community in Calgary.

Jimena Odetti began her career as a visual artist in her hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a Doctorate in Design from the University of Palermo in Argentina. She has contributed to publications and research on culture, science, and technology at the national and international level. Her artwork has been exhibited and displayed in Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Italy, Canada, and the United States.

Lorianne Wigen grew up in South Africa. She is a self-trained artist who enjoys experimenting with different mediums and techniques. Her art is an expression of what she loves the most about Africa: the sounds of the bushveld; the hyenas at dusk; the elephants approaching; a lion in the soft sand of a dried riverbed. She hopes her art will kindle a yearning in others to experience the majestic wonder that exists in the African bushveld.

Samuel Obadero is an award-winning digital photographer and social advocate from Nigeria. He received the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society’s New Canadian Artist Award in 2020 and was also named the Calgary Central Library’s first Newcomer Artist in Residence. His thought provoking-work celebrates global beauty, and cultural identity.

Cris(tiana) Tercero is a Calgary-based visual artist from Nicaragua, experimenting with illustrations and animation. She started her career as an advertising graphic designer, but her involvement in cultural programs and social activism redirected her work towards protest art around feminism, social rights, and equality.

For more information, contact programs@icaionline.org or minigalleries@crescentheightsyyc.ca. You can also find the mini galleries map and more photos at http://crescentheightsyyc.ca/minigalleries/

September 30, 2021 marks the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in honour of the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families and communities.

My name is Leor Rotchild. I’m one of the newest Directors on the Crescent Heights Community Association and in my day job, I’m Executive Director of a national association called Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR).

I’m writing this from Moh’kins’tsis, the Blackfoot name for the place we commonly know as Calgary, which is located in the Treaty 7 region and traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy, the Tsuut’ina, the Stoney Nakoda and the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III.

When I was asked to write something to you about Truth and Reconciliation, I had some hesitation because I’m not Indigenous and I’m still learning (and unlearning) a lot on this topic. What could I say that someone with lived experience couldn’t say with much more eloquence and credibility?

I decided it was important to add my voice because this topic shouldn’t only be Indigenous peoples speaking to Indigenous peoples. Of course Indigenous voices are extremely important. I couldn’t possibly be writing about this topic if it were not for the amazingly courageous work of leaders like Murray Sinclair, Wilton Littlechild, Melina Laboucan-Massimo, Eriel Deranger, JP Gladu, Tim Fox, Laurie Buffalo, Michelle Robinson, Annie Korver, and others that I look up to and try to learn from.