A Celebration of Community and Creativity: Art Party!

Arms linked with a friend, we slipped into the Jack Singer Concert Hall Lobby right at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, March 27, expecting to be the early birds. We were proven wrong as, instead, we stepped into a space already buzzing with other people who were similarly drawn in by a night of art, conversation and all that an art party might promise.

Although we hesitated at first, not entirely sure what to expect, we moved further past the main doors and some friendly faces into the lobby, where we were welcomed with the two levels of the art market and, to the side, the Founders Room. Excitement built up, and any loose plan we might have had at the start of the evening dissolved immediately, and we followed whatever caught our attention first.

It might have been the laughter echoing out of the Founders Room or the hanging paper portrait pieces that flickered into view as we turned a corner that pulled us to start our art party with the workshop. Before I knew it, my friend and I decided to dive in and put a playful spin on the activity by creating portraits of each other. As we were deep in figuring out the puzzles of piecing together each other’s faces, I was surprised to be serenaded by a DJ set that included remixes of some of my favourite Filipino songs. Laughing with my friend, at that moment, I realized that it was probably my Kuya Harvey Nichol behind the fun beats, sprinkling a little extra magic. Turns out it was his debut set, though no one would have guessed, as there was a certain electricity that exuded and mirrored the atmosphere of the night.

After an hour and a half of collaging, good conversations with a family at our table during the workshop and the opening remarks, it was finally time to venture out to the market. For a moment, though, it felt like we were transported to a whole different world. Everyone seemed frozen in place, their necks turned and eyes drawn towards the centre stage. We finally saw the culprit, Pyramids of Compassion, whose performance had left everyone spellbound with sounds of conversation between saxophone and piano. This synergy became our soundtrack, setting the pace of our journey through the market. Their live performance was a highlight for me as the collaboration between Jairus Sharif and Francis A. Willey is unlike others I’ve witnessed: each note of dialogue felt simultaneously improvisational and intentional. I found myself at times swaying along, and at times holding my breath, letting this curiosity take over me, turning our casual exploration of the market into this almost choreographed journey.

That journey took me to some friends and artists I had been eager to see, like Tita Jorji’s Tarot (@sssssssssauce) and Lucky Lara (@luckylarapearl), and some familiar names and works such as Weaving Bruha (@weavingbruha), La Güita (@joseelaguita), Maedeh Mosaverzadeh (@mayimosaver), and Noah Milo (@anewmilo) through their wearable art roaming around the halls of Werklund Centre. But beyond my already star-studded list, the market was also full of surprises, including new artists I had the joy of discovering. With the variety of artists and vendors ranging from clothing to beadwork to paintings and comics, there was something for everyone.

As the sun started to set outside, the Art Party was still kicking along with the open studios and gallery tours. At this point of the night, it finally hit me: the realization that the true magic of Art Party wasn’t simply the art itself and being able to share this with(in) community; it's in the multitude of ways that art can connect people, creating unexpected bridges between one another.

My friend and I headed upstairs to see artworks in the +15 Galleries, which were presented by the Festival of Animated Objects. These mesmerizing windows into different worlds of stories invited all onlookers to find themselves somehow part of the narrative unfolding before them. One piece in particular that caught my eye was the collection of works by the ‘r u home yet collective’, which included the incredible talent of Abby Monarrez, a classmate of mine in the University of Calgary’s ART 491: Community-Based Art Experiences course.

By the time we headed back downstairs in preparation for TD Amplify: Episode 3, we caught some words shared by Liss Febrero and aloT of Poetry about their collective piece, The Power She Holds. Seeing Monarrez’s work among others and hearing Febrero and aloT of Poetry’s words solidified an earlier spark that maybe an Art Party is simply the act of celebration where we come together, share stories and build community through creativity all along.

What made Art Party so special is Werklund Centre’s commitment to not only providing platforms to all of these amazing artists and creatives, but also the intentional and conscious efforts of weaving people from all backgrounds together to create this shared space of possibility, connection and creativity through a range of artistic mediums. It’s this focus on community that the true spirit of Art Party shines brightest. Long after the After Party and the music fades from a DJ set, what lingers is this sense of connection and being in our shared togetherness, always in relationship with one another.

Photos by Jarrett Edmund