As this season’s Fellow, Wilmer Aburto turns his focus toward ways in which the TD Incubator program can help broaden Calgary's artistic scope and draw together its creatives. On the heels of a sold-out TD Amplify season and looking toward the expansion of the city’s cultural core, Aburto sees this as a key moment for up-and-coming talents.
“I feel like we're entering a new era and I believe that this is the right time to continue bringing greater visibility and representation,” says Aburto. “Werklund Centre and I really want to contribute to that cultural environment where audiences can encounter a wider range of identities, different perspectives, and various lived experiences. A place where artists feel like their stories belong.”
TD Incubator is Werklund Centre's artist development program which focuses on connecting local artists across all disciplines and providing them with unique opportunities to create new works, both individually and in collaboration with their cohort. The program is curated by a new TD Incubator Fellow each year, who will always mould the season differently than the last. Throughout the year, works made in this program are either exhibited through Werklund Centre's galleries and partner organizations or performed in the live TD Amplify series hosted in the Engineered Air Theatre.
“It opens up their world to many other possibilities that are outside of their comfort zone. Whether they’re mature artists or artists that have just begun their careers, all of them take away something similar,” says TD Amplify series director Steven Conde, “which is understanding that there is a much bigger artistic world out there that they can tap –– talents that they can collaborate with and interact with, that they've never considered before.”
Though Aburto’s photography has earned him international recognition, what stands out is his commitment to building and highlighting the creative community around him. Originally from Nicaragua, Aburto came to Canada at a young age with a fascination for cameras and grew an appreciation for icons through his catholic school education. This has shown through his body of work, which aesthetically celebrates talented creators from a wide range of backgrounds. Basing his practice in his own experience as a queer newcomer, representation in the arts is something Aburto sees as crucial to this time.
“My practice has always been rooted in an angle of social justice, in creating space for stories, identities, and communities that have not always had the opportunity to be seen or heard,” says Aburto.
Alongside being an alum of the TD Incubator program, Aburto’s previous collaboration with Werklund Centre took the form of a partnership with the Calgary Queer Arts Society, curating a series of installations and works in the +15 Galleries by 2SLGBTQIA+ makers that was on display from May through October of this year. That coalesced with Aburto attending the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event in the Jack Singer Concert Hall and inspired him as he stepped into his role as the 2026-27 TD Incubator Fellow. While the overall themes and direction of the program this year are still under development, the undercurrent seems to be in how the diverse talents of today represent what there is to look forward to.
“My own artistic journey taught me that community is the most powerful force in an artist's development. I think that we can grow through connection, through mentorship, through sharing our experiences, and through creating space for one another to take risks and imagine what could be possible,” says Aburto. “I think we're talking about spaces where art happens and how these places can build relationships. They can create history and still honour and centre Indigenous practices. It offers new possibilities to create and envision a future here in Calgary.”
While the TD Incubator program continues to be cyclically shifting, it is also endlessly adapting each year to meet the needs of the creatives it serves. Aburto will develop and lead the program with support of ongoing TD Amplify director Steven Conde and outgoing Fellow Kenna Burima. While Aburto’s vision will guide the season’s program, Burima hopes her and Conde’s collaboration will offer a continuity that promises a season even more daring and groundbreaking than the previous.
“I think that it's really great to be able to be a part of the program again and continue to build some structure so that continuing years can build off of that foundation,” says Burima. “Space, snacks, clear communication, clear expectations, a common goal, and someone to guide them through in a way that there's a plan and it's outlined, but that there is a high degree of flexibility within the process… It's like trying to set up everyone for a good experience and then backing off as much as you can.”
L to R: Steven Conde, Wilmer Aburto, Kenna Burima
For a program so focused on connecting people with different and equally unique practices, it only seems right to have it led in a way that’s just as collaborative. Aburto, Burima, and Conde look forward to partnering with organizations like VogueYYC and SpanicArts this season, but moreover they look forward to building upon the experiences and lessons of last year while implementing a new vision and approach together.
“We're so used to coming up with things ourselves, but to be able to really sit down and listen to another person's ideas and to take that in and see how you can work together in creating something that is truly beautiful,” says Conde. “That takes a lot of work, and what I've learned through TD Amplify is that it's hard, but it's possible.”
Aburto tells a story of how once he was challenged by a friend from out of town to show them Calgary’s art scene. With ease, he found himself programming an exhaustive week of touring around a Calgary that he feels only takes a small amount of effort to find. In being willing to take on that work, Aburto hopes to make that effort smaller for everyone else in the future and show off the creatives that make this city unique. As TD Incubator Fellow, he’s set to show Calgarians that we may already be living in a cultural capital.
“There's a moment of change in the air; I think that all the right ingredients are there. The community in this city of artists and talent is, I think, at an optimal level,” says Aburto. “Any project that I see myself being involved in, moving forward and in the future, is always going to be stepping into newness in a big, grand way.”