We Don’t Bite. Come, Meet an Artist! Jenna Rodgers
2023-06-13 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Meet Jenna Rodgers (she/her)
Jenna (she/her) is a mixed-race Director and Dramaturg who gratefully resides on land called Moh’kins’tsis (Calgary), on Treaty 7 Territory. She is the founding Artistic Director of Chromatic Theatre, the Dramaturg for the Playwrights Lab at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Board Co-Chair of LMDA, and the Director of Theatre Alberta’s Artstrek Program. She is a graduate of the NTS Artistic Leadership Residency (2020), the Banff Centre’s Cultural Leadership Program (2019), and a member of the artEquity National Facilitator Training cohort (2018). Jenna holds a MA in International Performance Research from the universities of Amsterdam and Tampere.
Recent directing credits include Teenage Dick at Alberta Theatre Projects, Little Women at Theatre Calgary, Hookman and The Green Line for Chromatic Theatre, Sherlock Holmes at the Vanishing Thimble at Vertigo Theatre, Undressed at Alberta Theatre Projects, and Mary’s Wedding at the Citadel Theatre. You can find her on Instagram @karissamah

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist! Trevor Rueger
2023-06-14 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Meet Trevor Rueger (he/him)

Trevor Rueger has been an actor, director, writer and dramaturge for over 30 years. In 2011 he received the Betty Mitchell Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance as Billy Bibbit in Theatre Calgary/Manitoba Theatre Centre’s production of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. As an actor, he’s been seen at Theatre Calgary, Lunchbox Theatre, Sage Theatre, Vertigo Theatre, Stage West, and the Garry Theatre. His directing credits include When Girls Collide, Columbo: Prescription Murder and Columbo Takes the Rap for Vertigo Theatre, Ai Yah! Sweet and Sour Secrets, Life After Hockey and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) for Lunchbox Theatre, Heroes for Sage Theatre, SHE and Matadora for Trepan Theatre, Medea and 33 Swoons for Rocky Mountain College and Courage for Lost Boy Productions.
For 20 years he was an ensemble member and writer for Shadow Productions. He has written five produced Theatre for Young Audience plays. Trevor was also an original ensemble member of Dirty Laundry and for 10 years was the chair, writer, and producer of the Betty Mitchell Awards.

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist! Vicki Van Chau
2023-06-15 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Vicki Van Chau
Vicki Van Chau is a filmmaker, curator and arts administrator based in Calgary, Alberta. She was the Programming Director at EMMEDIA Gallery & Production Society, a non-profit media art centre, where she co-founded the PARTICLE + WAVE Media Arts Festival. She left in 2020 to pursue her film practice full-time and has since directed and produced several award-winning short films that have screened across Canada and internationally. She recently received the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award in 2022 and the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal in 2023 for her contribution to the arts & culture in Alberta.
As a freelance arts administrator, her clients include the Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society and CanAsian Arts Network. She is an active arts community member and has sat on the Board of Directors for the Untitled Art Society (now known as The Bows), EXPOSURE Photography Festival, Alberta Media Arts Alliance Society (AMAAS), and most recently, the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF). She recently curated an exhibition featuring local Chinese artists for “Culture & Kin: Reclaiming the Chinese Narrative Through Contemporary Art” at Fort Calgary, which will be exhibiting until May 1, 2024.
Website: www.vickichau.com
Instagram: @vickivee
Facebook: @vickivanchau

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist! Shaun Hunter
2023-06-16 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Shaun Hunter is a Calgary-based writer, reader and public historian passionate about the city’s
literary landscape. Her book Calgary Through the Eyes of Writers (2018) offers a journey around
Calgary, from its frontier beginnings to today’s contemporary city. During her term as Historian
in Residence at the Calgary Public Library (2020), she created a digital literary map of Calgary
marking over 500 sites.
Shaun has a particular interest in 1920s Calgary – a fascinating, largely forgotten decade when a
diverse community of writers set out to build a local literary culture. Her Lougheed House
exhibit Storied City: Early Calgary through the Eyes of Writers (2020) celebrated a cast of real-
life literary personalities from the era. Recently, Shaun collaborated with local artist Eveline
Kolijn to produce City of Romance: The Literary World of 1920s Calgary, part of the Calgary
Atlas Project.
Shaun’s explorations in the 1920s local literary scene include the Calgary years of Winnifred
Eaton Reeve aka Onoto Watanna (1875-1954), the Chinese-Canadian writer who lived and
wrote here during the era of Chinese exclusion. This summer Shaun will lead a walking tour to
two of the places Reeve called home – one of the many public events on offer during the
“Onoto Watanna’s Cattle at 100” conference being held in Calgary July 27 to 29.
Website: www.shaunhunter.ca and on
Twitter @ShaunMHunter

THE SHIFT - Celebrating Larry Kwong's 100th Birthday
2023-06-17 17:30 - 18:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire, 381 2 Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5E9, Canada
Growing up in Vernon’s Chinatown during the era of Chinese Exclusion, Larry Kwong would break stereotypes and barriers to become the first player of Asian descent in the NHL.
In The Shift, Larry Kwong recounts his experiences on and off the ice, supported by historians who establish the social context and by hockey legends like Jean Beliveau and Herb Carnegie who attest to his exceptional skill.
Produced in 2013, this 45-minute film was a best documentary finalist at the Alberta Film & TV Awards.
Join us for this one-time screening to celebrate the 100th birthday of the late Larry Kwong, the Okanagan’s first NHL player and one of hockey’s great trailblazers and builders.
Doors open at 5:15. Free screening at 5:30.

We Don't Bite! Meet an Artist: Brent Kawchuk
2023-06-19 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Calgary film producer Brent Kawchuk has produced 7 Historic Minutes for Historica Canada. He just won the contract to produce a Historic Minute profiling Normie Kwong. Come and hear the behind the scenes stories like where the films were shot in Calgary!

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist! Col Cseke
2023-06-20 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Col Cseke
Col lives, works, and makes plays on Treaty 7 land. He’s the Artistic & Executive Director of Inside Out Theatre, a Deaf, Disabled, and Mad theatre company, and spearheads non-fiction story telling projects under the banner Field Work. Some favourite past projects include the documentary play Parts & Labour, which documents the intense world of Temporary Foreign Workers and meat packing in Alberta, In The Wake, with the Downstage Creation Ensemble, which tells an epic tale of climate change on a tiny platform, and The Magpie Treasure Talks, co-created with Ellen Close, which presents expert talks on unexpected topics by homeless Calgarians. Previously Col served as Co-Artistic Director at Verb Theatre, Playwright in Residence at Alberta Theatre Projects, and Artistic Associate at The Scottish Opera during the Commonwealth Cultural Festival in Glasgow.

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist!
2023-06-21 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!

Come Meet an Artist: Carolyn Jury de Castillo and Brian Wong
2023-06-21 12:00 - 13:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Today Dale will be joined by two media personalities to talk about television reporting and sports coverage. Carolyn Kury de Castillo has been a reporter with Global News since 1997. She was born in Calgary and attended University of Calgary and SAIT. Brian Wong is the host of Flames TV Chinese, a Sports & Cultural connector, soccer coach, and Marketing Specialist.
Carolyn Kury de Castillo
Brian Wong

We Don’t Bite – Come, Meet an Artist! Lee Kvern and Paul Rasporich
2023-06-22 11:30 - 15:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Have you always wanted to meet an artist? Now’s your chance! Dale Lee Kwong hosts a daily meet and greet featuring different artists from the Calgary area. There will be a short interview at 12 noon to learn about the artist, their creative practice and any Q and A, followed by an open house. Ask anything you want, artists don’t bite!
Author Lee Kvern
Lee Kvern
Lee Kvern is a Canadian author of short stories and novels. Her stories in 7 Ways to Sunday have garnered various literary awards including the CBC Literary Prize. Afterall was selected for regional Canada Reads and nominated for Alberta Book Awards and the Ottawa Relit Award. Lush Triumphant finalist and recent Best of the Net nominee. Her work has been produced for CBC Radio and been published in numerous literary magazines across Canada and the US. She’s currently finished her fourth novel Catch You on the Flipside, an international thriller.
Facebook: Lee Kvern
Instagram @leekvern

Painter Paul Rasporich
Paul Rasporich
Paul Rasporich has been Professional Artist for 35 years and a K-12 Art Educator for the past two decades. He has painted professionally for thirty-five years. Early works represented by Masters Gallery in Calgary. His portraits of prominent Canadians include: W.P. Kinsella (writer), Karen Kain (prima ballerina), Ian Tyson (musician), Douglas Cardinal (architect), John Snow (Nakoda Chief). Paul has painted formal portraits of Business leaders and lawyers: Frank Burnet, Tom Duckworth, Jim Palmer, and Mac Jones. He has been shortlisted to paint many former Canadian Prime Ministers, and was considered to paint Queen Elizabeth for her Diamond Jubilee. His work is represented in numerous private, public, and corporate collections: Alberta Foundation for the Arts, City of Calgary Civic collection, Burnet, Duckworth and Palmer, and Bennett Jones Law Firm. Paul recently retired from classroom teaching, and has started the drawing and painting from nature YouTube Channel, Art with Raspo.
Website: paulrasporich.com
YouTube: Art with Raspo
Instagram: @art_with_raspo

Stories of Exclusion
2023-06-23 13:30 - 16:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
STORIES OF EXCLUSION
After years of Head Tax did not stop Chinese immigration, the Canadian government passed legislation that effectively stopped immigration from China for 24 years. The ironically named Chinese Immigration Act came into effect on July 1st, 1923. The holiday known as Dominion Day was called “Day of Humiliation” by the Chinese community. It was not repealed for 24 years. This legislation can create a complex relationship for persons of Chinese ancestry as they consider their identity as Canadians. The ‘Exclusion Act’ impacted the community in ways we are only now beginning to understand. It created an imbalance in male/female ratio within the Chinese community, and forced family separations for decades.
STORIES OF EXCLUSION is a workshop which will see Chinese community members share their hidden histories with Asian artists. The artist witnesses will use those stories as inspiration for their creative practice. Members of the public are also invited to witness these stories; however, we ask that you RSVP in advance with dale.kwong@shaw.ca Due to the sensitive nature of the interviews, there may be restrictions on access, and/or artists may be in rehearsal.
Throughout the project, Calgarians can learn more about Calgary’s first Chinatowns through the We Were Here: Stories of Early Chinatown exhibit on display a cSpace Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub. This exhibit was first created by Lougheed House National and Provincial Historic Site. As few artifacts remain from the early years of Calgary’s Chinatown, 5 artists were invited to imagine stories from that time and an illustrator brought it all to life. The exhibit is on long-term loan to the Chinese Cultural Centre and they have graciously allowed Stories of Exclusion to help create the atmosphere of the space we are using by surrounding ourselves wth the exhibit.
On Canada Day, we will host an alternative celebration at cSpace Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub. Canada Day: Stories of Exclusion will honour the hidden histories of the Chinese community as a result of the Chinese Immigration Act. Lion Dancers will chase away the evil spirits of the Chinese Immigration (Exclusion) Act, and artists will share how this project affected them and perhaps inspired projects for the future. We invite all who wish to reflect on the complicated history of this day.
Interview collection and research:

Friday, June 23 to Tuesday, June 27 – 1:30 to 4pm

Interviews:

Friday, June 23 – Dale Lee Kwong, anon interview
Sat, June 24 – Ronald Lee
Sun, June 25 – Lloyd Sciban (Historian, author of From Chopsticks to Hockey Sticks)

Note:
If you are a Chinese settler and have Stories of Exclusion you would like to share with the project team, please contact dale.kwong@shaw.ca

STORIES OF EXCLUSION - Chinese Canadian History with Lloyd Sciban
2023-06-26 13:30 - 14:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Lloyd Sciban is a retired professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Calgary who volunteers actively in Calgary Chinatown. His research interests are the influence of Chinese culture in Canada and Confucian ethics. He published the book From Chopsticks to Hockey Sticks: The Achievements of Chinese Canadians. Since then he has begun research on the Chinese philosopher Wang Yangming (1472-1529) and how his thinking can be applied in environmental ethics.

Stories of Exclusion: Elder in the Making
2023-06-28 13:00 - 16:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire, 381 2 Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5E9, Canada
In an effort to better understand Chinese and Indigenous relations, the STORIES OF EXCLUSION project members are watching ELDER IN THE MAKING. This 2015 documentary by Chris Hsiung is about two men – one Blackfoot and one Chinese Canadian – who embark on a spiritual journey of reconciliation. Upon request, we may also screen THE SHIFT, a documentary about Larry Kwong who was the first Chinese to play on the National Hockey League.

Songwriting Open House with Astral Swans
2023-06-30 00:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Watch a diversity of songwriting collaborations unfold before your eyes and ears in real time! with Astral Swans!

Canada Day: Reflections from Stories of Exclusion
2023-07-01 13:30 - 16:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
On July 1, join us for a Lion Dance by the Jing Wo Cultural Association starting at 1:30 outside the cSpace Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub. Then, welcome the Stories of Exclusion artists for a discussion facilitated by Brian Wong from 2-4:30 inside the Hub.
The Stories of Exclusion project sheds light on how Chinese Calgarians and their families have been affected by the Chinese Immigration Act, which was passed 100 years ago on Dominion Day (now known as Canada Day). Also referred to as the Chinese Exclusion Act, this racist legislation essentially prohibited Chinese immigration to Canada. July 1 1923 was labelled Humiliation Day by the Chinese Canadian community.
Project leader Dale Lee Kwong and six other artists have spent a week witnessing interviews with community members about their Stories of Exclusion. On Canada Day, these artists will share their responses to these stories. This is an alternative celebration which acknowledges the intergenerational trauma caused by colonialism.
The Stories of Exclusion team includes:
Dale Lee Kwong (project lead + artist)
Cosmo Christoffersen (project manager)
Vic Ip (archivist + marketing coordinator)
Brian Wong (facilitator + translator)
Billy Kairan Guo (artist)
Kari Woo(artist)
Linda Kee (artist)
Michelle Kuku (artist)
Nick Wang (artist)
Yan Zhu (artist)
Stories of Exclusion is generously funded by the City of Calgary.

THE BREAK THRU
2023-07-01 17:00 - 23:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
Celebrate Canada Day in a unique way! Witness the electrifying showdown of Calgary’s finest bboys and bgirls as they battle it out for a $500 cash prize in an adrenaline-fueled breaking competition, showcasing unparalleled talent and jaw-dropping moves. Featuring sounds by DJ Playtime and judged by local favourites Rhythm Rhy and Igni.

The Break Thru
2023-07-01 17:00 - 23:30 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
1 vs 1 breaking competition showcasing calgary’s BBoy/BGirl talent.

Songwriting Open House with Astral Swans
2023-07-06 16:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-07 16:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-19 16:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-20 16:00 - 23:00, 2023-07-21 16:00 - 23:00 UTC | cSPACE Eau Claire, 381 2 Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2P 5E9, Canada

A SECRET STAMPEDE SHOW (INDIE FOLK EDITION)
2023-07-08 19:30 - 22:30 (America/Edmonton) | cSPACE Eau Claire Neighbourhood Hub, 381 2 Avenue Southwest, Calgary, AB, T2P 0C5, Canada
cSPACE Eau Claire & Astral Swans Present: A very special, secret, Stampede Show. Shhhh!
Come celebrate (a less corporate approach to the Stampede)!
Saturday July 8th
Doors at 7pm
Featuring a very secret headliner in an intimate 40 person venue w/special guest opener Silverring.
